Wk.38- A Russian State of Mind

While the Sisters, and Belgians, and Italians, and (non-Hordette) Blondes, and... whew, well, you get the idea... are away, the Russians decided that they would play. And win.

The 4th Quarter is always an odd time of the year. Many of the top players are absent at the tail end of a long schedule, while a select group of players tend to pop up with their best results of the season once the tour heads East and into Asia. Sometimes, you'll see players who garner great results in late September/October not be heard from again until deep into the following season. Last week, three of four finalists had never won a tour singles title, and one first-time titlist emerged. This past weekend, another first-timer was crowned. Of course, undoubtably, none of these players will ever be acknowleged by the likes of Pam Shriver to have "ever done anything"... but, alas, such is the "drawback" of late-season success in a time zone far, far away, I suppose.

But there's one thing that crosses all quantum barriers and continental boundary lines -- the Russians. Five of this weekend's eight semifinalists were Hordettes, and three of those women reached singles finals. Two were crowned champions, one of them for the first time in her career.

Of course, this is nothing new. After all, the Russians lead in virtually every category comparing one nation against another when it comes to tennis success. Well, nearly every one BUT the one that lists 2010's grand slam singles champions, that is.

But the Hordettes have had their day in the grand slam sun before, and they likely will again one day.

*WEEK 38 CHAMPIONS*

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (Int'l $220K/hard outdoor)
S: Alisa Kleybanova def. Klara Zakopalova 6-1/6-3
D: Goerges/Hercog d. Grandin/Uhlirova

TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN (Int'l $220K/hard outdoor)
S: Alla Kudryavtseva def. Elena Vesnina 6-4/6-4
D: Panova/Poutchek d. Dulgheru/Rybarikova


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Alla Kudryavtseva/RUS
...a little over a week ago, Kudryavtseva had yet to reach a tour singles final in her career. Flashforward to today, and she's now appeared in back-to-back finals, and on Sunday in Tashkent she became the fourth Russian woman in 2010 to become a first-time tour champ (and ninth different Hordette overall to win a WTA singles crown, three times as many as any other nation). A week after losing in Guangzhou to Aussie Jarmila Groth, Kudryavtseva found her comfort zone. Naturally, it was against a slew of other Russians. Three of the four semifinalists in Uzbekistan were Hordettes, and Kudryavtseva herself had to defeat two of her countrywoman (Alexandra Panova and Evgeniya Rodina, along with home fave Akgul Amanmuradova) to reach the final to, you guessed it, face off with another Russian -- Elena Vesnina. With one of the woman assured of winning her first WTA singles title, Kudryavtseva made it a point to keep Vesnina's trophy case empty, winning in straight sets.
=============================
RISERS: Alisa Kleybanova/RUS & Monica Niculescu/ROU
...Kleybanova has shown an ability to play with anyone -- sometimes on the sport's biggest stages -- over the last two seasons, and in 2010 that ability has finally led to tour titles. The 21-year old Russian grabbed her first tour title earlier this season in Kuala Lumpur, and this weekend in Seoul she got her second. Wins over Chang Kai-Chen, Ksenia Pervak, Ekaterina Makarova and Agnes Szavay got her to the final. Once there, she took out Klara Zakopalova in straight sets. In Tashkent, Niculescu became the fifth Romanian woman to reach a tour semifinal in 2010, but it was HER first trip into a tour event final four in her career. To get there, she had to knock off the #1-seed -- and countrywoman -- Alexandra Dulgheru in the QF.
=============================
SURPRISE: Madalina Gojnea/ROU
...23-year old Gojnea might not have a very high profile on the WTA landscape, but she's been sitting atop the ITF charts for much of 2010. She added another feather to her second circuit cap this weekend, winning a $25K event in Bucharest over Kristina Kucova, 6-4/6-4. It was the Swarmette's seventh ITF final this season, and her victory added to her circuit leading total, giving her six on the year.
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COMEBACKS: Dinara Safina/RUS & Mirjana Lucic/CRO
...Safina received a wild card into the Seoul draw and made pretty good use of it. Wins over Simona Halep and an impressive straight sets victory over Maria Kirilenko got her into the QF. After getting a win at the U.S. Open last month, Lucic said that single slam match victory was "like winning an entire tourmament." So, I guess what the Croat did this weekend must have felt like winning a match at the U.S. Open. For the second time this season, the former Wimbledon semifinalist (1999) won a challenger event singles crown. In Alburquerque, New Mexico, Lucic defeated Lindsay Lee-Waters 6-1/6-4 in the final to take the title.
=============================
VETERANS: Klara Zakopalova/CZE & Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN
...Czech vet Zakopalova didn't pick up her third career tour title in Seoul, but she did reach her eleventh WTA singles final there. Wins over the likes of Julia Goerges, Vera Dushevina, Dinara Safina and Nadia Petrova put her into her second final this season. She fell to 0-2 after dropping her match the Alisa Kleybanova, making her 2-9 in tour finals in her career. She won both of her only singles crowns back in 2005. In the same Seoul tournament, Kimiko Date-Krumm wasn't able to defend her '09 comeback title, but notched a suprisingly easy win over #2 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (just under half the 39-year old's age), 6-2/6-1, to reach the QF. Then, today in Tokyo, she pulled a big upset by taking out THAT tournament's defending champion (see below) one day before she celebrates her fortieth birthday.
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FRESH FACES: Evgeniya Rodina/RUS & Rebecca Marino/CAN
...Hordette Rodina, 21, reached her first career WTA SF in Tashkent with wins over Anna Chakvetadze and Stefanie Voegele. On the ITF circuit, U.S. Open revelation (and recent Marion Bartoli conqueror) Rebecca Marino took advantage of the familiar Canadian air to win a $50K challenger in Saguenay. It's her second career ITF singles crown, but first in two years. She won what reads like a pretty entertaining final against fellow hard-hitting North American up-and-comer Alison Riske, 6-4/6-7/7-6.
=============================
DOWN: Elena Vesnina/RUS & Maria Sharapova/RUS
...of course, with so many Russians rising, a few had to fall, as well. Vesnina and Sharapova get the dishonor. For her part, Vesnina DID reach the Tashkent final, her second tour singles decider this season. But after losing to Kudryavtseva, she's still seeking her first title. She's 0-4 in WTA finals in her career. Meanwhile, there was legitimate curiosity about how well Sharapova would do this 4Q in Asia, a part of the world where's she's always played well and had great support, after her hit-early-and-miss-late North American campaign. A year ago, she won the Tokyo crown, her biggest title since shoulder surgery. Today, though, she was taken out in her opening match by Date-Krumm on the eve of her 40th. Many of the Japanese vet's biggest wins in her comeback have come against Russians, most notably her multiple victories over Safina. That's not exactly the player whose recent career trajectory that the nonSupernova wants HER plight recognizably compared to.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Romina Oprandi/ITA
...for the second time this season, Oprandi has claimed a $100K singles championship. This weekend, she won the Saint Melo, France event, defeating Alize Cornet 6-2/2-6/6-2 in the final. Oprandi has now reached eight ITF singles final in '10, winning half of them.
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JUNIOR STAR: Natalija Kostic/SRB
...the 16-year old Serb won the Perin Memorial G1 event in Umag, Croatia. She defeated top-seeded Sofiya Kovalets (UKR) in straight sets in the final.
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1. Tokyo 1st Rd - Date-Krumm d. Sharapova
...7-5/3-6/6-3. Sigh. Is the end nigh? And just how big of an overreaction would such a wandering random thought be?
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2. Tash 1st Rd - Petrova d. Groth 6-3/6-2
Tokyo Q2 - Vandeweghe d. Groth 6-4/7-6
... A title in Guangzhou the week before guarantees absolutely nothing. Just ask Jarmila.
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3. Tash Final - Kudryavtseva d. Vesnina
...6-4/6-4. This was the twenty-fifth time that two Russian women have matched up to decide a WTA singles title (and the third such final in '10). And to think, just seven years ago in 2003, when Anastasia Myskina faced Elena Likhovtseva in Doha, such an occasion was something that the tour had never witnessed before.
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4. Seoul Final - Kleybanova d. Zakopalova
...6-1/6-3. Kleybanova is now one of the throng of ten women tied with two titles this season, two behind the tour's co-leaders, Barbie and Caroline Wozniacki (both with four).
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5. Tokyo 1st Rd / When Players are Forced to Play Premier Events... cough, cough... "interesting" results occur in the opening round:
Vinci d. Tashkent semifinalist Petrova 7-5/6-4
Vandeweghe d. Seoul RU Zakopalova 6-4/7-6
Ivanovic d. Seoul champion Kleybanova 6-3/6-2
...and that's just a small sampling.
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6. Seoul 2nd Rd - Safina d. Kirilenko
...6-2/6-3. Dinara is still having a hard time stringing together more than a few wins at a time, but the easy-looking scoreline here would seem to be a good sign that things are progressing well enough while no one is paying much attention.
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7. Tokyo 1st Rd - Kuznetsova d. Szavay
...4-3 ret. What is it with Szavay having to retire whenever she faces Kuznetsova anyway?
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8. $10K Thessaloniki Final - Anastasia Mukhametova d. Basak Eraydin
...1-6/6-1/6-3. One of sixteen different Russian women who've won ITF singles titles this season, the 18-year old Mukhametova is just one of four from that group to win multiple crowns in '10. She also picked up the doubles championship.
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9. $10K Caracas Final - Andrea Gamiz d. Adriana Perez
...1-6/6-4/7-5. One week earlier, in another $10K final in Caracas, it was Perez getting the best of Venezuelan countrywoman Gamiz.
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10. Tokyo 2nd Rd - Jankovic d. A.Bondarenko
...6-4/6-1. JJ's back. Ah, but WHICH JJ? This was a good first step, as Jankovic attempts to defend her '09 Tokyo runner-up points this week.
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**RECORDS IN ALL-RUSSIAN WTA FINALS**
12...Elena Dementieva (6-6)
8...Svetlana Kuznetsova (4-4)
7...Dinara Safina (3-4)
5...Maria Sharapova (3-2)
4...Anastasia Myskina (4-0)
3...ELENA VESNINA (0-3)
2...Anna Chakvetadze (2-0)
2...ALISA KLEYBANOVA (2-0)
2...Nadia Petrova (0-2)

**MOST DIFFERENT 2010 WTA CHAMPIONS - NATIONS**
9...RUSSIA *
3...Belgium (Barbie/Henin/Wickmayer)
2...Australia (Groth/Stosur)
2...Italy (Pennetta/Schiavone)
2...United States (Williams/Williams
-
* - Chakvetadze, Dementieva, Kleybanova, Kudryavtseva, Kuznetsova, Makarova, Pavlyuchenkova, Sharapova, Zvonareva

**BEST 2010 RECORDS IN WTA FINALS**
[two or more finals]
4-0...Belgian Barbie, BEL
4-1...Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
2-0...ALISA KLEYBANOVA, RUS
2-0...Anastasia Pavlyuchenova, RUS
2-0...Aravane Rezai, FRA
2-0...Francesca Schiavone, ITA
2-0...Agnes Szavay, HUN
2-1...Elena Dementieva, RUS
2-1...Serena Williams, USA

**WORST 2010 RECORDS IN WTA FINALS**
[two or more finals]
0-2...ELENA VESNINA, RUS
0-2...KLARA ZAKOPALOVA, CZE
1-4...Vera Zvonareva, RUS
1-2...Victoria Azarenka, BLR
1-2...Flavia Pennetta, ITA
1-2...Samantha Stosur, AUS

**2010 ALL-NATION FINALS**
January - (Brisbane) Belgium: Barbie def. Henin
February - (Kuala Lumpur) Russia: Kleybanova def. Dementieva
April - (Barcelone) Italy: Schiavone def. Vinci
July - (Istanbul) Russia: Pavlyuchenkova def. Vesnina
SEPTEMBER - (TASHKENT) RUSSIA: KUDRYAVTSEVA def. VESNINA

**2010 WTA FINALS - BY NATION**
25...RUSSIA (13 titles)
9...Belgium (7)
8...United States (8)
6...Italy (3)
5...Denmark (4)
5...Czech Republic (1)
4...Australia (2)
4...Belarus (2)
4...Germany (1)

**2010 HARD COURT TITLES**
4...Belgian Barbie, BEL
3...Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
2...Elena Dementieva, RUS
2...ALISA KLEYBANOVA, RUS

**MOST 2010 BACKSPIN "ITF PLAYER OF THE WEEK" AWARDS**
3...Jelena Dokic, AUS
3...Johanna Larsson, SWE
3...Mathilde Johansson, FRA
2...Edina Gallovits, ROU
2...Anna Lapushchenkova, RUS
2...ROMINA OPRANDI, ITA





TOKYO, JAPAN (Premier+ $2m/hard outdoor)
09 Final: Sharapova d. Jankovic
10 Top Seeds: Wozniacki/Zvonareva
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=QF=
#1 Wozniacki d. #10 Kuznetsova
#4 Stosur d. Ivanovic
#5 Schiavone d. Kanepi
#2 Zvonareva d. Kirilenko
=SF=
#1 Wozniacki d. #4 Stosur
#2 Zvonareva d. #5 Schiavone
=FINAL=
#2 Zvonareva d. #1 Wozniacki

...who bounces back from their Open ending better? On a hunch, and keeping with this week's theme, I'll go with the Russian.

All for now.



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3Q BSA's: Resting in Pieces

Better late than never. Although... I AM talking about the 3rd Quarter of 2010, so maybe I shouldn't assume anything.

*3Q Backspin Awards - Wk.27-36*
**PLAYERS OF THE QUARTER**
1. Kim Clijsters, BEL
...even if she did ultimately "ruin" the Open's building mojo, she proved once again that hard court is where her heart is. Plus, there is a certain skill in finally learning how to stand upright while all those around you are falling on their faces.
=============================
2. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
...sort of like a period of "Indian summer" in the middle of a cool spell, the Dane provided some great excitement for a brief while. Too bad the "Wozniacki summer" didn't have a more charming end in New York.
=============================
3. Vera Zvonareva, RUS
...for the second straight slam, Zvonareva has to tell herself to not let the lush "forest" of her '10 surge be obscured by the more immediately visible scrawny "trees" of her final matches in London and Flushing Meadows.
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4. Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
...the Open didn't go as she'd hoped, but over the course of the North American hard court season, Kuznetsova managed to lift herself up from the ashes of her previously forgettable '10 campaign.
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5. Vania King/Yaroslava Shvedova, USA/KAZ
...Venus & Serena who? Just kidding. Still, with the absence of the Sisters in NYC, the top seeds weren't the teams who took advantage at the Open. It was this pair, who've now won the only two slams in which they've entered as a team. King is now the highest-ranked American-born doubles player (and I guess I should say that Shvedova is now the highest-ranked Russian-born player representing Kazakhstan, too... you know, just to be totally accurate).
=============================
6. Liezel Huber, USA
...different partners, same results. She won titles with Lindsay Davenport and Bob Bryan, and reached the Open final with Nadia Petrova.
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7. Gisela Dulko/Flavia Pennetta, ARG/ITA
...they flamed out in New York as the #1 seed, but they won two 3Q titles.
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8. Agnes Szavay, HUN
...she started the 3Q with a bang, winning back-to-back titles before the tour turned to North America.
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9. Victoria Azarenka, BLR
...she was literally wheeled off the court at the Open, but should be noted that her Super-enka Stanford title (and Cincy doubles crown) was noteworthy enough that many considered her a threat to win the whole thing in Flushing Meadows.
=============================
10. Timea Bacsinszky/Tathiana Garbin, SUI/ITA
...the pair teamed to win two doubles crowns early in the quarter.
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HM- Anna Chakvetadze/RUS, Kaia Kanepi/EST, Maria Kirilenko/RUS, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS, Aravane Rezai/FRA, Maria Sharapova/RUS, Venus Williams/USA
=============================

**RISERS**
1. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
2. Vera Zvonareva, RUS
3. Vania King/Yaroslava Shvedova, USA/KAZ
4. Agnes Szavay, HUN
5. Victoria Azarenka, BLR
6. Kaia Kanepi, EST
7. Aravane Rezai, FRA
8. Maria Kirilenko, RUS
9. Andrea Petkovic, GER
10. Shahar Peer, ISR
11. Jarmila Groth, AUS
12. Julia Goerges, GER
13. Elena Vesnina, RUS
14. Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova, CZE
15. Anastasia Rodionova, AUS
HM- Timea Bacsinszky/SUI & Carly Gullickson/Chelsey Gullickson, USA/USA

**FRESH FACES**
1. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
2. Alexandra Dulgheru, ROU
3. Rebecca Marino, CAN
4. Johanna Larsson, SWE
5. Beatrice Capra, USA (at the Open)
6. Ksenia Pervak, RUS
7. Coco Vandeweghe, USA
8. Polona Hercog, SLO
9. Simona Halep, ROU
10. Monica Niculescu, ROU
11. Anastasiya Sevastova, LAT
12. Stefanie Voegele, SUI
13. Zhang Shuai, CHN
14. Laura Robson, GBR
15. Heather Watson, GBR
16. Sally Peers, AUS
17. Michelle Larcher de Brito, POR
18. Chelsey Gullickson, USA
19. Jamie Hampton, USA
20. Irina Falconi, USA

**JUNIORS**
1. Daria Gavrilova, RUS
2. Beatrice Capra, USA
3. Yulia Putintseva, RUS
4. Ons Jabeur, TUN
5. Sloane Stephens, USA
6. Timea Babos/Sloane Stephens, HUN/USA
7. Karolina Pliskova, CZE
8. Monica Puig, PUR
9. Jana Cepelova, SVK
10. Camila Silva, CHI
11. Veronica Cepede Royg, PAR
12. Caroline Garcia, FRA
13. Chanel Simmonds, RSA
14. Robin Anderson, USA
15. Nastja Kolar, SLO
16. Tara Moore, GBR
17. Lenka Jurikova, SVK
18. Eleonor Dean, GBR
19. An-Sophie Mestach, BEL
20. Cristina Dinu, ROU

**SURPRISES**
1. Mandy Minella, LUX
2. Anna Lapushchenkova, RUS
3. Patricia Mayr, AUT
4. Romina Oprandi, ITA
5. Lucie Hradecka, CZE
6. Akgul Amanmuradova, UZB
7. Olga Savchuk, UKR
8. Meilen Auroux, ARG
9. Ana Vrljic, CRO
10. Alexandra Mueller, USA
HM- Florencia Molinero/ARG & Alexandra Panova/RUS

**VETERANS**
1. Kim Clijsters, BEL
2. Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
3. Gisela Dulko/Flavia Pennetta, ARG/ITA
4. Liezel Huber, USA
5. Venus Williams, USA
6. Gisela Dulko, ARG
7. Francesca Schiavone, ITA
8. Flavia Pennetta, ITA
9. Nadia Petrova, RUS
10. Patty Schnyder, SUI
11. Kveta Peschke/Katarina Srebotnik, CZE/SLO
12. Elena Dementieva, RUS
13. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
14. Tathiana Garbin, ITA
15. Zuzana Ondraskova, CZE
16. Maria Elena Camerin, ITA
17. Yvonne Meusburger, AUT
18. Zuzana Kucova, SVK
19. Nuria Llagostera-Vives, ESP
20. Klara Zakopalova, CZE
HM- Lourdes Dominguez-Lino, ESP

**COMEBACKS**
1. Agnes Szavay, HUN
2. Anna Chakvetadze, RUS
3. Ana Ivanovic, SRB
4. Mirjana Lucic, CRO
5. Sania Mirza, IND
6. Tamira Paszek, AUT
7. Dominika Cibulkova, SVK
8. Alize Cornet, FRA
9. Dinara Safina, RUS
10. Virginie Razzano, FRA
HM- Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS & Lindsay Davenport, USA

**DOWN**
1. Serena Williams, USA & Justine Henin, BEL
2. Jelena Jankovic, SRB
3. Melanie Oudin, USA
4. Petra Kvitova, CZE
5. Carly Gullickson, USA (US Open Mixed Doubles)
HM- Nuria Llagostera-Vives/Marie Jose Martinez-Sanchez, ESP/ESP & Aleksandra Wozniak, CAN

**ITF PLAYERS**
1. Jelena Dokic, AUS
2. Anna Chakvetadze, RUS
3. Renata Voracova, CZE
4. Julia Goerges, GER
5. Magda Linette, POL
6. Julia Mayr, ITA
7. Liana-Gabriela Ungur, ROU
8. Andrea Hlavackova, CZE
9. Mathilde Johansson, FRA
10. Madalina Gojnea, ROU
11. Meilen Auroux, ARG
12. Zuzana Zlochova, SVK
13. Jamie Hampton, USA
14. Paula Ormaechea, ARG
15. Angelique van der Meet, NED
HM- Evelyn Mayr, ITA

**TOP PERFORMANCES OF THE QUARTER... with feeling**
[Best Feel-Good]
Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova overcome match points in two matches en route to winning the U.S. Open Doubles title, their second straight slam championship
[Best Feel-Good, to everyone but Tennis Australia]
Jelena Dokic wins three straight ITF challenger events, but Tennis Australia doesn't deem her worthy of its discretionary wild card into the U.S. Open main draw. Ignoring the dictionary definition of the word "discretionary" by saying that the decision was made weeks earlier (after Dokic's first of three titles) and that the spot was automatically given to the then-higher ranked Sophie Ferguson (rather than the #82-ranked-when-the-Open-began Dokic). Forced to carry her fifteen-match winning streak into the qualies, Dokic lost in the opening round. In the main draw, Ferguson was easily dumped out after one match. Thus, "feel-good" became "no-good" for all involved.
[Mixed Feelings]
Caroline Wozniacki wins back-to-back titles in Montreal and New Haven (her third straight win at Yale) and heads to the Open as the #1 seed. For nearly two weeks, she was the top story of the women's draw at Flushing Meadows... until she was a virtual no-show in the breezy semifinal match-up with Vera Zvonareva. Speaking of the Russian, she ended her summer by playing in her third slam final in a little more than two months. After going 0-2 in the Wimbledon singles and doubles finals, she also lost the Open singles decider.
[Mixed Feelings, Pt.2]
The U.S. Open medical crew was swift to respond to Victoria Azarenka's on-court collapse in her 1st Round match against Gisela Dulko. Good job. Of course, if the Belarusian's pre-match concussion after a fall in practice had been diagnosed before she stepped onto the court, the tournament's scariest moment would never have occurred in the first place. Bad job.
[It Felt "Good" at the Time]
Kim Clijsters won Cincinnati one year after she made her comeback from retirement in the same tournament, climbing back from match point down three times against Maria Sharapova in the final. Her ranking rose to #4.
[But Just Because "Good Times" Was Set in New York Doesn't Mean That the Open was Dyno-mite]
Clijsters defended her Open title at Flushing Meadows, winning her third slam crown and extending her tournament winning streak to twenty-one matches. Her ranking fell to #5. Oh, and the final was a monumentally anticlimactic bore, too.

*QUOTES...with still more feeling*
"There's nothing like being match fit." - Jelena Dokic
"Every match I win now, it's like winning an entire tournament." - Mirjana Lucic
"It's one of the most devastating moments of my career." - Serena Williams
"It's definitely the best moment of my life." - Beatrice Capra
"This whole experience will make me stronger. I plan to come back better than ever." - Serena Williams
"I can have cake now." - Victoria Azarenka
"I can't do anything!!!" - Jelena Jankovic

*FEELING AROUND FOR MATCHES OF NOTE*
U.S. Open 4th Rd. - Samantha Stosur d. Elena Dementieva
...6-3/2-6/7-6. In the women's match of the tournament, Stosur makes it back-to-back slams in which she pulled out a victory after being down match point down. In this one, which lasted until 1:35 am, the Aussie saved four MP's after overcoming a stretch that saw her serve broken five straight times.
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U.S. Open Doubles 3rd Rd. - King/Shvedova d. Benesova/Zahlavova-Strycova
...7-6(9)/3-6/7-6(9). In the 3-hour plus match, the teams traded match points (and double-faults) before reaching a nailbiting conclusion.
=============================
U.S. Open Doubles Final - King/Shvedova d. Huber/Petrova
...2-6/6-4/7-6. Spread out over two days, King & Shvedova again overcame a late match point to rebound and win a second 2010 slam title.
=============================
Cincinnati Final - Kim Ciljsters d. Maria Sharapova
...2-6/7-6/6-2. In an early North American circuit contest that would come to symbolize the whole, a match characterized by poor play ultimately crowned the Belgian as the champion on her fifth match point after she'd overcome three match points against the unable-to-close Russian. Oh, and there was a 74-minute rain delay thrown in to mess with everyone's heads, too.
=============================
New Haven SF - Caroline Wozniacki d. Elena Dementieva
...6-4/2-6/6-3. Punch-Sober gave a pre-Open preview of her performance at Flushing Meadows, blowing a break point for a 4-1 3rd set lead and her chance to serve out the match at 5-3.
=============================
Stanford QF - Maria Sharapova d. Elena Dementieva
...6-4/2-6/6-3. Sensing a trend here? Yep, it's Dementieva AGAIN. In this one, Sharapova committed fifteen double-faults, but Dementieva was still bested in the end when her not-yet-Supernovic countrywoman found a way to use her serve to dig out of the hole it'd previously dug for her.
=============================
Istanbul Final - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova d. Elena Vesnina
...5-7/7-5/6-4. Vesnina led 7-5/4-0, but fell in the end at the conclusion of this 3:11 match. Afterward, the crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to newly-20 year old Pavlyuchenkova.
=============================
U.S. Open 2nd Rd. - Beatrice Capra d. Aravane Rezai
...7-5/2-6/6-3. The American proved to be no second coming of Melanie Oudin, but the Capraesque wild card did provide the tournament with a getting-its-wings moment. In the end, the Open wasn't so lucky, though. Capra simply lost her next match, but the tournament's wings were literally pulled off by a certain Belgian on the final weekend.
=============================
U.S. Open SF - Kim Clijsters d. Venus Williams
...4-6/7-6/6-4. It looked like Venus was going to pull a "Williams Moment" out of her bag of magic, but her game crashed at precisely the wrong moment.
=============================
Stanford Doubles Final - Davenport/Huber d. Chan/Zheng
...7-6/6-7/10-8. And to think that Azarenka's win and this result opened up the North American circuit. Everything looked so promising. Sigh.
=============================
U.S. Open 1st Rd. - Jelena Jankovic d. Simona Halep
...6-4/4-6/7-5. Not a "Classic" Queen Chaos match, but as good as we got in this lean 3Q.
=============================

=THE GOOD=
Andrea Petkovic: Three-way Threat. She dances! She blogs! She saves three match points against Bethanie Mattek-Sands at the Open! No wonder Ipek Senoglu said she is "not only a great tennis player but is also very intelligent and funny, and interested in different parts of life other than just tennis."
=============================
Mirjana Lucic getting her first grand slam main draw singles win in eight years, and first at the Open since 1999
=============================
Ana Ivanovic reaching the Cincinnati SF after getting peeved about not receiving a wild card into the upcoming Montreal event (she turned down the spot in the draw after it was belatedly offered), then tying her career-best U.S. Open result when she reached the Round of 16
=============================
Agnes Szavay's back-to-back pre-North American circuit titles, and Anna Chakvetadze's back-from-the-depths tour title and $100K challenger championship
=============================
A post-Wimbledon QF collapse Kaia Kanepi's first career tour singles title
=============================

=THE BAD=
The roof-less Arthur Ashe Stadium, and the USTA's excuses for keeping it that way
=============================
The U.S. Open women's singles final
=============================
Victoria Azarenka's star-crossed grand slam career... so far
=============================
Maria Sharapova's inability to "get over the hump" and on to the other side
=============================

=THE UGLY=
Caroline Wozniacki goes out of a slam without seeming to have any answers for her opponent's game... again
=============================
Venus Williams' very un-Serena-esque failure seize the spotlight at the Open
=============================
Kim Clijsters' final grand slam matches in 2010: a near double-bagel at the hands of Petrova in Oz, a collapse vs. Zvonareva at Wimbledon, and the snooze-fest on Ashe (also against Zvonareva)
=============================

=THE POINTLESS=
The Brussels match between Clijsters & Serena that broke the Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs "Battle of the Sexes" record for attendence for a tennis exhibition. Plus, it opened the door for all the speculation about Williams' foot injury since she played the match right after she was hurt.
=============================

=THE LESS SUCCESSFUL=
"Courage" didn't work as well as "Believe" on Melanie Oudin's shoes at the Open
=============================

=THE SWEET, ACTUALLY=
A 12-year old Sally Peers' photo with Kim Clijsters at the 2003 Davis Cup featuring the Australian team, viewed before the fan-turned-opponent Aussie played her 2nd Round U.S. Open match against the Belgian
=============================

=THE AND-SHE-THOUGHT-CRAMMING-FOR-EXAMS-WAS-A-RED BULL-REQUIRED-EVENT=
Chelsey Gullickson, coming off her sophomore semester at the University of Georgia, made her grand slam debut on Ashe Stadium against Caroline Wozniacki in a match that began at 11:50 pm on Day 2, and didn't end until Day 3 at 1:00 am
=============================

=THE EYEROLL-WORTHY=
John McEnroe's questions about women's abilities to physically/mentally hold up over the course of a 10-month season. Though the "evidence" backing his thought process is somewhat compelling, it's sort of done in by the sight of so many MEN being unable to survive in the late summer New York heat at the Open.
=============================

=THE TO-BE-DETERMINED=
Whether the Williams Sisters' committment to playing for the U.S. in the Fed Cup final against Italy will hold up long enough for both of them to be healthy enough to actually play
=============================

And the fitting comment to end the Quarter That is Better Left Forgotten (even if I might have managed to sift through the wreckage to find enough decent moments to soften the deadening blow that the last few months have taken on the women's game):

"I'd like to thank the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour for everything they've done to us." - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, saying it better than I ever could

Oh, out of the mouths of Hordettes. Rest in pieces, 3rd Quarter.





=PLAYER OF THE YEAR HISTORY=
[pre-Backspin]
1997 Martina Hingis, SUI
1998 Jana Novotna, CZE
1999 Steffi Graf, GER
2000 Venus Williams, USA
["Ms. Backspin"]
2001 Jennifer Capriati, USA
2002 Serena Williams, USA
2003 Justine Henin-Hardenne, BEL
2004 Maria Sharapova, RUS
2005 Kim Clijsters, BEL
2006 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
2007 Justine Henin, BEL
2008 Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA
2009 Italian Fed Cup Team

As for this year... well, it seemed that Serena Williams had the 2010 title all but wrapped up after she won Wimbledon. She probably still does Although, if Caroline Wozniacki had pulled off a victory in New York a legitimate argument would have been able to be built for the Dane's candidacy, especially since Williams' return to the court is still shrouded in so much mystery at this point.

After awarding the title to the Italians a season ago, a repeat Fed Cup crown probably wouldn't be enough for Francesca Schiavone, Flavia Pennetta & Co. to defend THIS crown. Although, I might be willing to consider Roland Garros champ Schiavone if she were to lead Team Italia to the title with, say, wins over the Williams Sisters in the final. On the other hand, if Serena were to lead the Americans to the crown, giving "Ms. Backspin" to the American team would be a way to honor the previously-upstart Bannerettes AND Williams, who hasn't been much of a factor except in Melbourne and London in '10 but is still the most solid choice for POW (which sort of says much about the seasons of everyone else).

The race might be over, but maybe not. Probably Francesca is the only REAL potential late-season spoiler. As of now...

**"Ms. BACKSPIN '10... so far**
[The Contenders]
1. Serena Williams, USA
...she deserves a second "Ms. B" award (along with her '02 crown) for her resurgence the last couple of years. After holding back and going for "unconventional" choices for 2008-09, it'll take something remarkable to knock her off this perch for '10, injured foot or no injured foot.
=============================
2t. Italian Fed Cup Team/United States Fed Cup Team
...to be determined in November.
=============================
3. Francesca Schiavone, ITA
...her title in Paris will go down as THE feel-good moment of the season, but she still might have one more shocker left to spring on us.

[The Second Tier, in alphabetical order]
Kim Clijsters, BEL
...without the Open title, she's nowhere near this level. With it, by "Tennis Australia"-like rules, she's an automatic entry even though her only previous '10 highs have come with many months between them.
=============================
Samantha Stosur, AUS
...now a solid Top 10er and slam finalist, but some questions linger.
=============================
Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
...she came within two wins of having a real shot at the gold ring.
=============================
Vera Zvonareva, RUS
...physically (and mentally) recovered from her '09 lows, she's the highest ranked Russian in the world and the only woman not named Serena to appear in two slam singles finals in '10.
=============================

[The Doubles Contingent]
Cara Black, ZIM
...early-season wins with ex-partner Liezel Huber, and two Mixed Doubles slam titles, put her on the board.
=============================
Dulko/Pennetta, ARG/ITA
...they've won more titles than any other team, but have stumbled in the slams.
=============================
Liezel Huber, USA
...the top-ranked doubles player in the world, capable of winning with any partner. But will she get into the action in the Fed Cup final if it comes down to the final Doubles match, and Venus & Serena are ready, willing and able to go? THAT would be an interesting decision for MJF to have to make.
=============================
King/Shvedova, USA/KAZ
...matched the Sisters with two '10 slam titles.
=============================
Williams/Williams, USA/USA
...alas, a true "Sisters Grand Slam" would have been enough to claim the POW honors.
=============================

[Major Accomplishments, Minor Movement]
Elena Dementieva/RUS, Justine Henin/BEL, Jelena Jankovic/SRB, Petra Kvitova/CZE, Li Na/CHN, Tsvetana Pironkova/BUL, Venus Williams/USA, Zheng Jie/CHN
...they all put up a slam SF-or-better result this season.
=============================

[They Have to Be Mentioned]
Victoria Azarenka/BLR, Azarenka/Kirilenko (BLR/RUS), Dominika Cibulkova/SVK, Jarmila Groth/AUS, Kaia Kanepi/EST, Maria Kirilenko/RUS, Llagostera-Vives/MJMS (ESP/ESP), Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez/ESP, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS, Shahar Peer/ISR, Flavia Pennetta/ITA, Peschke/Srebotnit (CZE/SLO), Nadia Petrova/RUS, Aravane Rezai/FRA, Maria Sharapova/RUS, Yaroslava Shvedova/KAZ, Katarina Srebotnik/SLO, Agnes Szavay/HUN
...a grab bag/catch-all that includes all the other players with multiple titles, slam QF results, notable accomplishments, etc.
=============================


All for now.

Read more...

Wk.37- New Faces, Different Quarter

The 4Q is already feeling like a more accomodating place than the 3Q ever was (well, except for that brief "Wozniacki Interlude" during the production, of course).

Of course, that might just be because the now-infamously-evil 3Q is dead and buried (though it will make a one-time-only zombie-like appearance tomorrow when the "so-called awards" for the sorry late summer section of the WTA season finally make their belated appearance in this space). How do I know it's dead and buried, you ask? Why, because the 4Q is now well underway.

Autumn is supposed to be where nature goes to die, but you can already feel a sense of WTA season "rebirth" in the air. This weekend, the tour's two tournaments produced two wild card entries and two qualifiers in the quarterfinals. Five of eight semifinalists were ranked #100-or-higher. Three first-time singles finalists reached deciding matches in Guangzhou and Quebec City (and the fourth participant was trying to win her first title in four years... at just age nineteen), and the week's sole first-time champion wasn't even an official citizen of the nation she now represents at this time last year. In other words, it was no U.S. Open final... so there was at least a smidgen of something interesting to chew on.

Ahhh. Take a deep breath. How sweet... fresh meat. The 3Q is over. Long live the 4Q, as the countdown of the season's final ten tour events begins this week in Seoul and Tashkent.

*WEEK 37 CHAMPIONS*

GUANGZHOU, CHINA (Int'l $220K/hard outdoor)
S: Jarmila Groth def. Alla Kudryavtseva 6-1/6-4
D: Gallovits/Mirza d. Han/Liu

QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC (Int'l $220K/hard indoor)
S: Tamira Paszek def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands 7-6/2-6/7-5
D: Arvidsson/Larsson def. Mattek-Sands/Zahlavova-Strycova


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jarmila Groth/AUS
...the 23-year old Slovak-turned-Aussie has looked like a player to keep a close eye on all season. She's reached two slam Round of 16's, pushed Venus Williams (Wimbledon) and Maria Sharapova (U.S. Open) on big stages, and was named the MVP of the WTT finals. Last week in Guangzhou, it all came together to produce yet another career-best moment in a season that began with Groth finally earning her Australian citizenship. With wins over Nina Bratchikova, Tamarine Tanasugarn, Maria Elena Camerin and Edina Gallovits she reached her first WTA singles final, then her win there over Alla Kudryavtseva gave her her first tour singles crown. Next?
=============================
RISERS: Bethanie Mattek-Sands/USA & Zhang Shuai/CHN
...at one point in her career, Mattek-Sands was known only for her, umm... "unfortunate" on-court fashion choices, which seemed designed only to draw attention to herself. One thing she seemed to have nothing to do with was her giving nearly as much thought to her tennis. Over the last few years, that's changed, along with a great many other things. She got married, injured, toned down her loud fashion sense (a bit) and decided to dedicate herself to improving her game. On the comeback trail after seeing her ranking fall to #152 at the end of last season (she'd been as high as #37 in '08), the American has made a move up the rankings this summer. She qualified at Wimbledon, pushed the Belgian Barbie to three sets in Montreal, and held three match points against Andrea Petkovic at the U.S. Open. Last week in Quebec City, Mattek-Sands proved to be a dual-threat. Wins over Irina Falconi, Julia Goerges, Rebecca Marino and Lucie Safarova put her in the final (the second in her career, and first since doing so at the same event two years ago) against Tamira Paszek. She and Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova reached the doubles final, as well. Unfortunately, while the American was the thirteenth woman in '10 to reach both a touranment's singles AND doubles final, she turned out to be the the third (Bascinszky in Bad Gastein, Zvonareva at Wimbledon) to lose both finals. Oh, well. At least things are getting better all the time. Meanwhile, Zhang reached her first career SF in Guangzhou, getting wins over Sophie Ferguson, Chanelle Scheepers and Sania Mirza. A qualifier at Roland Garros earlier this season, Zhang has won two ITF titles in 2010 and been a runner-up three other times. Last year, she became the lowest-ranked player to ever defeat at WTA #1, when she upset the then-top ranked Dinara Safina in Beijing while ranked #226.
=============================
SURPRISES: Alla Kudryavtseva/RUS & Han Xinyun/CHN
...Kudryavtseva has been in the WTA discussion before (nearly upsetting Venus Williams at Wimbledon in '07, then coming back a year later and taking out Maria Sharapova at SW19), but she's otherwise mostly played out her career well below the radar (hence her inability to crack jokes in post-match press conferences that the majority of the people listening actually "get"). Earlier this year, the Hordette again weaved a little slam magic by saving three match points in a Melbourne win over Melanie Oudin. Since then, though, she's maintained her usual low profile (except for maybe when she lost a grass court rematch with Sharapova in Birmingham). Last week in Guangzhou, though, the 22-year old managed to reach her first WTA singles final, where she lost to fellow first-time finalist Groth. In the same event, 20-year old wild card Han (who's made some waves in slam qualifying in '10, and managed to reach the main draw in Oz in January) found her way into the singles quarterfinals with victories over Hsieh Su-Wei and Chang Kai-Chen. She also reached the doubles final.
=============================
COMEBACKS: Tamira Paszek/AUT & Sania Mirza/IND
...it's not often that a player is in position to make a "comeback" while still in her teens, but that's precisely "the situation" (not to be confused with the one on "Dancing with the Stars" tonight) 19-year old Paszek has found herself in this summer. The Austrian has already experienced a career's worth of highs and lows before she's even turned 20. Four years ago, she qualified for a September WTA event in Portoroz and ended up winning the title. She was just 15 at the time, and is still the seventh-youngest singles champion in tour history. At #259 when she won the title, she's the third-lowest ranked (not including unranked champions) tour titlist in history. In 2007, she reached a career-high rank of #35. Since then, the Austrian has received praise from the likes of Justine Henin, watched her results dip amidst a series of coaching changes, missed many months with a heel injury, avoided a doping suspension from the Austrian tennis federation for blood treatments to treat a back injury, and struggled as her ranking fell to #186 at the end of 2009. In Week 21 of this season, she won an ITF event, then a few months later made it through U.S. Open qualifying and upset Lucie Safarova in the main draw. Last week in Quebec City, ranked #151, Paszek once again was forced to make her way through qualifying to reach the main draw. She did, getting wins over Carly Gullickson and Julie Ditty. After that, she ran off victories over Marina Erakovic, Jill Craybas, Sofia Arvidsson and Christina McHale to reach her first final since 2008 (Bali). And with her win in the final over Mattek-Sands, Paszek not only finally gets career title #2 but also looks to be getting a "second chance" in her career. By the way, the latest WTA champion FINALLY gets to celebrate the "Big Two-0" (not to be confused "Hawaii Five-O," premiering tonight on CBS) in December. Elsewhere, Sania Mirza continued her own comeback. Also a U.S. Open qualifier last month, the Indian known for creating so many off-court headlines made some minor ones on the court. In Guangzhou, she notched wins over Katie O'Brian and Akgul Amanmuradova to reach the QF, then won the doubles title with Edina Gallovits.
=============================
VETERANS: Renata Voracova/CZE & Zuzana Ondraskova/CZE
...the Czech vets were champions on the ITF circuit over the weekend. One week after claiming a $100K title, Voracova took at $25 event in Zagreb, defeating Magda Linette (a four-time challenger winner in '10) 6-1/4-6/6-4 in the final. In Mestre, Italy, Ondraskova won a $50K title with victories over Julia Schruff, Arantxa Rus, Katarzyna Piter and countrywoman Lucie Hradecka in the final.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Christina McHale/USA & Jamie Hampton/USA
...18-year old McHale reached her first tour SF in Quebec City, notching wins over Lilia Osterloh, Valerine Tetreault and Alexa Glatch. Meanwhile, 20-year old Hampton reached her seventh 2010 challenger final in a $25K event in Redding, California. She won her fourth title, defeating Jelena Pandzic in the deciding match.
=============================
DOWN: Aravane Rezai/FRA
...no big crash here, but she WAS the #2 seed (and my pick to win the title, grrrrr.... thankfully, Guangzhou pick Groth won, though, so things evened out) in Quebec City and lost in the 1st Round to Jill Craybas.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Mathilde Johansson/FRA
...the Pastry won her second $100K challenger title of '10 with a victory in the Sofia final when Carla Suarez-Navarro retired down 6-4/3-1. Johansson got earlier wins over Tathiana Garbin, Petra Martic and Sesil "The Ghost" Karatantcheva.
=============================
JUNIOR STAR: Aliaksandra Sasnovich/BLR
...the 16-year old Minsk native won the Serbia Junior Open at Novi Sad when her opponent in the final, #1-seed Sofiya Kovalets (UKR), retired seven games into the match. The tournament was on clay, but Sasnovich says that grass is her favorite surface.
=============================


1. Guang Final - Groth d. Kudryavtseva
...6-1/6-4. Groth joins Stosur as the only two Australian women to win tour singles titles this season. Meanwhile, no taken-out-of-context word yet on whether or not Kudryavtseva liked Jarmila's outfit. Ah, no one ever forgets.
=============================
2. Que Final - Paszek d. Mattek-Sands
...7-6/2-6/7-5. And Austria becomes the twentieth different nation to produce a WTA singles champion in 2010, matching the tour's spread-the-wealth season total from last year.
=============================
3. Que 1st Rd - Oudin d. Riske
...6-2/7-6. And thus Little MO begins the next phase. Not a bad start. She ended up reaching the QF.
=============================
HM- Que 2nd Rd - Marino d. Bartoli
...6-3/6-1. Would it have hurt Bartoli as much had it been Venus who kicked her top-seeded butt?
=============================


**2010 FIRST-TIME CHAMPIONS**
February - Mariana Duque-Marino, COL (age 20/Bogota)
February - Alisa Kleybanova, RUS (age 20/Kuala Lumpur)
March - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS (age 18/Monterrey)
May - Anastasiya Sevastova, LAT (age 20/Estoril)
June - Ekaterina Makarova, RUS (age 22/Eastbourne)
July - Kaia Kanepi, EST (age 25/Palermo)
July - Julia Goerges, GER (age 21/Bad Gastein)
SEPTEMBER - JARMILA GROTH, AUT (age 23/GUANGZHOU)

**2010 TEENAGED CHAMPIONS**
18y,8m - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS (Monterrey)
19y,1m - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS (Istanbul)
19y,9m - Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (Ponte Vedra Beach)
19y,9m - TAMIRA PASZEK, AUT (QUEBEC CITY)

**LOW-RANKED 2010 CHAMPIONS**
[not including unranked players]
#151 - TAMIRA PASZEK, AUT (QUEBEC CITY)
#143 - Alexandra Dulgheru, ROU (Bogota)
#103 - Anna Chakvetadze, RUS (Portoroz)
#100 - Ekaterina Makarova, RUS (Eastbourne)
#74 - Anastasiya Sevastova, LAT (Estoril)

**TWO FIRST-TIME FINALISTS IN FINAL**
Bogota (Feb.) - Mariana Duque-Marino/COL d. Angelique Kerber/GER
Estoril (Feb.) - Anastasiya Sevastova/LAT d. Arantxa Parra-Santonja/ESP
GUANGZHOU (SEPT.) - JARMILA GROTH/AUS d. ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA/RUS

**2010 QUALIFIERS IN FINAL**
Sofia Arvidsson, SWE (Memphis) - lost to Sharapova
Simona Halep, ROU (Fes) - lost to Benesova
Ekaterina Makarova, RUS (Eastbourne) - def. Azarenka
TAMIRA PASZEK, AUT (QUEBEC CITY) - def. MATTEK-SANDS

**WON BOTH WTA & CHALLENGER TITLES IN 2010**
Anna Chakvetadze, RUS - 1 ITF/1 WTA (Portoroz)
JARMILA GROTH, AUS - 1 ITF/1 WTA (GUANGZHOU)
Kaia Kanepi, EST - 2 ITF/1 WTA (Palermo)
TAMIRA PASZEK, AUT - 1 ITF/1 WTA (QUEBEC CITY)

**2010 ITF LEADERS**
[total finals]
7...JAMIE HAMPTON, USA (4-3)
7...Romina Oprandi, ITA (3-4)
6...Madalina Gojnea, ROU (5-1)
6...MAGDA LINETTE, POL (4-2)
6...Olivia Sanchez, FRA (4-2)
[undefeated in three-or-more finals]
4-0...Anna Lapushchenkova, RUS
4-0...Patricia Mayr, ITA
4-0...Chanel Simmonds, RSA
4-0...Liana-Gabriela Ungur, ROU
4-0...Zuzana Zlochova, SVK
3-0...Meilen Auroux, ARG
3-0...Jelena Dokic, AUS
3-0...Edina Gallovits, ROU
3-0...Sachie Ishizu, JPN
3-0...MATHILDE JOHANSSON, FRA





SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (Int'l $220K/hard outdoor)
09 Final: Date-Krumm d. Medina-Garrigues
10 Top Seeds: Petrova/Pavlyuchenkova
=============================
=SF=
#3 Kirilenko d. Groth
#2 Pavlyuchenkova d. #5 Kleybanova
=FINAL=
#2 Pavlyuchenkova d. #3 Kirilenko

...a year ago, Date-Krumm completed her comeback by winning her first tour title in thirteen years at nearly 39 years old. One season later, she could get a shot at #2 Pavlyuchenkova in the 2nd Round. I'll go with the youngster, and stick with her to take her third title of the year (although Kirilenko has a very good history of results in Asia). Groth, by the way, is scheduled to play top-seeded Petrova in the 1st Round.


TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN (Int'l $220K/hard outdoor)
09 Final: Peer d. Amanmuradova
10 Top Seeds: Dulgheru/Amanmuradova
=============================
=SF=
#4 Vesnina d. #1 Dulgheru
#2 Amanmuradova d. #3 Chakvetadze
=FINAL=
#4 Vesnina d. #2 Amanmuradova

...I'm not sure I really believe that Vesnina will win this, but since I've done so well with those mid-season regional "first title" predictions, I'll remain loyal to myself and go with her. So far, Groth, Kanepi & Camila Silva (ITF) have all come through with their first singles titles, leaving only Vesnina (WTA) and Sloane Stephens (ITF) as hold-outs.


All for now. The 3Q gets its belated send-off tomorrow (along with a look-in on the race for "Ms.Backspin '10.")

Read more...

Building the Perfect Rafa

Rafael Nadal's tennis career will never again be diminished by any discussion of something that he supposedly CAN'T do.

In 2010, the Spaniard has made quick work of everyone who ever questioned him, making them all look a bit naive, and maybe even a tad foolish for doubting him. Years ago, when he first won Roland Garros on the clay, it was said that he couldn't possibly ever win on the grass at Wimbledon. When he won at the All-England Club, claiming "The Greatest Match Ever Played" against Grass King Roger Federer, hard court was said to be his weakness. Then he won in Melbourne. At that point, the U.S. Open was his "new" Achilles' heel. Just as was the case for Bjorn Borg, it was said, New York would prove to be the one slam city when victory would forever elude him. The season was too long. His body wouldn't hold up. His game just didn't translate to the fast hard courts of Flushing Meadows.

All the speculation proved to be dead wrong. Again. For the one thing that can't be measured by what is seemingly apparent in a single moment in time, as were all the reasonable-at-the-time pronouncements about Nadal's career, is the heart of an athlete who wants to climb every mountain. Each phase of Nadal's career had served as a stepping stone to the next. His defense and physicality on the clay made him a force to contend with on other surfaces, then his willingness to shorten his groundstrokes and develop his volley allowed his game to flourish on the grass, leading to him taking still more topspin off his shots and turning his serve into a powerful weapon in order to contend on the hard courts in New York. Step by step, Nadal has turned himself into a complete player... and the last two weeks -- plus a few extra days due to the rain -- gives him all the ammunition necessary to be included in each and every "greatest ever" debate from here on out.

Of course, it didn't appear that that was going to be the case right before the '10 Open began. Andy Murray had just won the U.S. Open Series and Federer appeared as healthy and honed as ever, while Nadal's lackluster North American summer results seemed to signal that he would produce yet another result that came up short on tennis' biggest stage. There was no reason to think that the Open wasn't going to continue to be the sole chink in the Spaniard's armor. He had to have one, and the odds were that this tournament was it.

Wrong. Once again.

Who'd have thought that all of Nadal's work would come together so perfectly this late in the summer? Who'd have thought that he'd serve better than he ever has in his life (bumping up his average speed about 10 mph throughout the event)? Who'd have believed he'd enter the final having been broken just once in ninety-one service games, or be within three sets of becoming the first man in the Open era to win in New York without dropping a single set?

Poor Novak Djokovic. Even after Mother Nature gave the Serb a Sunday reprieve, and an extra day to recover from his marathon five-set semifinal win over Federer (in which he saved two match points) and rest the ankle he turned during the match, he was still facing an uphill struggle against the world's #1 player in monstrously good form.

In the 1st game of the match, Djokovic's ankle was tested. It held up. But it didn't prevent Nadal from breaking the Serb with a forehand winner (on his sixth break point attempt of the game) to grab a 3-2 lead. Djokovic destroyed his racket on the Ashe Stadium court in response, knowing that in order to have a shot in the match he would need to grab an early advantage and then hope to fight like hell just to stay a half-step ahead. By falling behind, he robbed himself of any hope to get to the soft underbelly of the Spaniard's game, if it indeed even existed after Nadal had yet to be pushed to the limit in Flushing Meadows and walked onto the court on Monday afternoon with a great deal more in the proverbial tank than his opponent.

Nadal won the set at 6-4 in fifty minutes... and the knowledge that he was 106-1 in slam matches after taking the opening set was just one more imposing impediment standing in Djokovic's way on the day.

After breaking his racket, Djokovic's game picked up. Although he lost the 1st set, he got an early break of Nadal's serve in the 2nd. At one point, on the way to taking a 4-1 lead, he even won eleven straight points. Still, knotting the match wasn't going to be easy against a player without an ounce of quit in his bones. Nadal righted himself in time to break and tie the score at 4-4, but at 30/30 in the next game the rains returned to Queens and play was suspended. When the two returned to action hours later under the lights (at about 8pm), Djokovic managed to do what he hadn't in the 1st. He jumped ahead early, getting another break and claiming the first set Nadal had lost all tournament at 7-5.

But, although Djokovic's play was commendable after that point, it was Nadal who completed his mission of rounding himself into "the perfect tennis beast." The Serb held on for as long as he could, saving break point after break point in the 3rd set (nine of ten over just two service games), but the Spaniard took the stanza at 6-4. In the 4th, while Djokovic's game never flatlined, he was still forced to shake his head at the brilliance of some of Nadal's shots at the end of long, competitive rallies as he sprinted toward the finish line in his race for tennis immortality.

The Serb gets immeasurable credit for never giving up or giving in, but in the end he was forced to succumb to the notion that he now may have fully replaced Andy Roddick as the unluckiest man in tennis. The promising American won his first slam title at the Open in 2003, becoming the first man to take a slam after Federer had won his first at Wimbledon two months earlier. As it turned out, Roddick was also the last man to win one before the Federer Era was officially ushed in the following January when he won his second slam in Melbourne. Federer would win eleven of sixteen slams after the '03 Open, and Roddick is STILL seeking his second. Djokovic, who's been #3 in the rankings for most of the last three years, managed to sneak in an Australian Open title in 2008, but has still managed to find himself in an even worse predicament than Roddick -- in his prime at a time when Federer was still in the latter stages of his own, as well as when Nadal was making his ascent (the pair has now won 21 of the last 23 slam titles, and 23 of 26). Now, even as Federer plays out the tail end of his slam-contending career, Nadal seems to hitting HIS peak. The Serb might never be able to crack the code for slam #2... and he won't even be able to blame himself, just his unlucky date of birth.



After he won for the second time at Wimbledon in July, Nadal seemed to be more focused on trying to win in New York than celebrating career slam #8. The Open was the biggest goal on his immediate radar. At around 10pm New York time on Monday night, he achieved that goal, collapsing on his back and rolling over onto his stomach just behind the baseline at the end of his 6-4/5-7/6-4/6-2 triumph. Moments later, on his knees and with his fists to the sky, Nadal basked in the knowledge that he had indeed built "the perfect Rafa."



The wins means that Nadal has become the seventh man to complete the career slam. There'll be no late-career quest for the final piece to HIS legacy's puzzle. From here on out, it'll be about adding layers to his legend. This win alone puts him in a few other select groups: he's the first in thirty-six years to win three straight slams in a single season (Jimmy Connors, when he won the December-held Australian Open in '74), the first since Rod Laver in '69 to win Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in succession, and he joins only Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf in professional tennis as winners of all four slams AND Olympic singles Gold.

At 24, only Bjorn Borg (a few months younger than Rafa, actually) stands as Nadal's equal when it comes to winning nine slam crowns at such a young age. And the Spaniard, unlike the Swede, isn't likely to retire long before he can wring all the possible major victories out of his playing days as he humanly can. With #9 in his column, he's now more than half-way to Federer's record of sixteen, and is ahead of the Swiss Mister's pace at the same age. As long as Nadal stays reasonably healthy, Federer might be feeling his breath on his neck in a few years. Methinks Roger had better get a couple more slams while he still can if he doesn't want to make Pete Sampras' relatively short reign as the all-time slam king seem long in comparison to his own.

So, after winning on clay. Then grass. Then hard court. Then in New York. What's next?

It could be that Nadal will never be better than he is at this moment. His view from the mountaintop today could very well represent what will be THE zenith of his career. But if we've learned anything this year it's that, much as it always was with Federer during the height of his dominance (he won six of eight slams starting at the age that Rafa finds himself now), it's simply not very wise to say that Nadal CAN'T do something.

Is a "Rafa Slam" next up in Melbourne, with a fourth straight slam win? No one's done that since Laver in '69. What about a TRUE calendar-year Grand Slam? Ditto, Laver forty-one years ago. Sure, such heights aren't likely. Not for anyone. Even Federer has never been able to scale those particular skyscrapers of possibility.

But after believing that Nadal COULDN'T do something in the past, then seeing him do just that. Multiple times, in fact. Maybe the sky IS the limit.



=NOTES=
...the doubles team of Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova continued their dramatic ways in the resumption of the Women's Doubles final. Just three points from defeat, at 5-4 down in the 3rd set when play began, the pair saved a quickly-attained match point for Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova, then went on to win the match in a tie-break, 2-6/6-4/7-6. It's the second time this tournament that King/Shvedova came back from match point down to win, and now they've won back-to-back slam titles after grabbing their first major title at Wimbledon in July.

*NEW TOP 10 SINGLES RANKINGS*
1. Serena Williams, USA
2. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
3. Venus Williams, USA
4. Vera Zvonareva, RUS
5. Kim Clijsters, BEL
6. Jelena Jankovic, SRB
7. Samantha Stosur, AUS
8. Francesca Schiavone, ITA
9. Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
10. Elena Dementieva, RUS
[2010 points race - Top 8 qualify for Doha]
1. Caroline Wozniacki (5615)
2. Serena Williams (5355)
3. Kim Clijsters (5295)
4. Vera Zvonareva (5173)
5. Venus Williams (4985)
6. Samantha Stosur (4567)
7. Jelena Jankovic (4033)
8. Francesca Schiavone (3952)
9. Justine Henin (3415)
10. Elena Dementieva (3327)

......after her 4th Round Open result, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is in the Top 20 (at #20) for the first time.

*NEW TOP 10 JUNIOR RANKINGS*
1. Davia Gavrilova, RUS
2. Timea Babos, HUN
3. Irina Khromacheva, RUS
4. Elina Svitolina, UKR
5. Monica Puig, PUR
6. Kristyna Pliskova, CZE
7. Karolina Pliskova, CZE
8. Sachie Ishizu, JPN
9. Nastja Kolar, SLO
10. Gabriela Dabrowski, CAN

...U.S. Open Girls runner-up Yulia Putintseva is #16, one behind semifinalist Ons Jabeur. Beatrice Capra is #20.

*NEW TOP 10 DOUBLES RANKINGS*
1. Liezel Huber, USA
2. Gisela Dulko, ARG
3. Flavia Pennetta, ITA
4. Vania King, USA
5t. Serena Williams, USA
5t. Venus Williams, USA
7. Cara Black, ZIM
8. Kveta Peschke, CZE
9. Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
10. Nadia Petrova, RUS
[2010 points race - Top 4 team qualify for Doha]
1. Dulko/Pennetta (7186)
2. Peschke/Srebotnik (5921)
3. Williams/Williams (5500)
4. Raymond/Stubbs (4704)
5. King/Shvedova (4457)
6. Llagostera-Vives/Martinez-Sanchez (3675)
7. Chan/Zheng (3620)
8. Black/Huber (3060)
9. Kirilenko/A.Radwanska (2840)
10. Huber/Petrova (2661)

...predictably, USA Today's Christine Brennan did another kiss-butt piece yesterday about how "great" it is for the WTA for Clijsters to win. I suppose that would be true... if anyone had really been paying attention.

...and, finally, talk about a game of hot potato. Yesterday, with the long rain delay, CBS passed off the Men's final to ESPN2, which began to broadcast at around 8pm. With the second game of the Monday Night Football doubleheader scheduled to begin on ESPN2 at 10:15, viewers would have been forced to move to a third network -- ESPN Classic -- to watch the conclusion of the match had it gone past that time. Thankfully, Nadal and Djokovic obliged and got things over quickly... then you could just feel the rushed-along nature of the post-match trophy presentation. If Bill MacAtee had put his earplug up to the microphone, I'm sure we would have heard a director yelling, "Shut up and let Rafa grab the trophy before we run out of time!!!" Sure enough, as soon as Nadal lifted the trophy above his head, the network feed from Flushing Meadows was cut off and ESPN2 went to the game in Kansas City at 10:15.

Whew! Talk about by the skin of their teeth.



*CAREER SLAM SINGLES TITLES - MEN*
16...Roger Federer
14...Pete Sampras
12...Roy Emerson
11...Bjorn Borg
11...Rod Laver
10...Bill Tilden
9...RAFAEL NADAL

*CAREER SLAMS - MEN*
[AO-RG-WI-US]
Fred Perry (1-1-3-3), 1933-36
Don Budge (1-1-2-2), 1937-38
Roy Emerson (6-2-2-2), 1961-67
Rod Laver (3-2-4-2), 1960-69
Andre Agassi (4-1-1-2), 1992-03
Roger Federer (4-1-6-5), 2003-10
RAFAEL NADAL (1-5-2-1), 2005-10

*WON THREE STRAIGHT SLAMS - OPEN ERA/MEN*
1969 Rod Laver, AUS (won all 4)
1974 Jimmy Connors, USA (single season)
1993-94 Pete Sampras, USA
2005-06 Roger Federer, SUI
2006-07 Roger Federer, SUI
2010 RAFAEL NADAL, SUI (single season)
[won Roland Garros-Wimbledon-US Open]
1969 Rod Laver
2010 RAFAEL NADAL

*WON ALL FOUR SLAMS, OLYMPICS SINGLES, GOLD*
Andre Agassi, USA (also won SEC)
Steffi Graf, GER (also won SEC)
RAFAEL NADAL, ESP
--
NOTE #1: Serena Williams & Roger Federer have won all 4 slams and Olympic Doubles Gold (as well as SEC)
NOTE #2: Justine Henin needs only Wimbledon title for all 4 slams (& has won Singles Gold and SEC)



*WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL*
#2 Kim Clijsters/BEL def. #7 Vera Zvonareva/RUS 6-2/6-1

*MEN'S SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Rafael Nadal/ESP def. #3 Novak Djokovic/SRB 6-4/5-7/6-4/6-2

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#6 King/Shvedova (USA/KAZ) def. #2 Huber/Petrova (USA/RUS) 2-6/6-4/7-6

*MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#1 Bryan/Bryan (USA/USA) def. #16 Bopanna/Qureshi (IND/PAK) 7-6/7-6

*MIXED DOUBLES FINAL*
#1 Huber/B.Bryan (USA/USA) def. Peschke/Qureshi (CZE/PAK) 6-4/6-4

*GIRLS SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Daria Gavrilova/RUS def. Yulia Putitintseva/RUS 6-2/6-2

*BOYS SINGLES FINAL*
(WC) Jack Sock/USA def. #10 Denis Kudla/USA 3-6/6-2/6-2

*GIRLS DOUBLES FINAL*
#3 Babos/Stephens (HUN/USA) def. Mestach/Njiric (BEL/CRO) walkover

*BOYS DOUBLES FINAL*
#3 Beretta/Quiroz (PER/ECU) def. #4 Golding/Vesely (GBR/CZE) 6-1/7-5






All for now. The 3Q Awards arrive later this week.

Read more...

US.14- The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on Flushing Meadows

As it turned out, Rafa Nadal didn't pull off the Paris/London/New York trifecta today.

Actually, he and Novak Djokovic didn't play at all.

Instead, after a good start to Day 14's action, the looming rain clouds settling over the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center finally opened up and let loose their pent-up fury. I guess I wasn't the only one upset about that nasty Women's final.

Anyway, the offshoot is that the Men's final will now be contested on Monday, at 4pm New York time.

Yep... with two other slams with retractable roof stadiums, it's well past time for the "biggest" one to follow suit.



=DAY 14 NOTES=
...the junior singles finals WERE completed today, though.

Daria Gavrilova became the latest Hordette to win a Girls slam title, taking out fellow Russian Yulia Putintseva 6-2/6-2 in the final. In the Boys championship, Jack Sock knocked out Denis Kudla 3-6/6-2/6-2.

...Esther Vergeer, too, closed things out, winning yet another Women's Wheelchair title with a double-bagel final score, extending her personal -- and astounding -- winning streak to 396 matches.

...the Women's Doubles final was ALMOST completed, but ultimately wasn't. Liezel Huber & Nadia Petrova got to within less than one game of the title when the rains came, leading Vania King & Yaroslava Shvedova 6-2/4-6/5-4. They'll wrap up tomorrow, as well.

...Yanina Wickmayer is receiving an award for showing heart.

...in weekend ITF action, Czech Maiden Renata Voracova won the $100K challenger in Biella, Italy with a victory in the final over countrywoman Zuzana Ondraskova, 6-4/6-2.

Other noteworthy winners: veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn, a week after dropping a 1st Round match to another Thai player named Nungnadda Wannasuk in a challenger in Japan, won this past week's $25K event in Noto, Japan. Also, Poland's Magda Linette won her fourth ITF crown of the season in a $25K challenger in Katowice, Poland.



GUANGZHOU, CHINA (Int'l $220K/hard outdoor)
09 Final: Peer d. Brianti
10 Top Seeds: Groth/Chan
=============================
=SF=
#1 Groth d. Gallovits
Mirza d. #2 Chan
=FINAL=
#1 Groth d. Mirza

...she's due after a breakthrough year, and this small Chinese event would be a nice, out of the way, place to get a first tour title.


QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC CAN (Int'l $220K/hard indoor)
09 Final: Czink d. Safarova
10 Top Seeds: Bartoli/Rezai
=============================
=SF=
#3 Safarova d. #1 Bartoli
#2 Rezai d. Lisicki
=FINAL=
#2 Rezai d. #3 Safarova

...one potentially interesting match: Bartoli vs. Rebecca Marino in the 2nd Round, in front of a home nation Canadian crowd for the player who Venus said reminded her of herself. Hopefully, Rebecca didn't watch that Clijsters SF match.

...oh, and finally, today I saw the latest Citizen watch ad touting that Clijsters' was "fueled by passion." I'm not even going to get into it again.



*WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL*
#2 Kim Clijsters/BEL def. #7 Vera Zvonareva/RUS 6-2/6-1

*MEN'S SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Rafael Nadal/ESP vs. #3 Novak Djokovic/SRB

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#6 King/Shvedova (USA/KAZ) vs. #2 Huber/Petrova (USA/RUS)

*MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#1 Bryan/Bryan (USA/USA) def. #16 Bopanna/Qureshi (IND/PAK) 7-6/7-6

*MIXED DOUBLES FINAL*
#1 Huber/B.Bryan (USA/USA) def. Peschke/Qureshi (CZE/PAK) 6-4/6-4

*GIRLS SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Daria Gavrilova/RUS def. Yulia Putintseva/RUS 6-2/6-2

*BOYS SINGLES FINAL*
(WC) Jack Sock/USA def. #10 Denis Kudla/USA 3-6/6-2/6-2

*GIRLS DOUBLES FINAL*
#3 Babos/Stephens (HUN/USA) def. Mestach/Njiric (BEL/CRO) walkover

*BOYS DOUBLES FINAL*
#3 Beretta/Quiroz (PER/ECU) def. #4 Golding/Vesely (GBR/CZE) 6-1/7-5




*2010 GIRLS SLAM FINALS*
AO: Karolina Pliskova/CZE def. Laura Robson/GBR
RG: Elina Svitolina/UKR def. Ons Jabeur/TUN
WI: Kristyna Pliskova/CZE def. Sachie Ishizu/JPN
US: Daria Gavrilova/RUS def. Yulia Putintseva/RUS




TOP QUALIFIER: Michelle Larcher de Brito/POR
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): #1 Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #1 Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): #2 Kim Clijsters/BEL
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q1: Laura Robson/GBR d. #2q Jelena Dokic/AUS 6-1/6-4
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 1st Rd. - #4 Jelena Jankovic/SRB def. Simona Halep/ROU 6-4/4-6/7-5
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 4th Rd. - #5 Stosur/AUS def. #12 Dementieva/RUS 6-3/2-6/7-6
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): SF - #2 Clijsters/BEL def. #3 V.Williams/USA 4-6/7-6/6-4
TOP NIGHT MATCH: 4th Rd. - #5 Stosur/AUS def. #12 Dementieva/RUS 6-3/2-6/7-6 (saved 4 MP, ended at 1:35 a.m.)
=============================
FIRST WINNER: #6 Francesca Schiavone/ITA (def. Ayumi Morita/JPN)
FIRST SEED OUT: #8 Li Na/CHN (lost to Kateryna Bondarenko/UKR)
UPSET QUEENS: The Taiwanese
REVELATION LADIES: The North Americans
LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING: Mandy Minella/LUX & Lourdes Dominguez-Lino/ESP (3rd Rd.)
IT GIRL: Beatrice Capra/USA
MS. OPPORTUNITY: Kaia Kanepi/EST
COMEBACK PLAYER: Francesca Schiavone/ITA
CRASH & BURN: #10 Victoria Azarenka/BLR (retired after collapsing in 2nd Rd. vs. Gisela Dulko/ARG)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: Samantha Stosur/AUS (down set and a break vs. Elena Vesnina/RUS in 1st Rd.; down 4 MP vs. Elena Dementieva/RUS in 4th Rd)
LAST AMERICAN STANDING: Venus Williams/USA (SF)
LADY OF THE EVENING: Venus Williams/USA
BROADWAY-BOUND: Vania King/USA
DOUBLES STAR Liezel Huber/USA
JUNIOR BREAKOUTS: Yulia Putintseva/RUS & Sloane Stephens/USA




All for now. More later after the Men's Final, including the 3Q Awards.

Read more...

Blahblahblah... Kim Wins... Blahblahblah

"Perfect blondes" aren't all they're cracked up to be. To paraphrase the opening line of every Kiss concert, "You asked for the best, well, too bad... this is what you got."

I can't say that I'm surprised.

Even in my blurry-eyed late-night post about Friday's semifinals, the forthcoming arrival of this non-competitive primer (otherwise known as the 2010 U.S. Open Women's Singles final) for all the WTA detractors who'll spend the next few months bemoaning the state of the WTA's lacking game was crystal clear.

I will send one good thought through the blogosphere for repeat Open champ Kim Clijsters, though. At least she had the sense to be merciful on Saturday night. Not to her so-called opponent Vera Zvonarera, who bore no resemblance to the woman who played her way into the final but a great deal like the queue of slam-less players who've spent the last few years throwing up all over themselves in grand slam finals (you know, the way Clijsters use to), but to everyone who had to watch this we-waited-two-weeks-for-THIS? "battle." At least we didn't have to spend multiple hours awaiting our collective execution like we did on Friday.

Oh, and here's where we give a special thanks to Zvonareva for her (cough, cough) "participation" in this primetime "event" (really, the USTA needs to chuck this nighttime women's final for a while... it's doing the sport more harm than good since it's never anything to write home about). The Russian seemed like she'd already prepared herself to be the runner-up before the match even began. (By the way, who knew you couldn't have a pre-match 9/11 tribute without Chaka Khan? You learn something new every day.) Anyway, apparently, it didn't really matter to her that much that she'd defeated the Belgian in the season's most recent slam in London, not to mention on hard court in Montreal right before the start of the Open, either.

I don't know what it is about Clijsters, but she just brings out the philanthropist in all her Open opponents these days. Serena implodes a year ago. Venus collapses yesterday. Vera decides she has something else more important to do on a Saturday night in the Big Apple (maybe tour the U.N.?). Maybe there's something to all that lovey-dovey gushing that goes on whenever Clijsters' name is brought up. Well, either that or she's a practitioner of black magic and has cast a rather powerful spell on her opponents on Ashe Stadium. I'm still on the fence on the one, I think.

Oh, I guess I HAVE to talk about the MATCH now, huh? All right, if I have to.

In short, Clijsters got a break to go up 4-2 in the 1st. With Zvonareva winning about 20% of her 2nd serve points (at least I think that's what the CBS on-screen stat said... I wasn't really watching all that closely), the Belgian won the set 6-2.

You'd think the 2nd set couldn't have been even WORSE... but if you did, you'd have been wrong. Clijsters got a break for a 2-0 lead. She finally faced her first break point of the match in Game #4, but held for 3-1 with an ace. The lead had been extended to 4-1, or maybe 5-1, when CBS put up a on-screen graphic showing the photos of recent grand slam-winning mothers and...

(click)

Honestly, I don't know what happened after that. I took that little moment as my clue to bail out of this disaster. The door opened and I made a bee-line through it. I hate re-runs (well, except for Backspin Time Capsules, of course... haha). I finally went online an hour later to see the final score, and I'm sure you're SHOCKED that I was SHOCKED to learn that Zvonareva never won another game. Clijsters won 6-2/6-1, defending her '09 crown, winning her third career Open title and running her Flushing Meadows winning streak to twenty-one matches.

I'm sure the trophy ceremony was just "brilliant," as well. Or, as Mary Carillo so finger-down-your-throatingly described Clijsters' play tonight -- "glistening." I'm sure Jada was especially cute. I'm sure Brian looked as bored as he did every other time he was shown in the friends box this week, too. I expect that Kim practically begged the crowd to applaud for her (probably by making some "ohh, isn't that special" reference to Jada's bedtime or overwhelming energy... since those sort of lines have been her specialty all tournament), and the multiple announcers then talked about how she is the most deserving human being on the face of the planet that we have the honor to watch grace the soil as she walks across the fruited plain without getting a nasty corn on her big toe and having to take off her shoe and rub her foot before wiping the sweet sweat from her brow produced by the sun above that has decided that she's so wonderful that it just had to take the time to attend to her personally.

But, as I said, I hate re-runs (well, except for "M*A*S*H" ones) and I had no interest in watching that episode again. The hilarious "Tuttle" episode, yes. "Kim Does NYC," no.

I will take some solace in the fact, though, that even if I HAD watched, I wouldn't have had to watch Cliff Drysdale literally dissolve into a pile of just-picked daisies at the thought of his "Kimmy Clijsters" winning another title, as he seemed to do at every opportunity this past week on ESPN2. For that, I thank the television no-network-crossovers-allowed (except for Carillo and J-Mac) overlords. While I'm at it, I may as well thank them for "Fringe," too, since I'll be looking forward to its season premiere... coming September 23rd to a local Fox affiliate near you... featuring Sharapova-clone Anna Torv's turn-the-screws role as Alternate Olivia.

Ah, sorry about that last one. I just wanted to be distracted by something that I actually enjoy, rather than dread, while writing this post. You know, like the foregone conclusion that was this shoot-me-now Women's final. You see, while some players can turn a thorough destruction into a tennis clinic that you can't pull your eyes away from -- like, say, people named Serena, Roger or Rafa -- there are others who don't have that particular skill set. Guess which category Kim's in. If you guessed the latter one, then congratulations -- you just had a better night than Vera did. Oh, and let's have a moment of silent regret for all those people who actually paid for a seat at Ashe Stadium tonight, too, thinking that they were going to be lucky enough to see something special. Suckers!

Hmmm, let's see, what else is there to say? Oh, I know...

Blahblahblah... Kim won... blahblahblah. The end.



=SATURDAY NOTES=
...so the Belgian defends her title, but will fall from #3 to #5 in the rankings on Monday? Ah, at least one of the Tennis Gods has a wonderful sense of humor.

...the Girls Singles final is set for Sunday, and it'll be an all-Hordette affair after #1-seed Daria Gavrilova defeated Sloane Stephens, and Yulia Putintseva took out Ons Jabeur, in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Stephens and Timea Babos picked up their third straight 2010 Girls Doubles slam title when they got a walkover in the final against An-Sophie Mestach and Silvia Njiric.

The Boys final will be an all-American contest between Denis Kudla (who's a bit of a Backspin local, hailing from the D.C. area and training at the Junior Tennis Champions Center at College Park, Maryland) and wild card Jack Sock (seriously, what a great name). The last American boy to win the Open title was Andy Roddick in 2000. (American Ryan Sweeting won it in '05, but junior tennis guru Colette Lewis reminded me that he was representing the Bahamas at the time, so I'll go with her on that and not count him.)

Meanwhile, the final Backspin award for this slam has now been wrapped up. With Girls finalist Gavrilova having already won the "Junior Breakout" at Roland Garros last year, I'm go with her opponent tomorrow, Putintseva. I'm also going to give a share of it to Stephens, who along with her Doubles title and singles SF result also got wins earlier this week over Elina Svitolina and Karolina Pliskova, two of 2010's previous Girls slam titlists in Paris and Melbourne, respectively.

...tomorrow, the Women's Doubles final will be played between Liezel Huber/Nadia Petrova and Vania King/Yaroslava Shvedova.

*CAREER SLAM FINALS - ATP/ACTIVE*
22...Roger Federer, SUI (16-6)
11...RAFAEL NADAL, ESP (8-2)
5...Andy Roddick, USA (1-4)
4...Lleyton Hewitt, AUS (2-2)
3...Juan Carlos Ferrero, ESP (1-2)
3...NOVAK DJOKOVIC, SRB (1-1)
2...Andy Murray, GBR (0-2)
2...Robin Soderling, SWE (0-2)

...and, finally, nothing against Novak Djokovic, but it's hard not to look at his defeat of Roger Federer today in the SF as something of a letdown. The Open actually probably "fits" his personality better than any other slam, including the Australian Open, which he won in '08, and seeing him win this title wouldn't produce the same sort of "been there, done that, can we please turn the page before I throw up?" feeling of nausea that tonight's Women's final elicited. But everyone was salivating for a Roger/Rafa final at Flushing Meadows, and anything less than that feels less than second-best at this point. Now, who knows, everything may never line up to allow Federer vs. Nadal to happen in the only slam in which it never has. They've never met in the Open in ANY round.

History can be made, though, as Nadal could become the first person to win in Paris, London and New York successively since Rod Laver pulled off a single-season Grand Slam back in 1969. So at least the Men's final has that going for it. Which is nice.

(Nope, quoting Bill Murray just doesn't have the same ring to it as doing so with Bill Shakespeare.)



*WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL*
#2 Kim Clijsters/BEL def. #7 Vera Zvonareva/RUS 6-2/6-1

*MEN'S SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Rafael Nadal/ESP vs. #3 Novak Djokovic/SRB

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#6 King/Shvedova (USA/KAZ) vs. #2 Huber/Petrova (USA/RUS)

*MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#1 Bryan/Bryan (USA/USA) def. #16 Bopanna/Qureshi (IND/PAK) 7-6/7-6

*MIXED DOUBLES FINAL*
#1 Huber/B.Bryan (USA/USA) def. Peschke/Qureshi (CZE/PAK) 6-4/6-4

*GIRLS SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Daria Gavrilova/RUS vs. Yulia Putitintseva/RUS

*BOYS SINGLES FINAL*
#10 Denis Kudla/USA vs. (WC) Jack Sock/USA

*GIRLS DOUBLES FINAL*
#3 Babos/Stephens (HUN/USA) def. Mestach/Njiric (BEL/CRO) walkover

*BOYS DOUBLES FINAL*
#3 Beretta/Quiroz (PER/ECU) def. #4 Golding/Vesely (GBR/CZE) 6-1/7-5




*SLAM "JUNIOR BREAKOUT" WINNERS*
[US Open]
2007 Kristina Kucova, SVK
2008 Gabriela Paz, VEN
2009 Heather Watson, GBR
2010 Yulia Putintseva, RUS & Sloane Stephens, USA
[2010]
AO: Karolina Pliskova/CZE & Kristyna Pliskova/CZE
RG: Elina Svitolina, UKR
WI: Kristyna Pliskova, CZE
US: Yulia Putintseva, RUS & Sloane Stephens, USA

*2010 SLAM GIRLS DOUBLES FINALS*
AO: Jana Cepelova/Chantal Skamlova (SVK/SVK) d. Babos/Dabrowski (HUN/CAN)
RG: Timea Babos/Sloane Stephens (HUN/USA) d. Arruabarrena-Vecino/Torro-Flor (ESP/ESP)
WI: Timea Babos/Sloane Stephens (HUN/USA) d. Khromacheva/Svitolina (RUS/UKR)
US: Timea Babos/Sloane Stephens (HUN/USA) d. Mestach/Njiric (BEL/CRO)

*CAREER SLAM SINGLES TITLES - ACTIVE*
13...Serena Williams (5-1-4-3)
7...Justine Henin (1-4-0-2)
7...Venus Williams (0-0-5-2)
3...Maria Sharapova (1-0-1-1)
3...KIM CLIJSTERS (0-0-0-3)
2...Svetlana Kuznetsova (0-1-0-1)
1...Ana Ivanovic (0-1-0-0)
1...Francesca Schiavone (0-1-0-0)

*RUSSIANS IN SLAM FINALS*
4...Maria Sharapova (3-1)
4...Svetlana Kuznetsova (2-2)
3...Dinara Safina (0-3)
2...VERA ZVONAREVA (0-2)
2...Elena Dementieva (0-2)
2...Olga Morozova (0-2)
1...Anastasia Myskina (1-0)

*2010 3Q FINALS*
3...Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (3-0)
2...KIM CLIJSTERS, BEL (2-0)
2...Agnes Szavay, HUN (2-0)
2...VERA ZVONAREVA, RUS (0-2)
2...Maria Sharapova, RUS (0-2)




TOP QUALIFIER: Michelle Larcher de Brito/POR
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): #1 Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #1 Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): #2 Kim Clijsters/BEL
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q1: Laura Robson/GBR d. #2q Jelena Dokic/AUS 6-1/6-4
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 1st Rd. - #4 Jelena Jankovic/SRB def. Simona Halep/ROU 6-4/4-6/7-5
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 4th Rd. - #5 Stosur/AUS def. #12 Dementieva/RUS 6-3/2-6/7-6
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): SF - #2 Clijsters/BEL def. #3 V.Williams/USA 4-6/7-6/6-4
TOP NIGHT MATCH: 4th Rd. - #5 Stosur/AUS def. #12 Dementieva/RUS 6-3/2-6/7-6 (saved 4 MP, ended at 1:35 a.m.)
=============================
FIRST WINNER: #6 Francesca Schiavone/ITA (def. Ayumi Morita/JPN)
FIRST SEED OUT: #8 Li Na/CHN (lost to Kateryna Bondarenko/UKR)
UPSET QUEENS: The Taiwanese
REVELATION LADIES: The North Americans
LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING: Mandy Minella/LUX & Lourdes Dominguez-Lino/ESP (3rd Rd.)
IT GIRL: Beatrice Capra/USA
MS. OPPORTUNITY: Kaia Kanepi/EST
COMEBACK PLAYER: Francesca Schiavone/ITA
CRASH & BURN: #10 Victoria Azarenka/BLR (retired after collapsing in 2nd Rd. vs. Gisela Dulko/ARG)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: Samantha Stosur/AUS (down set and a break vs. Elena Vesnina/RUS in 1st Rd.; down 4 MP vs. Elena Dementieva/RUS in 4th Rd)
LAST AMERICAN STANDING: Venus Williams/USA (SF)
LADY OF THE EVENING: Venus Williams/USA
BROADWAY-BOUND: Vania King/USA
DOUBLES STAR Liezel Huber/USA
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: Yulia Putintseva/RUS & Sloane Stephens/USA




All for now. More on Monday about the Men's Final.

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