Wk.16- .now for All (Backwards Backspin VII)

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



.now for All

...of course, what do I know?

Dulko d. Zahlavova-Strycova
=FINAL=
Dulko d. #5 Errani
Zahlavova-Strycova d. Razzano
=SF=
=============================
Cirstea/Medina-Garrigues :10 Doubles Champions
Kleybanova/Gajdosova :11 Top Seeds
Sevastova d. Parra-Santonja :10 Final
(red clay outdoor/$220K Int'l) PORTUGAL, ESTORIL


...hard to say much about these picks until (if?) I finally get one right again. But, then again, Gajdosova (formerly "Groth" -- so long, Sam) winning a post-breakup title would be a "Ms. Independent"-style triumph. Thus, it goes without saying that she wouldn't be included on any of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People" lists. Plus, Jarmila IS the only champion pick other than Barbie that I've gotten correct this season. Maybe this is the right time... nope, I'm not even going to say it.

#2 Gajdosova d. #4 Sevastova
=FINAL=
#4 Sevastova d. #6 Vesnina
#2 Gajdosova d. Medina-Garrigues
=SF=
=============================
Errani/Vinci :10 Doubles Champions
Bartoli/Dulgheru :11 Top Seeds
Schiavone d. Vinci :10 Final
(red clay outdoor/$220K Int'l) SPAIN, BARCELONA





1...SABINE LISICKI, 2011
2...Bryanne Stewart, 2005
20...Lisa Raymond, 2005-07
**SAMANTHA STOSUR - DOUBLES TITLES w/ PARTNERS**

#73 - Gisela Dulko, ARG (Acapulco)
#77 - Lourdes Dominguez-Lino, ESP (Bogota)
#88 - Greta Arn, HUN (Auckland)
#91 - Jelena Dokic, AUS (Kuala Lumpur)
#94 - ALBERTA BRIANTI, ITA (FES)
#105 - Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK (Memphis)
**2011 LOWEST-RANKED CHAMPIONS**

29 years, 10 months, 3 weeks - Lourdes Dominguez-Lino, ESP (Bogota)
31 years, 3 weeks - ALBERTA BRIANTI, ITA (FES)
31 years, 9 months - Greta Arn, HUN (Auckland)
**OLDEST 2011 CHAMPIONS**

2...CAROLINE WOZNIACKI (Charleston-W, Stuttgart-L) (active)
2...March/April - Victoria Azarenka (Miami-W, Marbella-W)
2...January - Li Na (Sydney-W, AO-L)
3...February - Caroline Wozniacki (Dubai-W, Doha-L, Indian Wells-W)
3...January/February - Kim Clijsters (Sydney-L, AO-W, Paris-L)
**2011 CONSECUTIVE WTA FINALS**


=============================
And now there's one less spot in the RG draw remaining to be claimed.
...4-6/7-6/6-3 Irina Falconi d. Julia Boserup - USA Roland Garros Wild Card Final .10
=============================
This was Li's first win since she came back from match point down against Wozniacki in Australian Open semifinals. She didn't get a second, though.
.6-2/6-3 Li d. Sevastova - 1st Rd. Stuttgart .9
=============================
Of course, we've underestimated Schiavone in the Springtime before, haven't we?.
...6-1/6-3 A.Radwanska d. Schiavone - 2nd Rd. Stuttgart .8
=============================
Fed Cup camaraderie only lasts so long.
...3-6/6-4/6-2 Zvonareva d. Pavlyuchenkova - 2nd Rd. Stuttgart .7
=============================
Goerges nearly squandered a 4-2 3rd set lead, but pulled it out. Considering where she stood coming in, Stosur had to have increased her confidence level exponentially through each round of this event.
...6-4/3-6/7-5 Goerges d. Stosur - SF Stuttgart .6
=============================
After rain interrupted this match, the veteran came back better than the youngster in this match-up of players who were both looking for their first career tour title.
...6-4/6-3 Brianti d. Halep - Final Fes .5
=============================
Lalami was up 5-1 in the 2nd, and 5-2 in the 3rd. So she struggled to close things out. Fortunately for her, she was playing a woman in Rezai who STILL hasn't won two matches at an event since last July.
...2-6/7-6/6-4 Lalami d. Rezai - 2nd Rd. Fes .4
=============================
History changes in an instant, huh? Weird how the Belarusan always seems to be on the wrong side of these things. This is Azarenka's second retirement in her first eight tournaments of 2011. A season ago, she was forced out in six of her first nineteen events (nearly a third of the time!), before finishing out the year by completing two tournaments. She had exactly two retirements in seven events at this point in '10, so I guess she's making progress on that front. Barely.
...4-6/ret. Goerges d. Azarenka - 2nd Rd. Stuttgart .3
=============================
Petkovic led 4-1 in the 1st, and missed an easy swing volley on break point for 5-2. Wozniacki ended up holding serve. In the next game, the German missed another easy swing volley on game point, and another that gave the Dane the first of two break points, the second of which went her way when Petkovic missed wide with a forehand. Petkovic never got back into the match, and Wozniacki ended up winning eleven of the final twelve games.
...6-4/6-1 Wozniacki d. Petkovic - QF Stuttgart .2
=============================
Wozniacki was broken just once, but was 0-for-5 on her own break point opportunities. The last German to win this tournament was current tournament director Anke Huber.
...7-6/6-3 Goerges d. Wozniacki - Final Stuttgart .1


=============================
In the Grade 1 event in Beaulieu Sur Mer, France, the 15-year old Khromacheva (#1 seed/Girls #8) defeated Serbia's Natalija Kostic (#2 seed/Girls #10) 6-2/6-2 in the final. She also claimed the doubles crown with Danka Kovinic. Khromacheva was a Girls quarterfinalist in Melbourne in January, and reached a junior slam semifinal (RG) and quarter (SW19) a season ago...
RUS/Irina Khromacheva :JUNIOR STAR
=============================
In almost a "remember me?" moment, Groenefeld starred on the ITF circuit in the same week that her younger compatriots were ripping things up back home in Stuttgart. In a $25K challenger in Tesenderio, Belgium, ALG swept both the singles and doubles (with Tatjana Malek) titles. In the singles final, she defeated home favorite Alison van Utyvanck 6-3/7-5, ending the teenager's 2011 combined ITF/junior winning streak at thirty-five matches...
GER/Anna-Lena Groenefeld :ITF PLAYER
=============================
Did you know that Schiavone hasn't actually won a match on clay since she kissed the dirt after the final at Roland Garros? It's true. Lately, when she would have erased that fact from the ledger, she's skipped a few events citing fatigue. Apparently, she was on the fence about playing in Stuttgart, too. She ultimately did, but went out easily in her first match against Agnieszka Radwanska. A year ago, Schiavone won this week's tournament in Barcelona, but she isn't in the draw this time. As long as she's ready to Paris, I suppose, none of this matters at all, though...
ITA/Francesca Schiavone :DOWN
=============================
A runner-up in Fes a year ago, Swarmette Halep matched her performance a year later by reaching her second overall career tour singles final. Anastasiya Yakimova, Alla Kudryavtseva, Greta Arn and Kirsten Flipkens (hmm, almost sounds like a list of players who've recently beaten Goerges... wink, wink) fell at the hands of the 19-year old Romanian, but thirteen-years-her-senior Brianti proved too tough an out...
ROU/Simona Halep :FRESH FACE
=============================
At least for now, Lisicki is the picture of health. (Crossing fingers again.) As a wild card, she got Stuttgart wins over Dominika Cibulkova and Li Na to reach the QF and won the doubles with Stosur. In Fes, Safina rebounded from her retirement last time out to take down Jill Craybas, Alize Cornet and Anastasia Pivovarova to reach her first singles semifinal since August '09. She and Galina Voskoboeva reached the doubles SF, as well. Unfortunately, Safina had to pull out of both those semis with "gastrointestinal illness." Ooh, I don't think I even want to know the details about that. Hopefully, she's feeling better now...
RUS/Dinara Safina & GER/Sabine Lisicki :COMEBACKS
=============================
Brianti, 31, didn't reach her first career tour singles final until two seasons ago in Guangzhou. She didn't win then, but she did in career final #2 in Fes to become 2011's only first-time champion through sixteen weeks. Wins over Laura Pous-Tio, Ksenia Pervak and Melanie Oudin, plus a walkover in the SF past Dinara Safina, paved the way to the final against Simona Halep, in which the Italian vet won in straight sets. Meanwhile, Stosur didn't match her runner-up performance in Stuttgart from last year (when she lost to Justine Henin), but her decision to skip what turned out to be Team Australia's Fed Cup debacle looks like a good one after she notched victories over Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, Daniela Hantuchova and Vera Zvonareva to reach her first semifinal of the year. She won the doubles with Sabine Lisicki, too. It's Stosur's first doubles crown since she and Lisa Raymond won in Eastbourne in '07, and the 23rd overall in her career...
ITA/Alberta Brianti & AUS/Samantha Stosur :VETERANS
=============================
20-year old Moroccan Lalami has been an "ITF Player of the Week" (in 2010) and was named the Africa/Middle East "Riser" in last season's Regional Honors in this space in the past, so I'm glad that I was aware of her before her career run in Fes last week. As a wild card, the world #497 notched wins over Misaki Doi and #1-seed Aravane Rezai to become the first-ever WTA quarterfinalist from her country. Before last week, Lalami had played in only four main draw tour matches, all previous 1st Round losses at this same tournament...
MAR/Nadia Lalami :SURPRISE
=============================
Staying in Stuttgart after her Fed Cup heroics, Petkovic gots wins over Tamira Paszek and Jelena Jankovic (again), and had a great chance to jump on Wozniacki in the 1st set of their quarterfinal match. In the end, she had to settle for trying to figure out where to take Goerges to celebrate...
GER/Andrea Petkovic :RISER
=============================
Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. But Goerges was BOTH in Stuttgart, and she walked away with her second career title as a result. The statuesque 22-year old German with the big shots handled the likes of Michaella Krajicek, '10 Stuttgart runner-up Sam Stosur and world #1 Wozniacki, and was fortunate enough to have #5 Azarenka retire with a shoulder injury after having won the 1st set off Goerges in the 2nd Round. By the end of the weekend, J-Go (oh, no... is Backspin getting "Jersey Shor-ified"... or am I just looking for a way to type Julia's name without reflexively transposing the "o" and the "e" all the time?) and her family were celebrating all over the arena, but only the champ herself was covered with red clay from cheek to thigh...

GER/Julia Goerges :PLAYER OF THE WEEK


Hlavackova/Voracova d. Bratchikova/Klemenschits :D
6-4/6-3 Alberta Brianti/ITA def. Simona Halep/ROU :S
(Int'l $220K/red clay outdoors) MOROCCO, FES
Lisicki/Stosur d. Barrois/Woehr :D
7-6/6-3 Julia Goerges/GER def. Caroline Wozniacki/DEN :S
(Premier $721K/red clay indoors) GERMANY, STUTTGART
*CHAMPIONS 16 WEEK*

Oh, yeah. In the latest ridiculous "honor" bestowed upon Kim Clijsters, Time magazine listed her amongst its "100 Most Influential People" last week because of her ability to "juggle" motherhood and a career. Yeah, okay. Now, if she was juggling knives and lit sticks of dynamite -- while blindfolded -- then I'd be all for it. But, come on. Are we still stuck on that, as if she's the only woman in the world who has a child and a career? Apparently, there are no men in similar situations, either. Or athletes. Or male athletes. Or even male tennis players. There's only one Barbie doing it, though, so I guess that while everyone else is (less than) equal, she's more equal than others. Then again, KC ALSO has a husband, a close family and team of payrolled helpers, too. Seems to me that a great many working moms don't have such assistance, but I wonder how many of them made the list? I'm sure I don't have to look to know the answer. Hey, at least Kim didn't change her name. See, there's something that she SHOULD get a pat on the back for, but no one says anything about it. As always, ♥ ya, Kim. :ANSWER

Speaking of married tennis players...? :QUESTION

Well, maybe something with Jarmila Gajdosova. Yep, she and Sam Groth are history, so she's back to her pre-Aussie name. Hmmm, didn't she move to Oz and get her Australian citizenship because of that relationship? Interesting. Just goes to show you that you shouldn't change your name and/or nationality on a whim or solely because of in-the-moment emotion. Hint, hint... Vesna Manasieva. Err, I mean Vesna Dolonts. Oops. Too late. :ANSWER

Any idea on how to turn back the "Backspin Picks" tide? I mean, other than maybe exorcising a few demons with the "Backwards" stuff. :QUESTION

What can I say? Another "perfect" week! At least my Stuttgart pick WAS the only player that Goerges faced who she wasn't able to defeat on the court. Naturally, Azarenka had a twelve-match winning streak going when I picked her last Monday, then had a set in hand against the German... but still didn't win match #13. Maybe that's when "Backwards Backspin" became a go? I was placing a lot of hope on Jelena Dokic, too. She had a great draw, then ended up pulling out late with a viral illness. If she'd been healthy and in the draw, she'd have faced a qualifier in the 1st Round -- Urszula Radwanska, who lost to Lucky Loser Eleni Daniilidou, who lost to Kirsten Flipkens, who defeated wild card Nadia Lalami 1 & 0, then lost to Simona Halep, who was defeated by 31-year old Brianti, who'd never won a title before Sunday. Man, what a lost opportunity that was. :ANSWER

All right, now I'll give you a chance to whine about your... cough, cough... "predictions." What about those? :QUESTION



Umm, well, it certainly raises those questions again, doesn't it? The fight is there, as always. She'll be a factor in Paris. But, again, against an aggressive player with power who didn't get "tennis leprosy" -- causing said player to fall in pieces all over the court... get it? -- she went down in straight sets. Petkovic let C-Woz off the hook, and lost. Goerges didn't, and won. Normally, one might expect Wozniacki to take advantage of Goerges' deficiency in the front court, but the German never let her. She'd often run Wozniacki wide with a crosscourt forehand, then bash a winner down the line that the Dane couldn't reach. Wozniacki never became (or was allowed to be) aggressive enough to counteract the tactic, and the final result was barely in doubt throughout the match as long as Goerges kept her wits about her. Chris Evert recently said she thought that Wozniacki would win at Roland Garros this spring, but I wonder what'd she say about that today? I was actually leaning toward maybe thinking about C-Woz in Paris, too. But now I can't really see picking her there. That said, I have no freakin' idea who I'd pick right now. Of course, as soon as I DO settle on that answer then that player will then have ZERO chance of winning, I suspect, so maybe shying away from Caroline is good news for her. Meanwhile, I'm sensing the potential need for a pseudo-Kierkegaardian analysis of my slam feelings regarding Wozniacki in a few weeks... maybe featuring a few of those "Tennis Gods" that I'm so fond of (hint, hint). :ANSWER

All right, you brought her up. What does last week say about Wozniacki? :QUESTION:

Sure it was. Just like her countrywoman Andrea Petkovic, Goerges has potential oozing from her pores. They've even both knocked off Caroline Wozniacki in recent weeks (AP did it in Miami, the only time the Dane hasn't reached the final in her last six events). Petkovic probably should have had a shot at doing it in Stuttgart again before Goerges finally did it in the final, but she couldn't make the big shots even when they were served up to her on a silver platter (maybe the Porsche distracted her?). Come to think of it, that's the one problem with the growing band of Germans -- as good as they are, coming through all the time isn't as open-and-shut case as one might think it'd be. After the "Lost Generation" of German stars that never really developed in the wake of Steffi Graf's success, though, the recent rise of the current "Found Generation" has really been exciting. Four Germans were in the final eight in Stuttgart, and Goerges was the first native champ at the event since the mid-1990's. Sabine Lisicki is healthy enough (cross your fingers) that she was able to have a good week in singles AND doubles. Heck, ironically, even the player who was supposed to be the leader of the "LostGen" -- Anna-Lena Groenefeld -- had a fabulous week of her own on the ITF circuit in Belgium while her countrywomen were stoking the crowd back home. At times, Goerges looked positively lethal last week, unless she was forced to move forward toward the net, at least. But it should be noted that she advanced past Victoria Azarenka without winning a set, as the Belarusan retired with a shoulder injury in the 2nd Round. Also, as good as she was last week, don't forget that Goerges has lost matches this season to Greta Arn, Polona Hercog, Han Xinyun, Ksenia Pervak, Elena Vesnina and Melanie Oudin. Those aren't bad players by any stretch, but that less-than-murderers row of conquerors surely speaks to Goerges' general inability to bring her best game to the court on a week in, week out basis. It could be that neither Wozniacki nor Goerges might succeed Francesca Schiavone in Paris, but you can likely be certain that the Dane will at least be in the mix in the late-going. With Goerges, who knows? :ANSWER

Speaking of Goerges (I'm ignoring the Kim comment, for now). So, was that title run impressive or what? :QUESTION

Good question, nameless Backspin aficionado most definitely not also named Todd. I'd pretty much decided to do the "Backwards" edition before the Stuttgart final was even set (sorry, Alberta Brianti, but you weren't going to get headline treatment anyway). I actually held off on this as long as possible. It usually arrives in February when the natural post-Oz lull takes place. It says a lot about this season that that lull never really happened, and really didn't this week, either. But some things just cannot be stopped. You know, sort of like needless Kim-aggrandizing honors that come out of nowhere, make no sense whatsoever and are actually offensive on some levels. :ANSWER

So, Todd, why are you once again using this gimmicky "Backwards Backspin" trick? Isn't it getting old? As usual when you do this, it seems as if you're not giving this week's tour singles champions -- especially Julia Goerges -- the proper attention compared to the "Players of the Week" the rest of the season. Didn't the result in Stuttgart qualify as another of those great-moments-overlooked-because-everyone-would-rather-talk-about-who's-NOT-playing that you've been stuck on for the last two months? :QUESTION

2011, 25 April, Monday

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BACKSPIN TIME CAPSULE: 1987 Roland Garros

(thirteenth in a series)

Without question, Ivan Lendl was one of the best players of all time. In fact, he was a truly evolutionary figure in the sport's history, both for his game as well as his training techniques. Too bad for him that he came of age and to prominance in the early-to-mid 1980's... a period which can be viewed now as a tennis "golden age," when the personalities, auras and rivalries of the top men's players were just as crackling as their games.

Lendl wasn't "cool" like Bjorn Borg, nor as hot-tempered as Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe (or, later, as dramatic as Boris Becker). On a tennis landscape populated by players whose presence sometimes seemed "bigger" than the game itself, the image of the stiff, "boring" Czech couldn't help but pale in comparison. Additionally, in the early 1980s was still the era of Communism and the Cold War, and Lendl's Czech accent-speckled English (I always liked it, actually) and often unemotional, sometimes "mechanical" (many derisively said "robotic"), style played into quite a few unfortunate stereotypes and left many cold. But, of course, Lendl's worst offense of all was that he quickly garnered a reputation as a player who couldn't win "the big one." He went 0-4 in his first four appearances in slam singles finals, losing to Borg, Connors (twice) and an unseeded Swedish teenager playing in his first slam final. He once appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated under the provacative headline, "The Champion Nobody Cares About."

Lendl finaly broke through at Roland Garros in 1984, winning his first slam crown after coming back from two sets down to defeat John McEnroe (ranked #1, Mac compiled an 82-3 record that season) in the final, denying the American his best chance at winning the elusive (and never attained, as he STILL so often laments) clay title in Paris that might have garnered him much backing in many "Greatest of All Time" debates. From that moment on, Lendl went about putting together some of the greatest and most consistent numbers in the history of tennis. Lendl's power game of heavy topspin shots from the baseline, a forerunner of the brand of tennis that soon became common in the game as wood rackets became obsolete, and his scientific training practices helped to revolutionize the sport. He was among the first players to use a powerful serve to set up easy inside-out forehand winners.

But even as Lendl rose to the top of the game and surpassed many of his more popular rivals in career achievements, besting Mats Wilander -- that "Swedish teenager" -- when it mattered most proved to be a longer-term project. When the Swede had become the then youngest-ever men's slam champ in' 82 at Roland Garros, the unseeded 17-year old Wilander had climbed over the then-#2 seeded Lendl en route, topping him in the 4th Round. Three years later, Wilander defeated him the '85 RG final, as well. Come 1987, the two met in the third of what would eventually be five meetings in grand slam finals (at the time, the most ever in the Open era). By then, Lendl had claimed four slam crowns, the same number as Wilander.

Here's what a high-school Backspinner-in-waiting said about that meeting:



June 7, 1987 - "Lendl is Supreme Once Again"

Frankly, the French Open men's final started out with a series of interminally long rallies, the "unworthy" result of the consistent topspin backcourt shots from defending champion Ivan Lendl and his opponent, Mats Wilander. Fortunately, Lendl woke up and started to play like the champion he is and forced the Swede to stop lulling the crowd to sleep. In the end, Lendl won the match 7-5/6-2/3-6/7-6 and claimed his third championship in Paris.



Lendl and Wilander, the #1 and #3-ranked ranked players in the world, were both seeking to become the first man other than Bjorn Borg to win three French singles titles in the last fifty-five years. In Czechoslovakia-born Lendl's case, he was trying to become the first to win back-to-back titles since Borg won four straight from 1978-81. Wilander, a consistent ball-striker in the tradition of his countryman Borg, had won seventeen matches in a row going into the final and looked to have a good chance to win on the red clay, most definitely his best surface.

Lendl won the one-hour and twenty minute 1st set 7-5, then the 2nd at 6-3. But at the end of the 2nd set, the usually composed Wilander lost his cool and threw down his racket in frustration. The incident seemed to spark him, and he got the crowd on his side. Of course, such an accomplishment seems to often be quite easy when your opponent is the usually-stoic, somewhat mechanical Lendl.

Near the end of the 3rd, there was a thirty-five minute rain delay. It, too, seemed to help Wilander as he returned to finish off set with a vengeance at 6-3. The delay, along with the long 1st set, made the 4th a contest between two players and a third "participant" -- Mother Nature. As darkness threatened an early ending to the day's play, Lendl and Wilander fought to a tie-break. Lendl took charge, grabbing a 6-3 lead, and when the Swede sailed the first match point beyond the baseline Lendl let out a cheer and leaped high into the air in celebration. It was a rare show of emotion, and the crowd applauded his superb play.

So, the man who has been called "the champion that nobody cares about" won another title to solidify his #1 status in men's tennis. Maybe someday people will learn to appreciate Lendl for what he IS instead of what he isn't. Maybe, someday, they'll realize that he's, quite simply, the best player in the world.



...Lendl's third straight RG title in '87 turned out to be the Czech's final crown in Paris. A few months later, Lendl and Wilander met in their fourth slam final at the U.S. Open. Lendl won that one, too. In 1988, Wilander won another championship rematch at Flushing Meadows. Twenty-three years later, the two's five match-ups in slam finals is still tied for second on the all-time list with that of Andre Agassi & Pete Sampras, behind only the (so far) seven meetings between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Essentially, Lendl was born into the sport. The child of two tennis players (his mother was a Top 10 player in Czechoslovakia, climbing as high a rank as #2, while his father was #15 and later served as president of the Czech Tennis Federation), his talent shone through early. In 1978, he finished as the junior #1 and won Boys titles at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Three years later, Lendl reached his first career slam final in Paris, losing to Borg. It would be Borg's final slam championship. In 1982, Lendl won fifteen of the twenty-three events he entered, and at one point won forty-four straight matches, the second-longest streak in ATP history. In February 1983, he became the #1-ranked player in the world, ending the nine-year three-headed hegemony of Borg, Connors and McEnroe in the top spot. While he was never able to surpass any of his formerly top-ranked predecessors in the court of public opinion, his career numbers surely have and will continue to make time Lendl's ultimate friend.

In all, Lendl won eight slam titles -- two AO, three RG and three US -- and reached a record nineteen finals, including eight consecutive at the U.S. Open from 1982-89. Federer surpassed Lendl's slam final total, while Sampras tied his mark of reaching at least one slam final for eleven consecutive seasons. His ninety-four tour singles titles ranks behind only Connors, as does his match win total (1,279) over the course of his seventeen-year career. He held the #1 ranking for 156 consecutive weeks, was year-end #1 four times in the late 1980's, and his total of 270 weeks in the top spot has only been topped by Sampras (286) and Federer (285). In August '90, he dropped out of the #1 ranking for the final time, and when he retired with back problems in '94 he was the all-time prize money leader. A while back, Tennis magazine dubbed Lendl the sport's "greatest overachiever." The honor almost sounds like a backhanded compliment for a player with some of the greatest career numbers in tennis history, but I'm sure it was meant as an appreciative nod to his work ethic.



Lendl's "If I don't practice the way I should then I won't play the way I know I can" quote is just one of many that serves to hint at the tireless mindset on the practice court that came to define his career. A creature of habit and hard work, he even hired the same company who'd put down the courts at the U.S. Open to install an indentical court at his home in Greenwich, Connecticut during his nearly decade-long string of final appearances in New York. Even his practice of reaching into his pocket to grab a handful of sawdust, then rubbing it on his racket's handle to give him a better grip, became something of a habitual/psychological crutch (the mess often had to be swept up on the court, and his famous SI cover shot captured a handful of that sawdust before it hit the court), sort of like Nadal's famous pre-point "tug" and precise lining up of water bottles today.

His attention to detail and attempt at perfection through repetition carried over to his game, as the consistency of his groundstrokes from the baseline was astounding. So much so that it likely played into the "robotic" description of Lendl in an era in which he lined up against such crowd-pleasing, but fabulously "flawed," champions as McEnroe and Connors. Such a game made Lendl the world's most dominant player on clay and hard courts, but on the less true-bouncing grass courts at Wimbledon his greatest asset helped to turn a title run at the All-England Club into his career-long "great white whale." With the choppy baseline surface that developed on the lawns back then (far different from the harder, less-worn surface we see in London today), players HAD to move forward and take balls out of the air at the net. Thing is, Lendl wasn't a great volleyer. And he knew it, too. He tried to avoid the tournament early on, saying that grass was "for cows" and even skipping the event once while saying he was allergic to the green blades. Of course, soon after a photo was snapped of him playing golf and the jig was up. Whoops.

As was his wont, hardly eager to accept defeat, Lendl dove head-first into the Wimbledon challenge. He labored to make himself a decent volleyer, and it worked. Almost. While his game could get him deep into the fortnight, he couldn't find a way around the very BEST grass court players. Five times in eight years he lost to the eventual winner of the Gentlemen's title. He even twice skipped Roland Garros in order to properly prepare for the grass court season. He was the SW19 runner-up on two occasions, losing in the final in '86 and '87 to Becker and Pat Cash, respectively, but wasn't able to take a set off his opponent in either match. While Roger Federer was able to solidify his standing in the "Greatest of All Time" discussion by finally winning in Paris in '09, Lendl (much like Sampras at Roland Garros, though he got far closer than the American ever did) wasn't able to complete HIS career Grand Slam in London. He'll forever remain one of (if not THE) best to never win there.

Like fellow Czech-born star Martina Navratilova, Lendl eventually ran afoul of the Czech Tennis Federation. Both world #1's had news of all their on-court exploits banned in their home country by the Communist-led government. The two ultimately defected to the U.S., but following the form of their respective careers, while Navratilova drew great attention by publicly declaring her independence in New York during the U.S. Open, Lendl chose to "announce" his move by settling in Connecticut in '84 and refusing to play Davis Cup for Czechoslovakia (he'd led the nation to the title in '80). As a permanent resident of the U.S., he got his green card in '87 and tried, but ultimately failed, to have his citizenship fast-tracked so that he could play DC for Team USA and represent his new country in the Olympics in '88. Finally, he became a U.S. citizen in 1992.

While Lendl is probably one of the most overlooked great players in the sport's history, Wilander's career numbers put him in select company that even Lendl was never able to crack. Only five men have won slam titles on hard court, clay and grass. The names of Connors, Federer, Nadal and Andre Agassi are easy to recall, but it's Wilander (who won in Australia in' 83 and '84 when the tournament was still played on grass) who is the fifth on that list. Additionally, only Wilander and Nadal have managed to win two or more slam titles on all three surfaces.

A Boys champ at Roland Garros in '81, Wilander returned one year later (with six-time RG champ and fellow Swede Borg gone after his shocking retirement from the sport at age 25) to become the Men's champion and -- at 17 years, 9 months -- the youngest-ever men's slam champ (he still ranks third on the list). By age 20, he'd already won his fourth slam crown, making him the youngest ever to achieve so much at such as early age.



Over a seven-year stretch from 1982-88, Wilander won seven slam titles (in eleven finals) employing his steady baseline game. In 1987, he worked to greatly improve his serve and developed a one-handed slice backhand. One season later, the additions made the '88 campaign the most successful of his career. He won three of the four slams, missing only at Wimbledon (he reached the QF, tying his best result there). After defeating Lendl in the U.S. Open final that September, he replaced him at #1. But after having reached such a career high point, Wilander seemed to lose focus and interest. His career began to fizzle out in '89, and he often wasn't motivated to enter events even when he was healthy. From '89 until he finally retired in '96, he reached just one more slam semifinal.

Lendl was a member of the Hall of Fame class of 2001, and Wilander followed behind him in 2002. While Lendl has decidedly loosened up over the years, playing celebrity golf (including hosting his own tournament) and recently making appearances in Tennis Channel segments and on the senior tennis circuit. While Lendl's two daughters haven't followed him into tennis, they do share his love of golf. One is a golfer at the University of Florida, while another is set to play on the golf team at Alabama in the fall of this year. Wilander, after being viewed as a polite "good guy" for his entire career, stepped into some controversy with his criticism of Federer and Kim Clijsters' (lack of a) competitive edge to beat their toughest rivals at Roland Garros in '06, saying of Federer after his loss to Nadal, "(He) unfortunately came out with no balls... you don't find too many champions in any sport in the world without heart or balls. He might have them, but against Nadal they shrink to a very small size and it's not once, it's every time."

In 2010, Lendl and Wilander met on the court once again in an exhibition in Atlantic City. It was Lendl's first public match since his '94 retirement. Earlier this year, Lendl faced off against John McEnroe at Madison Square Garden at the annual exhibition bonanza held at the fabled arena. There, as had happened in Paris back in '84 in the match that changed his career forever, Lendl outlasted Johnny Mac when the American was forced to retire with an injury.

And, thus, time and fitness continue to prove to be Lendl's very important friends.



*MOST SLAM SINGLES TITLES*
16...Roger Federer (active)
14...Pete Sampras
12...Roy Emerson
11...Bjorn Borg
11...Rod Laver
10...Bill Tilden
9...Rafael Nadal (active)
8...Andre Agassi
8...Jimmy Connors
8...IVAN LENDL
8...Fred Perry
8...Ken Rosewall

*LENDL - SLAM FINALS*
[AO]
1983 lost to Mats Wilander
1989 def. Miloslav Mecir
1990 def. Stefan Edberg
1991 lost to Boris Becker
[RG]
1981 lost to Bjorn Borg
1984 def. John McEnroe
1985 lost to Mats Wilander
1986 def. Mikael Pernfors
1987 def. Mats Wilander
[WI]
1986 lost to Boris Becker
1987 lost to Pat Cash
[US]
1982 lost to Jimmy Connors
1983 lost to Jimmy Connors
1984 lost to John McEnroe
1985 def. John McEnroe
1986 def. Miloslav Mecir
1987 def. Mats Wilander
1988 lost to Mats Wilander
1989 lost to Boris Becker

*WILANDER - SLAM FINALS*
[AO]
1983 def. Ivan Lendl
1984 def. Kevin Curren
1985 lost to Stefan Edberg
1988 def. Pat Cash
[RG]
1982 def. Guillermo Vilas
1983 lost to Yannick Noah
1985 def. Ivan Lendl
1987 lost to Ivan Lendl
1988 def. Henri Leconte
[US]
1987 lost to Ivan Lendl
1988 def. Ivan Lendl

*MOST ATP SINGLES TITLES*
109...Jimmy Connors
94...IVAN LENDL
77...John McEnroe
67...Roger Federer (active)
64...Pete Sampras

*CONSECUTIVE SLAM SF*
23...Roger Federer
10...Rod Laver
10...IVAN LENDL

*CONSECUTIVE SLAM QF*
27...Roger Federer (active)
27...Jimmy Connors
14...IVAN LENDL

*MOST CAREER SLAM MATCH WINS*
232...Jimmy Connors
224...Andre Agassi
222...IVAN LENDL
213...Roger Federer (active)
203...Pete Sampras

*MOST MEETINGS IN ATP FINALS*
[all events]
20...IVAN LENDL vs. John McEnroe
18...Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal (active)
16...Andre Agassi vs. Pete Sampras
16...Boris Becker vs. Stefan Edberg
15...Jimmy Connors vs. IVAN LENDL
13...Boris Becker vs. IVAN LENDL
[slams]
7...Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal (active)
5...Andre Agassi vs. Pete Sampras
5...IVAN LENDL vs. MATS WILANDER

*LONG ATP MATCH WIN STREAKS*
46...Guillermo Vilas, 1977
44...IVAN LENDL, 1981-82
42...John McEnroe, 1984
41...Roger Federer, 2006-07
41...Bjorn Borg, 1979-80

*MOST SLAM APPEARANCES*
70...Fabrice Santoro
61...Andre Agassi
58...Jonas Bjorkman
57...Andre Agassi
57...Jimmy Connors
57...Wayne Ferreira
57...IVAN LENDL
57...John McEnroe

*WEEKS AT ATP #1*
286...Pete Sampras
285...Roger Federer (active)
270...IVAN LENDL
268...Jimmy Connors
170...John McEnroe
109...Bjorn Borg
101...Andre Agassi
92...Rafael Nadal (active, weeks at #1 as of April 24, 2011)

*YOUNGEST SLAM SINGLES CHAMP - MEN*
17 years, 3 months...Michael Chang (1989 Roland Garros)
17 years, 7 months...Boris Becker (1985 Wimbledon)
17 years, 9 months...MATS WILANDER (1982 Roland Garros)

*WON SLAMS ON THREE SURFACES*
[at least one title on hard, grass & clay]
Andre Agassi, USA
Jimmy Connors, USA
Roger Federer, SUI
Rafael Nadal, ESP
MATS WILANDER, SWE
[two or more titles on all three]
MATS WILANDER, SWE
Rafael Nadal, ESP


All for now.



PREVIOUS TIME CAPSULES:
1987 Roland Garros (Graf), 1987 Wimbledon (Navratilova/Cash), 1989 Roland Garros (Sanchez/Chang), 1990 Roland Garros (Seles/Gomez), 1990 Wimbledon (Navratilova), 1990 Wimbledon (Edberg/Becker), 1991 U.S. Open (Connors), 1993 Australian Open (Seles & Courier), 1993 Wimbledon (Graf/Novotna), 2003 & '05 U.S. Open (Henin/Clijsters), 2006 U.S. Open (Day-by-Day/Sharapova), 2001-09 Australian Open (Dokic Down Under)

NEXT UP: 1991 Roland Garros - Monica Seles

Read more...

Wk.15- 6:04, A Fed Cup Odyssey

I know I sound like a broken record (or whatever the technologically-updated term would be that is equivalent to that time-worn cliche), but while the main women's tennis topics currently revolve around who isn't playing (and, last week, how they were recklessly dancing at weddings, and what they were wearing) the sport once again stepped up this weekend to produce some great moments on the court in what continues to be a very enjoyable season.

I was actually expecting to be disappointed by Week 15's Fed Cup action. I guess I should have had more faith. For, on this second FC weekend of 2011, it was an old Backspin buddy who took her turn in the constantly-shifting spotlight. Yep, enter Queen Chaos.



Heading into the weekend, Jelena Jankovic wasn't even scheduled to play singles in Serbia's World Group Playoff tie with the Slovak Republic. Oh, but the Tennis Gods had something big in store for her. Those little devils! First, Bojana Jovanovski, who'd single-handedly carried Team Serbia through a tie in February without the assistance of either Jankovic or Ana Ivanovic, lost the opening match in three sets to Dominika Cibulkova in front of the Slovak crowd. Ivanovic knotted things with a win on Saturday, but then was forced to retire in the 2nd set on Sunday with an abdominal injury (the same ailment that bothered her all the way back in Week 1 in Perth) against Cibulkova as the Serbs fell behind 2-1.



It was at this point that Serbia FC coach Dejan Vranes fired up the old JJ Signal. Sort of like the fabled Bat Signal, I suppose, but rather than shine a Batman logo in the sky it reads "QC." At that point, like the superhero version of herself that we still see in those WTA tour commercials where she darts down the street toward a person in need of her superhelp, Jankovic came to the rescue. Maybe if she'd known how hard -- and long -- she'd have to work to accomplish her goal she might have hid out in some underground cave. But, knowing Queen Chaos, probably not.



With her team one loss from elimination, Jankovic first took to the court to face Daniela Hantuchova, winning 6-2/3-6/7-5 in 2:47 to knot the tie at 2-2 and keep Serbia's hopes alive. Oh, but her work was no where near finished, though. Later in the day, she and her young charge, Girl Wonder Robin... err, I mean Alexandra Krunic, took to the mean streets against Hantuchova and Magdalena Rybarikova. Things didn't start well, as the Slovaks grabbed a 6-2/5-1 lead, and Rybarikova served with two match points at 5-4. But JJ and Krunic persevered.



The Slovaks got a break of serve to go up 6-5 in the 3rd, but the Serbs wouldn't give up or give in. In the end, they won 2-6/7-5/9-7 in 3:17 to advance Serbia back into the World Group final eight for 2012. All it took was six hours and four minutes of match time for SuperJelena... in one day.

Take that Francesca & Svetlana. And the same goes for you, Isner and Mahut. Queen Chaos can play that game, too.

Ah, JJ. She makes craziness like this seem, well, quite honestly, anything but a comic book fantasy. In fact, it's sort of become her enduring legacy.

Wink-win, QC. Nice to have ya back. Maybe the Tennis Gods DO have a soft spot in their hard hearts for you, after all.


*FOUR OTHER THINGS THAT LOOKED GOOD*
1. The Hordettes, one round after stumbling out of the gate against France, storming back into a Fed Cup final by shutting out two-time defending champions (though in name only) Team Italia in the semifinals
=============================
2. Barbora Zahalavova-Strycova avoiding the "goat" role by the skin of her teeth, coming back from a winless (0-2) turn in singles to team with Iveta Benesova to claim the deciding doubles match against Belgium and send the Czechs to their first Fed Cup final since 1988 (as Czechoslovakia), nine years after the Slovak Republic won its one and only FC crown since the then-combined nation's 1989 "Velvet Revolution"
=============================
3. Patty Schnyder, immediately after disappointing in her farewell trip to Charleston, leading the Swiss team past Sweden in the Group II Playoffs
=============================
4. A Clijsters & Henin-less Belgian team still putting up a heated fight against the Czechs, and a seemingly severely-underwomanned Ukraine going to Australia without a Bondarenko and taking down the Aussies in the weekend's biggest FC surprise
=============================

*FOUR THINGS THAT DIDN'T*
1. Team Australia. Even with the Sheilas playing without Sam Stosur (preparing for the clay season... a smart me-first decision, I'd say) or Jelena Dokic (who pulled out citing fatigue, a decision which will be judged after we see what she does this week in Morocco), they seemed a good bet to cruise through their hosted WG Playoff tie against a Sisters Bondarenko-less Ukraine. Nope. Jarmila Groth went 2-0, but Anastasia Rodionova had exactly the opposite weekend experience that JJ had. She was reduced to tears on Saturday after losing her first singles match to a player ranked fifty-nine places below her, then was forced to come back the next day and re-live the agony. With the Aussies up 2-1, she lost again in straight sets in a pair of singles tie-breaks. Then, in the doubles decider, she and Groth took the opening set at love against Olga Savchuk and Lesya Tsurenko, and held two match points on Rodionova's serve. They lost again, and now there'll likely be more than enough blame to go around Down Under until '12.
=============================
2. Team USA. The Bannerettes were FC finalists the last two years, but have now gone a full year without winning a tie. Mary Joe Fernandez's charges, minus an injured Bethanie Mattek-Sands, lost a third straight FC tie, this one to Germany by a 5-0 score, winning just one set all weekend.
=============================
3. Team Italia. The two-time defending champions deserved better than a 5-0 thumping in the semis without the services of either Flavia Pennetta or Francesca Schiavone. The only set the Italians won all weekend came via a tie-break.
=============================
4. Teams playing at home in deciding doubles matches. Three (Belgium, Australia & the Slovak Republic) of the four national teams that found themselves in such situations lost. Only Slovenia emerged with the ability to celebrate in the backyard with its home-grown fans.
=============================

*ONE THAT PROBABLY LOOKS BETTER THAN IT REALLY WAS*
Belarus powered through Estonia in the Group II Playoffs, winning 5-0 and barely needing the services of Victoria Azarenka. The world #5 did open the weekend by extending her current winning streak to twelve matches, tying Kim Clijsters for the longest streak on tour in '11, but it wasn't necessary to put her through any additional paces. Belarus won 24 of 26 games played on Saturday, and never allowed more than five total games in any of the five matches contested. Of course, considering the Estonians were playing without Kaia Kanepi, who pretty much IS Estonia tennis, such a result was expected. Credit Azarenka for even bothering to show up, as she's scheduled to be back in action this week in Stuttgart after having gone into last week on the heels of back-to-back title runs on two different surfaces AND continents.

*AND ANOTHER THAT LOOKED... UM, WELL... IT LOOKED BRIGHT*


*WEEK 15*

=Semifinals=
Russia def. Italy 5-0
Czech Republic def. Belgium 3-2
=World Group Playoffs=
Germany def. United States 5-0
Spain def. France 4-1
Serbia def. Slovak Republic 3-2
Ukraine def. Australia 3-2
=Group II Playoffs=
Belarus def. Estona 5-0
Slovenia def. Canada 3-2
Switzerland def. Sweded 4-1
Argentina vs. Japan (postponed until July 16-17)


[Semifinal MVPs]
Vera Zvonareva/RUS
...she opened things with a love set against Sara Errani, then clinched the victory in Match #3 with a quick win over Roberta Vinci.
=============================
Petra Kvitova/CZE
...she pretty much had to hoist all the Czech team's singles duties on her back yet again, and once more she went 2-0, including a big win over Yanina Wickmayer that might welcome her back into the season's conversation after she's sort of receded into the shadows since winning in Paris.
=============================

[WG Playoffs MVPs]
Jelena Jankovic/SRB (Overall Player-of-the-Week)
...with BoJo losing and AnaIvo getting injured, JJ forcefully reasserted her role as the leading lady in Serbian tennis. I expect her to don a flowing cape when she walks onto the court in Stuttgart this week.
=============================
Andrea Petkovic/GER
...she went 2-0 against American youngsters Melanie Oudin and Christina McHale. This week, she stays in Germany with the chance to try to carry over the celebration in Stuttgart.
=============================
Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez/ESP
...MJMS never allowed the Pastries to gain the sort of traction they did against Russia in the 1st Round. She opened Day 1 with a victory over Virginie Razzano, then put a lid on France's momentum by opening Day 2 with a win over Aravane Rezai after the Opinionated Pastry had knotted things with a win to end Saturday's action.
=============================
Olga Savchuk/UKR
...she lost 1 & 1 to Groth to begin the weekend's action, but defeated Rodionova in two tie-break sets (the second went to 14-12) when the Aussies were just one win from wrapping up the tie. In doubles, she and Tsurenko saved two match points and pulled off the upset.
=============================

[Group II MVPs]
Olga Govortsova/BLR
...with prized Belarusan Azarenka placed on the shelf after the first match, Govortsova sat in the captain's seat for the remainder of her nation's 5-0 cruise control win over the Kanepi-less Estonian team. Obviously, feeling frisky, Olga double-bageled Margit Ruutel to end Day 1.
=============================
Polona Hercog/SLO
...Hercog was the only player with a hand in three FC match wins over the nine total ties. She went 2-0 in singles (def. Rebecca Marino & Eugenie Bouchard) and 1-0 in doubles in Slovenia's 3-2 victory
=============================
Patty Schnyder/SUI
...proving that her tank isn't quite dry yet, Sneaky Patty went 2-0 in front of the Swiss faithful, crushing Sofia Arvidsson 1 & 0, then outlasting Johanna Larsson in three sets.
=============================

[RISER]
Timea Bacsinszky/SUI
...while Schnyder allowed fourteen games in her singles matches against Arvidsson and Larsson, Bacsinszky lost just eleven games in HER matches against the Swedish pair.
=============================

[FRESH FACE]
Eugenie Bouchard/CAN
...the junior star's win in Match #4 over Masa Zec-Peskiric allowed Canada to push the Group II Playoff tie with Slovenia to the deciding doubles match.
=============================

[SURPRISE]
Lesya Tsurenko/UKR
...she lost to Jarmila Groth, but got a big win over Anastasia Rodionova and was part of the doubles team that faced down two match points and came back to win the tie-deciding contest to pull off the weekend's biggest upset.
=============================

[VETERANS]
Iveta Benesova/Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova, CZE
...a good example of why it's good when players from the same country team up as regular doubles partners. This pair has already won two tour titles in '11, so after BZS faltered in singles action to put the Czechs in elimination jeopardy there had to be a measure of comfort for her knowing that she could still pick up the pieces with her doubles partner before the curtain came down.
=============================
Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
...now assuming the Liezel Huber-esque doubles-ringer roll for the Slovenian team, Srebotnik teamed with Hercog in the deciding match to take out Sharon Fichman and Rebecca Marino in straight sets to secure a 3-2 victory in the tie.
=============================

[COMEBACKS]
Sabine Lisicki/GER
...Petkovic was the star of Germany's winning weekend, but Lisicki's comeback quietly took yet another step with her singles win over the recently-on-a-roll Christina McHale. Cross your fingers for her.
=============================
Aravane Rezai/FRA
...Rezai still hasn't won two singles matches at an event since July, and I wondered last week if the French team was painting itself into a corner by depending on her to deliver this weekend. Well, apparently, the Pastries WERE hoping she'd come through. It was a pipe dream, but the Opinionated Pastry DID account for France's only point in a 4-1 loss when she defeated Anabel Medina-Garrigues in Match #2 on Saturday and sent everyone to bed believing that they might actually have a shot against the Spaniards.
=============================

[DOWN]
Anastasia Rodionova/AUS
...oh, Anastasia. This weekend was where all her Fed Cup dreams crashed down on her head. Dokic's (somewhat) late pull-out thrust her into important singles action, and nothing went well. As bad as losing to Tsurenko (ranked 59 spots below her) felt on Saturday, her failure to close out the tie against Savchuk on Sunday after Team Australia's coach had expressed confidence that she could do it must have felt worse. But failing to convert two match points in the doubles, too? She needs to move on, and fast.
=============================
Sofia Arvidsson & Johanna Larsson, SWE
...these two have been solid FC contributors in the past, but not this time. Combined against Switzerland in the Gorup II Playoffs, they went 0-4 in singles (Arvidsson managed just five games in her pair of matches), while their team's only point in the 4-1 loss came in the doubles, when neither of the Swedish squad's two best players were on the court.
=============================

ITF PLAYER: Valeria Savinykh/RUS
...going into the weekend, the 20-year old Hordette (world #204) was essentially the ITF version of her countrywoman Elena Vesnina. Savinykh had reached four challenger finals in her career, but sported a 0-4 record. All that ended in the $100K event in Johannesburg, South Africa. Defeating four seeds -- three of the top four, including #1 Anne Keothavong -- along the way, the Russian finally lifted a singles crown when she downed #2-seed Petra Cetkovska in the final. She also reached the doubles semis with Nina Bratchikova, but the competition was cancelled due to too much rain and the resulting flooding.

JUNIOR STARS: Kyle McPhillips/USA & Gabby Andrews/USA
...while the youngsters on the American Fed Cup team were stuck in neutral, these two only progressed another step forward in the Grade B1 Easter Bowl event in Rancho Mirage, California. Both McPhillips (16's) and Andrews (14's) won titles at the tournament a year ago, and they met in the final to determine the highest-level champion this time around. #13-seeded McPhillips, 17, ultimately walked away with the title, her first at an ITF Grade 1 event, but 14-year old #9-seed Andrews surely deserves to share the spotlight. She knocked off three seeds, including #1 Grace Min, and won the doubles title with Taylor Townsend, defeating McPhillips and Chanelle Van Nguyen in the final. As usual, Colette Lewis has a great recap of the Easter Bowl final over at Zoo Tennis.


1. WG PO - SRB/SVK #5: Jankovic/Krunic d. Hantuchova/Rybarikova
...2-6/7-5/9-7. The Slovaks led 6-2/5-1, and Rybarikova held two match points on her serve at 5-4 in the 2nd. The broke to take a 6-5 advantage in the 3rd, as well. But there was no escaping the Serbian Surge, as Jelena became a star once again and Krunic suddenly became a "somebody." Back in the World Group for 2012, if they throw in a healthy AnaIvo (knock on wood) then Serbia might be a player for the big prize with a team that is now far deeper than it was three or four years ago.
=============================
2. WG PO - UKR/AUS #5: Savchuk/Tsurenko d. Groth/Rodionova
...0-6/7-6/6-3. I won't add any more to Anastasia the Not-So-Great-This-Weekend's pain. Oops... come on, that doesn't count. It was just a tribute to Anastasia's former Russian countrywoman, Czarina Myskina herself, after deciding the other day that I think I'll use her '04 RG title as the subject of a "Time Capsule" next season. Really. Myskina WAS on my mind. Well, enough so that I at least thought to try to lessen Rodionova's hurt. Wink-wink.
=============================
3. WG PO - SRB/SVK #4: Jankovic d. Hantuchova
...6-2/3-6/7-5. When this one wrapped up after 2:47 of action, what are the odds that JJ thought it'd be the SHORTER of her two matches on Sunday? A superhero's work is never done.
=============================
4. FC SF - CZE/BEL #5: Benesova/Zahlavova-Strycova d. Flipkens/Wickmayer
...6-4/6-4. Truthfully, it wouldn't have surprised anyone had the sometimes-flighty Czechs collapsed here and wasted Kvitova's efforts in singles. But, wonders never cease, it didn't happen. For the first time since Communism (and a state-controlled-to-the-point-of-strangulation tennis establishment) ruled in eastern Europe, the Czechs have a shot at a Fed Cup championship.
=============================
5. WG PO - UKR/AUS #4: Tsurenko d. Rodionova
...7-6(3)/7-6(12). See above.
=============================
6. WG PO - SRB/SVK #3: Cibulkova d. Ivanovic
...6-4/3-3 ret. The 2011 season is slowly but surely getting away from AnaIvo.
=============================
7. FC SF - CZE/BEL #3: Kvitova d. Wickmayer
...5-7/6-4/6-2. A little lost with the Czechs' tie-clinching doubles win was Kvitova's rather nice victory here in a match-up of players who've both reached slam SF in the last year and a half (give or take a few weeks). Kvitova held her nerve on the road after the losing the 1st set, with the team in danger of going down 2-1 if she couldn't turn things around. Of course, recent history told her she could come back against the Belgian. In the Paris QF, she reversed a 5-3 3rd set deficit to ride to victory over Wickmayer and, eventually, the biggest moment in her career so far when she knocked off Clijsters in the final.
=============================
8. $25K Casablanca Final - Galina Voskoboeva d. Mervana Jugic-Salkic
...6-7/6-2/6-2. Voskoboeva's comeback continues with an ITF singles title. Play it again, Galina.
=============================
9. $10K Antalya Final - Daria Gavrilova d. Ksenia Lykina
...6-4/4-6/6-2. In an all-Hordette match-up, 17-year old '10 U.S. Open Girls champion Gavrilova claimed her first career challenger title.
=============================
10. $10K Caracas Final - Adriana Perez d. Amanda McDowell
...2-6/6-2/6-2. The 18-year old from Venezuela, ranked #628, now has a pair of challenger titles this season. She won the doubles, too.
=============================


*FED CUP FINALS - since 2000*
2000 United States def. Spain
2001 Belgium def. Russia
2002 Slovak Republic def. Spain
2003 France def. United States
2004 Russia def. France
2005 Russia def. France
2006 Italy def. Belgium
2007 Russia def. Italy
2008 Russia def. Spain
2009 Italy def. United States
2010 Italy def. United States
2011 Russia vs. Czech Republic

*FED CUP FIELD - for February 2012 ties*
=World Group=
Belgium
Czech Republic
Germany
Italy
Russia
Serbia
Spain
Ukraine
=World Group II=
Argentina or Japan (determined July 16-17)
Australia
Belarus
Germany
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
Switzerland
United States

*LONG 2011 WINNING STREAKS*
12...VICTORIA AZARENKA, March-April [11-0 WTA / 1-0 FC] (current)
12...Kim Clijsters, January-February [10-0 WTA / 2-0 FC]
11...Li Na, January [11-0 WTA]





STUTTGART, GERMANY (Premier $721K/red clay indoors)
10 Final: Henin d. Stosur
11 Top Seeds: Wozniacki/Zvonareva
10 Doubles Champions: Dulko/Pennetta
=============================
=SF=
Petkovic d. A.Radwanska
#4 Azarenka d. #2 Zvonareva
=FINAL=
#4 Azarenka d. Petkovic

...not to be defeatist about it, but I have a Zippo lighter of a chance (hence, the Zippo logo above) to even come close to picking this tournament correctly. I can hear the draw taunting me now. Sure, I got seven of my nine Fed Cup tie picks right this past weekend, but that and this are entirely different animals. I mean, come on, a loaded draw filled with the world #1 and #3, a Roland Garros finalist with a week of rest (Schiavone WAS in the draw, but pulled out), the tour's hottest player at the moment and a bundle of top players fresh off Fed Cup action from all corners of the world over the weekend? This is like trying to walk across a river on the backs of crocodiles. Wozniacki's section alone -- as in one small 7-player part of a 28-player/4-bye field -- contains her, Petkovic, Jankovic and Kvitova (Wickmayer was there, too, before she withdrew). Just give me a blindfold and cigarette now and be done with it, I say. So, just for kicks, I'll go with Azarenka and, following the pattern of recent weeks, expect C-Woz to win since I didn't predict her to do so.

UPDATED: Naturally, now Kvitova has pulled out of this draw, as well. Why do so many players schedule appearances at events days after Fed Cup participation? You know most of them aren't going to show up anyway. I mean, why do they do it OTHER than it allows the tour/event to sell tickets using their name up until their name is no longer in the draw, of course.

UPDATED AGAIN: So, although it was reported, Schiavone DIDN'T pull out. She exited rather quickly at the hands of A-Rad, though. Well, I guess I still have faith that 2011's smooth road won't finally hit a pothole in Week 16... but small signs like this ARE a little ominous.


FES, MOROCCO (Int'l $220K/red clay outdoors)
10 Final: Benesova d. Halep
11 Top Seeds: Rezai/Shvedova
10 Doubles Champions: Benesova/Medina-Garrigues
=============================
=SF=
#6 Dokic d. #7 Halep
#2 Shvedova d. #3 Dominguez-Lino
=FINAL=
#6 Dokic d. #2 Shvedova

...hey, if I'm going to do down in flames again in this section before that I-Picked-Kim-in-Oz jinx is finally over, I may as well do it with the player I WANT to see win, right? Thing is, I actually DO sort of like Jelena's chances here. She's had a week off (two, really, since she lost early her last time out) and isn't suffering from jetlag since she skipped that long FC trip back to Australia, and the top-seeded player in her section is Aravane Rezai, who hasn't won two matches in a tournament since last summer (she'd have to win two here to get to Dokic). I need SOMEONE to break this string and get The Wedding Crash-Lander out of my head. Please, Jelena... for old time's sake?

UPDATED: Naturally, Dokic pulled out with a viral illness, so the glorious run continues in this space. I guess I'll now go with Halep to return to the final, and Shvedova to become the first woman representing Kazakhstan to win a tour singles title (she's previously been a champion, but as a Russian).


The first of two pre-RG "Time Capsule" editions -- '87 Roland Garros - Lendl vs. Wilander, before Seles-in-1991 follows in a few weeks -- will arrive later this week. All for now.

Read more...

Wk.14- That's What Friends Are For

Another weekend, another great WTA story (or two).



I wonder if anyone will notice what Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka pulled off last week? Once again... ♥ ya Kim.

(Yep, my "reverse-the-curse" tactics seem to have worked on the Belgian, even if I'm still waiting for a little sugar to come MY 0-for-13 way in all this... but more on that in a bit.)

As we stand in April 2011, with the future/longevity of the Williams Sisters murky, Justine Henin gone again, Elena Dementieva in Russia probably saying she's still confident in her choice to retire (but maybe secretly staring blankly at the ceiling at 3am) and the aforementioned Mrs. Clijsters injuring herself and making her plight the center of attention on someone else's wedding day, much of this season has and will continue to be about which players will fill the void and begin to create their own legacies. Technically, though she's a couple of years older than her younger peers, Ana Ivanovic was the first (and, so far, only) player in the WTA's post-Williams/Belgians/first wave of Hordettes generation to win a slam, but it seems far morely likely that Wozniacki and Azarenka will eventually both total more slam titles on their own than that AnaIvo will ever get #2 at this point.

Really, that future scenario has been wafting through the air for a few seasons now, as the Dane and the Belarusan have always given off the "vibe" that they were on the leading edge of their generation of stars. They've been following each other around for years. Azarenka won the Girls Australian and U.S. Open titles in '05 and finished as the #1 junior in the world. Wozniacki was #4. A year later, Wozniacki won the junior title at Wimbledon and finished #2. In March '09, Azarenka became the 96th player to reach the WTA singles Top 10. Less than two months later, Wozniacki became the 97th. Since then, though, C-Woz has mostly distanced her good friend. She reached the Top 5 first, and wasn't joined there until today when Azarenka broke through that ranking barrier for the first time, and has now been ranked #1 for more weeks in her career than any other active player not named Serena. While Wozniacki has yet to win a slam, she HAS reached a slam final. Azarenka is still looking for her first slam semi.

Other than with the recent distance the Dane has put between them, they've been easy to couple (and, oh, how I've tried... until I finally took a step back and took a "prove it to me before I continue" stance with Azarenka). Recently, they even jointly brought out that Japanese flag before their match in Indian Wells to show solidarity with that nation's earthquake/tsunami victims. But while Wozniacki's rise has been steady and sure, Azarenka's has come in fits and starts, often set back by physical issues (some her fault, some not) and battles with on-court anger. By the start of '11, there was reason to wonder if she'd EVER get over the proverbial hump.

The 21-and-under set's "Big Two" have combined for twenty-two tour singles titles, but this weekend was the first time they've ever won crowns on the same weekend. Is it a sign? Maybe the time has finally come where Azarenka will pick up the slack in this potentially-great tennis relationship, close the gap and help to create something that every sport needs. A good rivalry. Every yin needs a yang, and this media-friendly combo of "the girl next door" vs. the "champion in waiting" (which is assigned each of those monikers might seem simple at first, but they're actually capable of passing them back and forth), only today in its infancy, has already revealed some compelling angles.

Wozniacki's steadiness and inner toughness has served her well the last couple of years, but Azarenka's outward fire has always tantalized. Never was the potential of this combo seen in better light than at the Tour Championships in '09, when a cramping Wozniacki battled back from match point against Azarenka to show the "harm" that lurks beneath the "charm." Azarenka's has never been accused of containing her "harm," sometimes to her own detriment. Her emotion/anger has sometimes provided the spark in a great comeback win (vs. Suarez-Navarro at Roland Garros two years ago), but it has also sent her careeming off course as the "firecracker" blew up in her face, too. Meanwhile, sometimes Wozniacki's lack of outward aggression can sometimes be blamed for her not having yet won that elusive slam title.

The last four WTA titles of the season have been split equally by Wozniacki and Azarenka, but they both went about their business if far different ways last week. Azarenka's Marbella experience, in many ways, was more impressive than her Miami title run. So what if she won far more prize money ($700K to $37K), earned more points (1000-to-280) and triumphed over a far more prestigious field (wins over five players ranked #25 or better, including the world #2 and #3 a week ago, compared to a best ranking of #43 amonst her five opponents last week) in Miami? Azarenka had to struggle to make it through in the early going in Miami, and didn't face the best games from her highest-ranked opponents in the latter rounds. In Marbella, she never allowed more than five games to an opponent in a single match, and so smooth was her transition from hard courts to red clay that she pulled off a freakishly rare feat. From what I could tell, the only other player since 2000 (that's all further a looked back) to win hard court and red clay titles in back-to-back weeks has been Venus Williams in Dubai and Acupulco in both '09 and '10. That's it. That's the list. Azarenka even jumped continents in the process, just like V did. A few other players have followed up hard court crowns with ones on clay, but none on consecutive weeks (Serena pulled off a Miami/Charleston combo in '08, but back then Amelia Island week was sandwiched between those events).



I was looking to see if Azarenka had learned from her Miami run, and whether or not she could carry it over into Europe. Well, she didn't lose a set in Spain, extending her streak to seventeen consecutive sets won since she dropped the 1st against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the Round of 16 in Miami. So far, so good, I'd say.

Meanwhile, while Azarenka cruised, Wozniacki, though she only lost one set, struggled before finally prevailing. Fatigued at times, inconsistent with her serve, forehand and decision-making at others, she wasn't at her best. She survived a pair of tie-breaks (8-6 and 11-9) against Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova, with the Czech holding set points in both stanzas; and she trailed Yanina Wickmayer 4-6/4-4 love/40 on her own serve, with the Belgian missing on an easy shot at the net that would have allowed her to serve for the match. With an opponent letting her off the hook, C-Woz accepted the gift and ended up winning her fifteenth career singles title. By the time the final arrived, the Dane even managed to hold her serve throughout. Like Azarenka last week in Miami, Wozniacki survived and might be all the better for it.

No matter what occurs over the next few months with the Sisters or Clijsters, if by the end of the season Wozniacki and Azarenka have become tied together in ways other than a close friendship and birthdates, this season will have proven to be an enticing stepping stone. Tennis, maybe more than any other indvidual sport, makes its hay with rivalries. Whether they be friendly (Evert/Navratilova), or not (Clijsters/Henin), short-lived (Graf/Seles) or even particularly competitively intriguing on game day in the early going (Serena/Venus), they're great for the sport. The up and down nature of recent women's #1's have, more than anything, robbed the tour of any sustained history between two top players. On the men's tour, while Federer/Nadal was in the spotlight, Nadal/Djokovic was warming up in the background and is now ready to hit the big time in '11. Where are the WTA's similar head-to-head storylines? There really haven't been any since the expected Jankovic/Ivanovic tussle fizzled out along with AnaIvo's post-Roland Garros title standing.

Wozniacki and Azarenka could change all that. They're just similar, as well as different, enough to grab a sporting public's attention. It could be great for tennis. Now they just have to make it happen.

Of course, there's probably little discussion of those two as this week begins, what with Clijsters once again thrusting herself into the headlines for something unrelated to on-court business. Yep, she managed to injure herself again... dancing at her cousin's wedding. What's been termed a "severe" injury has resulted in torn ankle ligaments that will take at least six weeks to heal, meaning she's pretty much an assured no-go for RG, especially since she was already out at least a month with shoulder and wrist injuries. Forget Paris, and wonder about London, too... not to mention all the expected handwringing about another player not on the court taking away from the great things happening on it.

Caroline and Victoria, the stage is now cleared just a tiny bit more for you in Paris. But you might have your work cut out for you trying to get the attention of a large chunk of the audience. Good luck.

*WEEK 14 CHAMPIONS*
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA (Premier $721K/green clay outdoor)
S: Caroline Wozniacki def. Elena Vesnina/RUS 6-2/6-3
D: Mirza/Vesnina d. Mattek-Sands/Shaughnessy
MARBELLA, SPAIN (Int'l $220K/red clay outdoor)
S: Victoria Azarenka def. Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3/6-2
D: Llagosters-Vives/Parra-Santonja d. Errani/Vinci


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
...Wozniacki's Charleston title gives her a tour-leading three this year, meaning she's now won three or more crowns in four straight seasons. No other professional player can say that. Just her. That's it. That's the list. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have notched 3+ wins every season from 2008-10, but have combined for only one title so far in 2011. Last week began for C-Woz with a quick win over Irina Falconi, followed by struggles against Zahlavova-Strycova and Wickmayer, then progressively more matter-of-fact wins over Jelena Jankovic and Elena Vesnina as she seemingly got a second wind, got her consistency back in order and got used to the clay (maybe not necessarily in that order). So, while she's not the biggest women's tennis story today, it should be noted yet again that Wozniacki continues to take forward steps. Yesterday, she even said she feels confident and "knows" that she can win a slam. Two years ago, she lost in the Charleston final. A year ago in South Carolina, she suffered the injury that slowed her down all spring. This year, she's the champion. That slam title may not come THIS year, but it WILL come. Somewhere. One day.
=============================
RISERS: Victoria Azarenka/BLR & Peng Shuai/CHN
...Azarenka's seventh career title in Marbella was a pretty pristine affair. She never lost a set all week, and never allowed more than five total games in a match. Her additional wins came over Arantxa Parra-Santonja, Laura Pous Tio, Sara Errani and Irina-Camelia Begu, while Dinara Safina wasn't physically able to complete the 1st set of their QF match. If Step 1 was Miami, then Step 2 was Marbella for the Belarusan. Still looking for that first career slam semi, Azarenka's momentum for Paris -- where she was dumped out in the 1st Round a year ago, after reaching the QF in '09 -- is now an official entity to contend with. But slams aren't played in April. Now, with Clijsters additional wedding-related (???) injury -- are we going to get endless speculation about that like we have with Serena's restaurant-related one? -- the door for slam success is swinging open just a wee bit more. Can Azarenka walk through it? Peng would just like to reach a final in '11. Charleston wins over Sloane Stephens, Ayumi Morita, Nadia Petrova and Sania Mirza put her in her third SF of the season. Only three players have appeared in more, but maybe more importantly, of the eighteen women who have reached two or more singles semis this year, Peng is the ONLY one to have yet to reach a 2011 final.
=============================
SURPRISES: Elena Vesina & Sania Mirza (RUS/IND) & Irina-Camelia Begu/ROU
...Mirza and Vesnina have seeming been so good for each other that you have to consider whether they're wondering where the other has been all their lives. As they've teamed up to great success in doubles in recent weeks -- winning Indian Wells before claiming Charleston this weekend -- they've also been able to carry over their shared momentum to singles success. For her part, a finally-healthy-again Mirza made it through qualifying, then got wins over Alison Riske, Vania King and Sabine Lisicki to reach the QF. Vesnina took down even bigger prey: Rebecca Marino, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, defending champ Sam Stosur, Julia Goerges and Peng Shuai to reach her fifth career final. For the second time in those final trips, though, she was defeated by Wozniacki (she's now 1-5 against the Dane). Begu, 20, has been one of the lesser-registering Swarmettes the last couple of years, but she's managed to win her fair share of challenger titles. Of course, nothing she's even done before compares to her miraculous run in Marbella last week. After first qualifying (def. Glushko and Koryttseva), she pulled upsets over Alberta Brianti, Klara Zakopalova and Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach her first career tour singles final. She's the third player -- with Mathilde Johansson and Rebecca Marino -- to be a first-time finalist in '11, but the first to do so "the long way around" through qualifying.
=============================
COMEBACKS: Sabine Lisicki/GER & Casey Dellacqua/AUS
...before injuries and illness played havoc with her life and career, Lisicki was actually the Charleston singles champ (def. Wozniacki in the final) in 2009. Back in Charleston, her slow climb back progressed a few steps more as she reached the 3rd Round with wins over Renata Voracova and Marion Bartoli. She'll be part of the Germany/USA FC tie this weekend. And, in what has now seemingly become a weekly segment around here, it's time for Week 14's "Dellacqua Update." And, once again, things are looking better and better all the time. Not unexpectedly, Casey and Olivia Rogowska won their fourth straight doubles titles in the $25K challenger in Bundaberg, Australia. But the surprise came in singles as, after not registering a solo win in over a year, Dellacqua also grabbed the singles title. It was somewhat bittersweet, as she defeated partner Rogowska in the final, but you'd like to at least hope that Olivia felt good about Casey's success in the end. After all, she's had a front row seat at her ongoing comeback show for over a month now.
=============================
VETERANS: Nuria Llagostera-Vives/Arantxa Parra-Santonja, ESP/ESP
...nearly four years after they shared a doubles titles in Barcelona in '07, the Spanish vets won their second in Marbella. It's NLV's fourteenth career tour crown, while APS has four.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Christina McHale/USA & Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino/ESP
...McHale's rise continued in Charleston, as the 18-year old reached the QF with wins over Heather Watson, Alisa Kleybanova and Daniela Hantuchova. She'll be on the U.S. Fed Cup team this week in the World Group Playoff tie against Germany. Arruabarrena-Vecino, 19, has won two challenger titles this season, and last week managed her first success on the big tour. After qualifying with wins over Eleni Daniilidou and Nina Bratchikova, she got main draw victories over Monica Niculescu and Sandra Zahlavova in Marbella on her way to her first career QF result.
=============================
DOWN: Samantha Stosur/AUS, Aravane Rezai/FRA & Alisa Kleybanova/RUS
...none of these three had 1st Quarters to write home about (except maybe over tear-soaked pages or keyboards), and things didn't get any better in the opening week of Quarter #2. Stosur was the Charleston defending champ, but she managed just five games against Vesnina in the 3rd Round. 2010 Rome champ Rezai, already dealing with unfortunate off-the-court issues, won just three games in her 1st Round match in Marbella against Estrella Cabeza-Candela. She's now 2-6 on the season, and hasn't won two matches in a tournament since last July. Meanwhile, Kleybanonova lost 6-1/6-0 to Christina McHale in the 2nd Round in Charleston.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Marina Erakovic/NZL
...Marina's been having a great time in North America. From Mexico to Alabama to, this past week, Mississippi (Jackson, to be exact), she's strung together back-to-back-to-back ITF titles, fifteen straight match wins and, now, a second consecutive "ITF Player of the Week" honor in this space. Ranked #230, the Kiwi notched wins over Julia Boserup, Chan Yung-Jan and Alja Tomljanovic in a 6-1/6-2 final.
=============================
JUNIOR STAR: Samantha Crawford/USA
...last year, big-serving Florida resident Crawford won the Eddie Herr 16s championship. Last week, as a wild card entrant in her first career Grade 1 event at the USTA International Spring Championships in Carson, California, the 6-foot-1 sixteen-year old pulled off a dream run to the title. She defeated four seeds along the way, including #2 Grace Min (6-3/6-2) and #3 Madison Keys (6-1/6-1) in the final. Keys injured an abdominal muscle early in the 1st set in the final, but was classy enough to not blame her loss on the ailment, choosing instead to give her big-hitting fellow Bannerette full credit. Colette Lewis of Zoo Tennis provides a great rundown of the final featuring yet another girl on the lengthening list of young Americans to keep an eye on.
=============================


1. Chas QF - Wozniacki d. Wickmayer
...4-6/6-4/6-4. Oh, Wickmayer has to still be seeing that ball that popped off the top of the net, providing her with a perfect setter to put away for a winner when she led this match 6-4/4-4 and 40/love on Wozniacki's serve. She failed to win the point and get a chance to serve for the set, and C-Woz won nine straight points to take the set and go on to win here and take the title. Now, she's supposed to lead the Belgian team in the FC semifinals against the Czechs. I guess we'll learn how short-term her memory really is.
=============================
2. Marb QF - Azarenka d. Safina
...5-1 ret.. It's never a good thing when "retired" and "lower back injury" are uttered in the same sentence with "Safina."
=============================
3. Chas 3rd Rd - Vesnina d. Stosur 6-4/6-1
Chas SF - Vesnina d. Peng 7-6/6-3
...Vesnina should have known pretty early on that she'd have no chance against C-Woz in the final, considering the two previous times she'd lost in tour finals to the Dane she'd also beaten both Stosur (New Haven '09) and Peng (Ponta Vedra Beach '09) en route to the championship match.
=============================
4. Marb 1st Rd - Cabeza-Candela d. Rezai
...6-3/6-0. I sure hope the Pastries aren't counting on Aravane to play a big part in France's World Group Playoff tie this weekend with Spain. She had hard enough of a time handling Spaniard Cabeza-Candela. I'd be afraid to guess what might happen if she takes on more than one.
=============================
5. Char 1st Rd - Scheepers d. Schnyder
...6-4/6-4. Sneaky Patty's farewell to Charleston wasn't as long of a goodbye as one might have hoped it'd be.
=============================
6. Chas 1st Rd - Vesnina d. Marino 6-7/6-2/6-3
Chas 1st Rd - Mirza d. Riske 2-6/6-3/6-3
...Marino and Riske just can't get out of each other's shadow. During the same afternoon in Charleston, they even dropped separate singles matches to on-court partners who would go on to win the doubles title.
=============================
7. Chas 2nd Rd - McHale d. Kleybanova
...6-1/6-0. Sure, Kleybanova has been having a poor excuse for a season. But unless the Russian is playing hurt, she really has NO excuse for being nearly double-bageled by anyone.
=============================
8. Chas 3rd Rd - Goerges d. Peer
...6-2/6-4. If Peer had won this match she'd been the first Israeli woman to reach the Top 10. As it is, she's STILL five ranking points short.
=============================
9. Chas Final - Wozniacki d. Vesnina
...6-2/6-3. This one was nothing like their meeting in the PVB tour semifinal in '09, when Wozniacki came back from a 4-2 3rd set deficit, saving four match points while Vesnina played out all the parts in her own Shakespearean tragedy on the other side of the net. She was rather subdued on this afternoon, but did grab a doubles title later in the day to put a smile on her face.
=============================
10. Marb Final - Azarenka d. Begu
...6-3/6-2. Let's see, over the last few weeks I've picked Wozniacki to NOT win titles twice in events that she won, and picked her TO win one in the week that she didn't. In Marbella, I decided to go against form and picked an unseeded champion. So, naturally, #1-seeded Azarenka took the crown. Neither Kim, nor I, have been fairing very well since our "break-up."
=============================
HM- 10K Antalya Final - Quirine Lemoine d. Isabella Shinikova
...6-4/6-2. The 19-year old Dutch girl, ranked #858, made some noise two seasons ago when she upset Laura Robson in the Wimbledon Girls competition on her way to the quarterfinals.
=============================
HM- 10K Sibenik Final - Eugenie Bouchard d. Jessina Ginier
...6-2/6-0. It's the Canadian junior's second challenger title of the season.
=============================


**2011 WTA LEADERS**
[Singles Titles]
3...CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, DEN
2...VICTORIA AZARENKA, BLR
2...Petra Kvitova, CZE
[Winning Streaks]
12...Kim Clijsters, January-February
11...Li Na, January
11...VICTORIA AZARENKA, MARCH-APRIL (active)
[Consecutive Finals]
3...Kim Clijsters, January-February
3...Caroline Wozniacki, February
2...Li Na, January
2...VICTORIA AZARENKA, MARCH-APRIL (active)
[Low-Ranked Semifinalists]
#150 - Michaella Krajicek, NED (lost Kuala Lumpur SF)
#138 - IRINA-CAMELIA BEGU, ROU (lost Marbella Final)
#119 - Petra Martic, CRO (lost Bogota SF)
#105 - Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK (won Memphis title)
#102 - Lucie Hradecka, CZE (lost Memphis SF)
[Singles/Doubles Final in Event]
Pattaya - Sara Errani, ITA - L/W
Acapulco - Arantxa Parra-Santonja, ESP - L/L
Charleston - ELENA VESNINA, RUS - L/W

**2011 TOP SEED WON TITLE**
Dubai - Caroline Wozniacki def. Kuznetsova
Indian Wells - Caroline Wozniacki def. Bartoli
Marbella - VICTORIA AZARENKA def. Begu
Charleston - CAROLINE WOZNIACKI def. Vesnina

**SEASONS w/ 3-or-more TITLES - WTA/ATP**
[active streak, extended in 2011]
4 years - CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, 2008-11
[3 years, 2008-10]
Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal
[3+ in 2010 only]
Kim Clijsters
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Sam Querrey
[3+ in 2011 only]
Novak Djokovic
Robin Soderling

**WORST RECORDS IN WTA FINALS, 2009-11**
[career titles in parenthesis]
0-5...ELENA VESNINA (0)
0-3...Sara Errani (2)
0-3...Lucie Safarova (4)
0-3...Patty Schnyder (11)

**WEEKS SPENT AT #1 - active players**
[singles, as of next Monday]
122...Serena Williams
27...CAROLINE WOZNIACKI
26...Dinara Safina
20...Kim Clijsters
18...Jelena Jankovic
17...Maria Sharapova
12...Ana Ivanovic
11...Venus Williams
[doubles, as of next Monday]
163...Cara Black
147...Liezel Huber
117...Lisa Raymond
61...Samantha Stosur
25...GISELA DULKO
8...FLAVIA PENNETTA
8...Serena Williams
8...Venus Williams
4...Kim Clijsters





FED CUP SF & WG PLAYOFFS
=============================
=SF=
Russia(H) def. Italy(A) 4-1
Czech Republic(A) def. Belgium(H) 4-1
=World Group Playoffs=
Germany(H) d. United States(A) 4-1
Spain(H) d. France(A) 4-1
Serbia(A) d. Slovak Republic(H) 3-2
Australia(H) d. Ukraine(A) 5-0
=World Group II Playoffs=
Belarus(H) d. Estonia(A) 4-1
Slovenia(H) d. Canada(A) 3-2
Sweden(A) d. Switzerland(H) 3-2
Japan(H) vs. Argentina(A) - postponed

...two-time defending champion Italy enters as the #1-ranked FC team. But THAT team isn't the team that'll be going up against Russia in Moscow. With Pennetta and Schiavone absent, the hard work will fall on the shoulders of Vinci, Errani, Brianti and Camerin. With Zvonareva, Kuznetsova, Pavlyuchenkova and Makarova on the Hordette roster, it would seem a safe bet that Russia will be get a shot to re-claim the FC title later this year. Of course, the Russians DID fall behind France 0-2 in the 1st Round and were lucky to escape. Meanwhile, six months ago it looked like the forminable Belgian team would include Clijsters, Henin and Wickmayer. As it turns out, only Wickmayer is here, with the likes of Flipkens and youngsters Mestach and van Uytvanck round out the roster. Kvitova, Safarova, Benesova and Zahlavova-Strycova would seem to have a huge advantage, but while the Czechs are talented they're also a bit flighty at times. Kvitova DID successfully put the team on her back earlier this season, but that tie didn't have a trip to the FC final at stake with a pro-Belgium crowd on hand. We'll see. I like the Belgians' chances for an upset better than those of the Italians, but only slightly so.


All for now.



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