Wk.12- To Spin Is Divine, but some are more divine than others

As today's tennis stars continue to take their talents to South Beach, why not be a little self-indulgent in the middle of the festivities and talk about the list of my personal all-time favorite players? Hey, SOMETHING has to take the place of the audacity of the finally-left-behind-after-all-these-years (and who's missed it, really?) practice of having the players dress up and gather in a big room in Miami three-plus months into the new season while the tour hands out the awards for the long-since-forgotten previous campaign?

(And no, Kim, you're not on this list. But we all know that your BFF Mrs. Davenport has your name on top of HER list... so you've got that going for you, which is nice.)

ALL-TIME ALL-BACKSPIN TEAMS:
**1st Team**
Jelena Dokic, AUS/YUG/SRB... the wild ride began the first moment I saw her, when she popped up at Wimbledon in' '99 and took it to world #1 Martina Hingis in the 1st Round. The thought process went from "who is she?" to "wow, she's really something" in less than an hour.
The 16-year old rode the moment for as long as she could to become the story of the tournament en route to the QF. A year later, she reached the SF. Now, if Dokic were to come onto the scene now, I'd be more familiar with her (she was the world Junior #1 and won the U.S. Open Girls title in '98), and the lethal nature of the "moment" might have been blunted a tad. But, at the time, it was my very first introduction to the whirlwind of fist pumps and stinging winners that is a big win from Dokic, and what a hello it was. It was like crack... one hit and I was hooked. Still am, really, even if I have managed to wean myself off the junk due to its limited availability over most of the last eight years. Still, as her recent title in Kuala Lumpur showed, I'm still susceptible to falling back into the not-so-dark hole when a nice little Ziploc bag full of goodies suddenly shows up at my doorste-... all right, enough with the drug metaphor. Over time, Dokic has more than paid off in the time investment that I put into watching her career go through its various ups and downs. The early years were great, the middle ones weren't. But she's never been boring. Her 2009 Australian Open quarterfinal run again made her the biggest story at a slam once again, a full decade after she did it the first time. And after all these years, there still might be a few good (or better?) moments left in Dokic's racket and boxer's heart (one of the good things that her notorious father donated to her through birth and an estrangement that nearly took her down and out -- though anyone who's closely followed her career probably could never REALLY see her giving up or giving in when the fight seemed to be getting the best of her). Her neverending story has seemed to be close to ending a few times, but it continues. That trait, even more than any win she's ever had or will have, is why she'll go down as my "most special" player of all.

Jana Novotna, CZE... oh, did someone mention fighting against adversity? Yeah, well, Novotna pretty much set the template for being her own worst enemy, but coming out on top in the end. At first, I became attached to Novotna's career around '90 because I loved her net rushing game. I've even tried to employ her much-loved backhand chip approach shot on the court in my own "tennis" game over the years. But once the Czech imploded and blew a big lead on Centre Court against Steffi Graf in the '93 Wimbledon final, then broke down in tears on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent, she morphed into something else entirely -- the centerpiece of an ultimate quest. Sometimes investing anything in such a player turns out to be one long whole-lotta-wrong moment (see Ms. Petrova), but every once in a while you get a "Novotna moment." Five years after her biggest failure, just one of many "smaller" ones in her career (I mean, when "pulling a Novotna" can refer to failing to win a match when you have a 5-0, 40/love lead on match point, you know you've got issues with choking that even Heimlich couldn't find a way around), the Czech rose once again at Wimbledon and won the '98 title. I still consider it my favorite sporting moment, because the decade-long trek to get there made her ultimate she's-no-Hall-of-Famer-without-it victory oh so much sweeter. Truthfully, if Novotna had won in '93 she might not have risen to the place in my personal hierarchy of players where she ended up residing. The experience of losing "with" her had made the difference. Interestingly, on the same day in June '99 that Novotna returned to SW19 to bask in the glow of her '98 title, Dokic burst onto the scene with her match against Hingis. The torch was passed. But that wasn't all... it was also the same day that Boris Becker returned to the courts at Wimbledon after a brief retirement.

Boris Becker, GER... while Novotna made me value perseverance, and Dokic made me realize that you could fully embrace a player who often runs head-first into walls simply because every once a while they break through to the other side, it was Becker who ushered me into my generation of tennis stars. When he crashed the party at Wimbledon by winning the '85 title as a 17-year old, the then-West German wasn't much older than me at the time. Until then, tennis for me had revolved around the previous generation of stars -- Connors, McEnroe, Navratilova, Evert, etc. The red-headed Becker, throwing his body all over the All-England Club's lawns, booming bomb-like serves (a metaphor he never liked, due to Germany's wartime past) and celebrating with a kid's exuberance, changed all that. He made me love the sport, and plug myself into its future. He wasn't just a teenaged flash, either. He came back and won the title in '86, too. In '87, he introduced me to the crushing nature of an early-round upset that no one saw coming, as well. Peter Doohan, anyone? For me, Becker was my biggest stepping stone into the heart of the sport.

Hana Mandlikova, CZE/AUS... before Mandlikova, I'd been mostly a fan of men's tennis. In fact, with the Czech being something of a "third wheel" in the era of Navratilova and Evert, I really wasn't even much of a fan of her's at the start. She came off as arrogant, and I was too young to remember the early years of her career. In the final stage of her career, though, I clued in. It was the variety of her game, and the way she so effortlessly glided around the court that got me. I can remember some famous dancer at the time saying that she'd kill to have Mandlikova's legs. If Becker brought the brutal athleticism that can exist in the game into my view, it was Mandlikova who made her respect and admire the beauty of it. It says something for Mandlikova's talent that even while Navratilova and Evert dominated the sport during her prime, she still managed to win titles at three of the four slams. Her double-takedown of both of them en route to winning the '85 U.S. Open turned my eyes her way (I can still remember doing a big "The Battle for #1" drawing not long afterward, featuring likenesses of Navratilova, Evert, Mandlikova and the just-on-the-scene Steffi Graf), and by the time she won her last slam at the Australian Open in '87 I was fully in the Czech's camp. Two months later, I was in attendance at the Virginia Slims event outside Washington D.C. when Mandlikova won in the final to claim what would be the final singles title of her career. I can still remember her O.C.D. tendencies as she walked around the court in between nearly every point picking up the little pieces of fuzz that had been knocked off the tennis ball during a point, and the woman sitting beside me questioning her friend about it, asking, "What's she DOING?" While I wasn't able to follow Hana for long, I do somewhat credit her for my linging attachment to the hope for another Czech star. As it turned out, though, I DID get a second chance with Mandlikova. When I was first turned on to Novotna's, I didn't know at the time that it was Mandlikova who was her coach and had helped her fashion it. So when Jana ultimately won, so did Hana, as Wimbledon was the only slam she was never able to win (losing to both Martina and Chris in finals). It was nice bonus, and one that I felt I came to naturally.

**2nd Team**
Miloslav Mecir, CZE... the Big Cat was such a smooth prowler of the baseline. He, too, somewhat plays into the Czech heyday that I like to talk about. He reached two slam finals, and won Olympic singles Gold in '88, but really the only thing I remember that sticks about him is how graceful he moved into position to hit his two-handed shots. Oh, and the beard, of course.

Justine Henin, BEL... ah, Justine. La Petit Taureau. The all-time "face" of Backspin. Much like Mandlikova, I didn't start out liking Henin at all. I actually liked Clijsters better. Ha! How great is that!? She won me over, though, with her back-to-back wins over Jennifer Capriati and KC (buh-bye, Kim) to win the U.S. Open in '03, and the rest was history. I loved her fight, and that she didn't care about how she was perceived during her first go-around on tour. She was a great character, and a better one I couldn't have come up with myself. During LPT 2, she eschewed that "black hat" a bit and, well, let's just skip past all that. Now, would Henin appear on this list if not for the existence of Backspin (which wouldn't have come into being if not for those old Jelena Corner columns, bringing things once again back around to JD)? Hmmm, I don't know. I'd like to think so, but making her the leading lady in this space surely helped her carve out a place in my Backspinning heart. Well, that and that she wasn't Clijsters. Ah... ♥ ya, Kim... my all-time Backspin antagonist.

Jimmy Connors, USA... I was too young to know Connors as a player during his early, best years. But I DO remember the post-30 Jimbo. I reveled in him besting McEnroe en route to winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open back-to-back in '82 (though I don't remember anything at all about it other than the feeling of knowing that he won... and his fist pumps and celebrations along the way). Actually, the Redskins emerged from a strike-shortened season that fall to win their first Super Bowl, too... and THAT'S what I really remember all the detail about from that year. By the time he made that SF run at age 39 at the Open in '91, Jimbo was everyone's favorite veteran/showman. Connors, unlike the players on the 1st team (and even, on a small scale, Mecir and Henin), was never someone I was truly linked into, but he IS still my all-time favorite American player.

Bjorn Borg, SWE...I barely remember him as a player, but he epitomized "cool" when I was first introduced to the sport early in elementary school. I can remember him beating McEnroe, and wanting that neat-looking black-painted Borg wooden racket I saw hanging on the wall in a Shipley's Sporting Goods store at the mall. (I've never played with a wood racket. My first racket, which I still have, was a metal Wilson Rebel... which sort of looks like the one used by Connors.) If Borg had only stayed in the game longer, my memories of him might have some depth. But, then again, that detached nature of the Swede epitomizes the mystique he so effortlessly embodied, too. So I'm all right with it. He wasn't McEnroe, and that was all that mattered to me at the time.

**Hopefuls/Almosts & Nice Ideas**
Caroline Wozniacki, DEN... the likely inheritor of Henin's "Face of Backspin" position. And while her charming nature surely goes against those of so many others on the above lists, what's looking like it might become a protracted quest for a grand slam title DOES play into her favor when it comes to her ultimate standing on my personal rankings. Hmmm, maybe I really don't want her to win a slam in '11 (or '12?) just so that she'll have to work for it, making it "worth" more down the line if and when it comes.

Petra Kvitova, CZE... of course, Jana, Hana and Miloslav instilled my affinity for Czech stars. And Kvitova is from Bilovec, Czech Republic. But it's more than just that. She's also very fun to watch (when she's in form), and sometimes just as frustrating (when she's not). After her career's two best moments -- reaching the Wimbledon SF, beating Clijsters to win the Paris Indoors -- she's experienced prolonged letdowns. Could we finally be seeing the Czech inheritor of the mantle once populated by Hana and Jana? Could be, could be. She's great to watch, and has some self-imposed hurdles to clear, too. Sounds like we have the makings for a good quest. Plus, Petra's a dead-ringer for a great girl I used to know -- and that'll probably be enough to put her over the top at Backspin HQ in the long run.

Nadia Petrova, RUS... oh, Nadia. That hoped-for great moment isn't going to happen. I've long since come to that realization. She had her moment, but didn't seize it when her body (as it so often has) let her down. Thus, she's been moved down from her previous spot on the 2nd Team. Of course, Nadia still DOES have a few years left. I won't be holding my breath, though.

Carly & Chelsey Gullickson, USA...sisters with a Mixed slam trophy and an NCAA singles championship, respectivey, to their credit. The Naturals (their dad was a MLB pitcher... remember the old Robert Redford movie?) are really the only recent young American players that I've taken an extra liking to over the last few years. To this point, at least.

Juan Martin del Potro, ARG... I haven't really been a huge fan of a men's player -- though I've enjoyed players like Federer, Nadal and others -- since Becker, but del Potro is currently nibbling at the corners of my mind. I enjoyed him when he won the Open in '09, then jinxed him when I picked him to finish #1 in '10. Back from his wrist injury, he's been burning up the courts the last month or two and I've really been feeling good rooting for him. Thus, he slipped onto this list at the last moment.

...of course, these lists leave off a lot of players that I DO like, have enjoyed over the years and have great hopes for (Ms. MarinoRiske, I presume?). I was a fan of Evert's in the latter stages of her career, and Navratilova at Wimbledon in her heyday (and everywhere in her post-40 days). Maria Sharapova was once a Supernova and was a pre-shoulder surgery star, and might still someday resemble something close to that again. Nothing beats Serena Williams when she's in full flight, unless it might be Venus on the grass in London. And, of course, no F.O.B. (Friends of Backspin) list would be complete without at least a knowing nod to Queen Chaos herself, Jelena Jankovic, without whom things wouldn't have nearly been as fun around here as they sometimes can be when she in "full Dervish" mode.




COMEBACK: Sabine Lisicki/GER
...it's been a long, hard road back from the devastating knee injury that wrecked Lisicki's upward mobility. She's starting to show some progress, though. She lost in Miami in a 3rd Round meeting with Maria Sharapova, but notched wins over Melinda Czink and Nadia Petrova (who, right on cue as the clay season is about to begin, retired in the 3rd set).
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FRESH FACE: Lyudmyla Kichenok/UKR
...it was a family affair in the $25K challenger in Moscow, as 18-year Ukrainian Lyudmyla claimed both the singles (def. Daria Gavrilova 6-2/6-0 in the final) and doubles (with twin sister Nadiya, who'd lost in singles qualifying as the #1 Q-seed) titles. In the doubles final, Ukraine's pair of tennis-playing sisters not named Bondarenko knocked off Russian siblings Alexandra and Olga Panova.
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DOWN: Li Na/CHN
...success hasn't spoiled her yet, but Li surely hasn't reacted all that well on the court since she reached the Australian Open final. After starting the season by winning her first eleven matches, after her ouster by Johanna Larsson in Miami, she's now lost her next five matches all in a row.
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ITF PLAYER: Aleksandrina Naydenova/BUL
...the 19-year old Bulgarian won the $10K Rancagua, Chile challenger, defeating Catalina Pella in the final. It's Naydenova's second challenger title this month, and her circuit-best third of the season.
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JUNIOR STAR: Eugenie Bouchard/CAN
...a Girls semifinalist at the Australian Open in January, Bouchard claimed the Grade A Copa Gerdau junior event in Porto Alegre, Brazail. After taking out #1-seeded Irina Khromacheva in the SF, the #3-seeded Canadian defeated Viktoria Malova (SVK) in the final.
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[Miami Week 1 - Tuesday-Sunday]
1. Mia 3rd Rd - Wozniacki d. Hantuchova
...6-1/7-6. This match was both "interesting" and "frustrating" to watch on the court, as well as listen to on Tennis Channel, home of the player who finished year-end #1 without winning a slam during the season three times in her career (but never heard an ounce of flack about it, though it was obvious she was no longer the best player on tour at the time), and now has to seemingly be stretched out on the rack to say anything positive about the current #1. Oh, Lindsay Davenport (perhaps having heard some comments about her less-than-thrilled-with-the-Dane Indian Wells commentary?) did make a point to compliment Wozniacki on a few things during the match, but it was hard to escape the feeling that it was often akin to someone patting a puppy on the head because he DIDN'T take a poop on the dining room carpet for the first time all week (those moments are usually preceded by LD saying, "You've got to give her credit...). Uh, yeah... Wozniacki IS #1 for a few reasons. Is her game complete? Not by any means, but she's not there by accident, either.

Wozniacki's (TOO?) defensive skills (her fatigued demeanor in this match carried over to her three-set loss against Andrea Petkovic today, when she failed to convert 3 SP in the 1st and wasn't even as pick-her-spot aggressive as she has been in recent weeks as, eventually, the German couldn't be denied) were on full display in the 2nd set of this match, as Hantuchova took more chances and began to hit her stride All the questions about Wozniacki's play against aggressive hitters were on display, as she ultimately ended up waiting for the Slovak to make an error rather than taking the initiative herself. If Hantuchova had been up to it -- she was 0/7 in break point chances in the set, and double-faulted on match point -- things might have become stickier for the Dane, but there was every reason to believe that the former Top 5 player WOULDN'T be able to rise to the occasion. It was the correct notion. Hence, Wozniacki's hang-back tactics might be looked at as strategically intuitive, even if they weren't exactly aesthetically pleasing. Interesting, but also frustrating because such a gameplan would mean a loss nine times out of ten against Clijsters and others in the big-time matches that Wozniacki needs to figure out a way to win down the line.

Naturally, in the end, Davenport lauded Hantuchova -- err, I mean "Daniela," since that was how she referred to her throughout the match against the player only called "Wozniacki" -- for making a match of it in the 2nd, although it was the Slovak's failure to take advantage of the opportunities she carved out for herself that was really at the heart of that particular match storyline, as well as a large part of her career.

So, I'm back to Davenport again. Geez, has the American actually replaced Pam Shriver as the most annoying on-air tennis commentator in North America? Oh, that's as easy one -- I actually like Pammy now, because sometimes she's right on the mark with things, and even when she isn't it's actually fun, sort of like witnessing one of those implosions of a high-rise building or outdated sports stadium. Davenport is never anything resembling fun, or Shriver-like looney. Thing is, I really take little issue with anything LD says about C-Woz (I've said many of the same things myself), just the manner in which she says it, and what she doesn't say. Surprised or not, should one be as literally floored as Davenport was in the Hantuchova match when Wozniacki came in behind a 1st serve return to put away a volley, rather than simply express the desire to see more of such a thing from her since it proves that she CAN do it? Of course, there was no holding back once Wozniacki had the audacity to spin in a 70-or-so mph serve on match point, which Davenport attacked as if was an affront to the sport for a world #1 to do such a thing. Hmmm, might she secretly wish that she was in HER prime now, with the Sisters absent, rather than when she was shut out of slam titles by Venus and Serena (and Justine) over most of the last decade of her career? I'm just sayin'. I don't wish for LD to "play stupid," but a little more acknowledgement that the Dane has reached #1 not only because plays so often and/or because of who's NOT playing would be a nice thing once in a while, just for variety's sake.

Last time I looked, a player's ability/willingness to stay on the court is part of the equation in any sport, no matter how talented the athlete. And Clijsters, who doesn't play all that often anyway, is already complaining about how often she does. She began to sow her whiner oats in Indian Wells when discussing the WTA's demands on top players to play so often. Comments to which, to her credit, WTA CEO Stacey Allaster responded by essentially replying (in my words), "tough noogies -- if you don't want to play, don't play. But if you don't, you won't be able to take your piece of the bonus money prize pie at the end of the season... and I don't want to hear anything about you possibly getting special treatment on this issue. Rest, or money -- every player is capable of making that choice, including Clijsters."

Of course, she'll get both at the end of this coming week, as she'll be able to take a rest after likely defending her '10 Miami title. Sure, she's only in the Round of 16 at the moment, but it'd be just like KC to win the title after failing to do it when I've so often picked her to do so, then lifting a trophy immediately after I vow not to pick her again the rest of the season. A Belgian scorned, after all...
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2. Mia 3rd Rd - Clijsters d. Martinez-Sanchez
...6-4/4-6/6-3. My, was Lindsay in a giddy mood anytime Clijsters... err, I mean "Kim," since Davenport prefers to call her by her first name virtually every time she mentions Jada's Mom, while everyone she plays is always worthy-of-last-name-only treatment... took a lead. Although the Belgian certainly showed some wobble here, committing 10 double-faults and 39 unforced errors throughout. Shockingly, I'm actually looking forward to ESPN2's upcoming coverage. Though I must thank LD, considering her grating commentary concerning everyone but Clijsters probably played a large part in my better-for-me "breakup" with Kim. Thumbs up, Lindz.
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3. Mia 1st Rd - Lepchenko d. Vandeweghe
...7-5/6-7/7-6. Uzbeki-born Varvara Lepchenko was actually the last American woman standing in this event. Coco, meanwhile, has now put together just a 6-8 record since her disappointing bomb-out performance in the Fed Cup final last November.
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4. Mia 1st Rd - Schnyder d. Keys
...3-6/6-1/7-6. On a brighter note, 16-year Madison Keys continues to show progress, as the wild card took Patty to the limit in the 1st Round.
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5. Mia 1st Rd - Safina d. Dokic
...6-4/6-4. Odd note: six of the seven career sets played between these two have produced 6-4 scores, including the last six sets. In the next round, Safina lost in three to Zvonareva.
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HM- Mia 3rd Rd - Pavlyuchenkova d. Kvitova
...6-4/6-7/6-0. After reaching the Wimbledon semis last year, Kvitova went 0-5 in her next five matches and lost six straight. Since winning in Paris last month, after opening the season winning 11 of 12 and being 16-2 overall, she's gone 1-3.
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**BACKSPIN PLAYER-OF-WEEK WINNERS**
[WTA]
Week 1 - Vera Zvonareva, RUS
Week 2 - Li Na, CHN
Week 3/4 - Kim Clijsters, BEL (AO)
Week 5 - Flavia Pennetta, ITA (FC)
Week 6 - Petra Kvitova, CZE
Week 7 - Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
Week 8 - Vera Zvonareva, RUS (2)
Week 9 - Jelena Dokic, AUS
Week 10/11 - Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (2)
[ITF]
Week 1 - Lu Jing-Jing, CHN
Week 2 - Sharon Fichman, CAN
Week 3 - Tedeja Majeric, SLO
Week 4 - Marta Domachowska, POL
JANUARY: Lu, CHN
Week 5 - Michelle Larcher de Brito, POR
Week 6 - Lucie Hradecka, CZE & Irina-Camelia Begu, ROU (co-POW)
Week 7 - Iryna Kuryanovich, BLR
Week 8 - Hsieh Su-Wei, TPE
FEBRUARY: Kristina Mladenovic,FRA
Week 9 - Yurika Sema, JPN
Week 10 - Alja Tomljanovic, CRO
Week 11 - Anastasiya Yakimova, BLR
Week 12 - Lyudmyla Kichenok, UKR
[Jr.Stars]
Week 0/Pre-Season: Lauren Davis, USA
Week 1 - An-Sophie Mestach, BEL
Week 2 - Monica Puig, PUR
Week 3 - Monica Puig, PUR (2)
Week 4 - An-Sophie Mestach, BEL (2) (AO)
JANUARY: Mestach, BEL
Week 5 - Eugenie Bouchard, CAN (ITF)
Week 6 - Ilka Csoregi, ROU
Week 7 - Monica Puig, PUR (3) (ITF)
Week 8 - Alison van Uytvanck, BEL
FEBRUARY: Puig, PUR
Week 9 - Cristina Dinu, ROU (ITF/non-Jr.)
Week 10 - Alison van Uytvanck, BEL (2) (ITF)
Week 11 - Yuliana Lizarazo, COL
Week 12 - Eugenie Bouchard, CAN (2)


All for now.



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♥ Ya, Kim... and Mulling Over Miami

Oh, don't you ♥ it? It didn't even take forty-eight hours for my "break-up" with Barbie to be rewarded with news that is easy to twist in a way that makes her look self-centered and uncaring of the ongoing plight of others.

Grrr, but I wish I hadn't promised to be such a gentleman the other day. In years past, I would have taken this moment to roughly bandy about Kim Clijsters after her comments yesterday regarding a post-Fukushima Dai-ichi Japan and China. You know, when rather than take a level-headed leadership role on tour, she decided to play the role of Karl Malone during the Magic Johnson HIV controversy of many years ago and come off as the mouthpiece for every possible nuclear reactor fear that, in truth, IS largely correctly being discussed now in the aftermath of Japan's earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown scare triple-whammy of a disaster that began more than a week ago. Essentially, with the story hardly finished being played out, Clijsters has already declared that she won't go to Japan or China to play because of any potential radiation contamination of the air, water, etc. in either Asian nation.

In a way, though, I guess I should admire Clijsters' strong stance, albeit a bit reactionary one, seeing that we're six months away from any WTA event even possibly being held in Japan or China. If the fall events are held at all, that is, considering the World Figure Skating Championships that were to be held there soon have been pulled out of Tokyo. Any contamination fears would be moot if the tour decides to either move or cancel those tournaments, if events warrent such a decision. Making private fears public isn't usually the best way to go, but at least KC didn't paint on the usual smile and do nothing that might upset anyone, or grandstand in a way that forces all attention to be focused on her. Oh, wait. Maybe she DID do that. Hmmm.

Her fears do have a foundation of legitimacy, as well as so-very-human honesty, considering the culprit in her own father's death and her likely nervousness about ever knowingly placing herself in danger of enduring similar circumstances. But as a supposedly leading voice in the sport, she'd been better advised to not have even a portion of the story revolve around her own personal safety concerns -- again, six months from now -- rather than the devastation and/or end of the lives of so many other hundreds of thousands and more. Now, her "infraction" here isn't nearly as egregious as some of the athletes who Twittered after everything went down that, essentially, Japan "deserved" and should have been expecting such "karmic payback" to befall the nation because of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but her words do somewhat back up the notion that so many have about tennis players and their often me-centric take on the world. And coming just days after Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka showed solidarity with the Japanese people by taking the court with the nation's flag in Indian Wells, the contrast is interesting, though not necessarily sharp.

Anyway, I might have gone elsewhere with this a few years ago. But I promised that I wouldn't do that.

♥ ya, Kim.



MIAMI, FLORIDA USA (Premier+ $4.5m/hardcourt outdoors)
10 Final: Clijsters d. V.Williams
11 Top Seeds: Wozniacki/Clijsters
10 Doubles Champions: Dulko/Pennetta
=============================
=4th Rd.=
#1 Wozniacki d. #13 Pennetta
#6 Jankovic d. #23 Wickmayer
#18 Petrova d. #4 Stosur
#11 Kuznetsova d. #7 Li
#5 Schiavone d. #9 A.Radwanska
#3 Zvonareva d. #22 Kleybanova
#12 Kvitova d. #9 Azarenka
#14 Kanepi d. #27 Martinez-Sanchez
=QF=
#1 Wozniacki d. #6 Jankovic
#11 Kuznetsova d. #18 Petrova
#3 Zvonareva d. #5 Schiavone
#12 Kvitova d. #14 Kanepi
=SF=
#1 Wozniacki d. #11 Kuznetsova
#3 Zvonareva d. #12 Kvitova
=FINAL=
#1 Wozniacki d. #3 Zvonareva

...I'll go with C-Woz on form, though if Zvonareva (who'll get the resurgent Safina/Dokic winner in her first match) is playing well enough to get to the final it'd be easy to go the other way. Hmmm, no Kim in sight... largely because I still wonder about her shoulder. Well, that and I'm wondering if she might see Kimiko Date-Krumm walking around the grounds and then quickly book a plane out of town, wrongly believing that she was somehow magically transported to Asia overnight.

Miami's another two-weeker, so next week's Backspin will consist of just a few early-round awards, and that all-time favorites "All-Backspin" team that I didn't post during Indian Wells, of course.

All for now.



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Wk.11- Dear Kim...

A time out for a personal message from me to you-know-who:

Dear Kim,

It's not you. It's me. Really. Well, maybe. In any event, KC, this is a letter that I didn't want to have to write, but I guess I knew deep down that I eventually would. I suspect you felt the same.

I said a while back that I'd try to ♥ you in 2011. And, honestly, I think I've held up my end. I swallowed my pride and stuck with you in Melbourne. I even shocked myself by having fun doing it. But over the months since, especially after pondering the situation over the last couple of weeks and then seeing you leave Indian Wells with a shoulder injury and, once again, no title when I'd predicted you'd get one, I think the time has come to stick a proverbial pin in this balloon of a relationship.

After hearing your pal Lindsay talk over and over and over and over again about how you're so much better than any other women's player on earth and are so much better than the one who's currently ranked #1, I came to a clear realization. While being on your side has been an interesting experience, there's really no longer anything in it for me. I've got to look out for #1... me, not the Dane. Sydney, Paris, and now Indian Wells. Winning with you in Melbourne was great, but losing with you is just not the sort of thing that I can go along with. It only makes me angry with you all over again.

Yeah, yeah. I know you probably heard what I said about Jelena D a few weeks ago, and correctly remembered how I'd picked her over you way back when when I was trying to determine which of you I'd throw my allegiance to more than a decade ago. Since then, I've turned to Justine, Nadia, Serena and others for comfort, as well. Earlier this year, it was Petra... just after she'd treated you pretty badly during your trip to France. You forgave me and took me back in January, and I'm grateful for that. Still, I'm sure none of this surprises you. But, so be it. If I'm predictable, I'm predictable. Be sure, though, Jelena has nothing to do with this -- other than she once again clarified why I simply can't be in your corner all the days of the week -- and neither did any of the others.

Really, Kim, our "unholy" alliance has been an interesting one over the years, hasn't it? While I didn't beg you to stay or shed a tear when you left, I did admit to having missed you when you returned. Since then, we've both had some good times. In New York for you, and in Oz when you went up against Nadia for me.

But we'll always have Melbourne, though. That one worked out for both of us. It won't be forgotten by me.

But it's just not enough. I'm looking for more, and will have to look for it elsewhere. I'm sorry, but this relationship no longer works for me. Maybe we'll reconnect somewhere down the line, but I think we both know it won't likley happen until you walk away for good. I promise you, though, from here on out I'll strive to be a gentleman. I'll remember the good that we so recently shared, and not be too harsh on you when the moments to do so arise. But that's all I can guarantee. I've got to be me.

Sincerely, with as much ♥ as I can offer --

Todd

P.S. -- Say hi to Jada

*WEEK 11 CHAMPIONS*
INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA (Premier+ $4.5m/hard outdoor)
S: Caroline Wozniacki def. Marion Bartoli 6-1/2-6/6-3
D: Sania Mirza/Elena Vesnina d. Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Meghann Shaughnessy


[IW Week 2 - Monday-Sunday]
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Caroline Wozniacki/DEN

...the Wozniacki train continued to chug along in Indian Wells as the Dane solidified her #1 ranking by claiming her fourteenth career title (quickly leaving #13 behind after seeing what havoc Serena's 13th slam has wreaked) in twenty-three finals over the last four seasons. Wins over three Top 20 players -- a retiring Azarenka, Sharapova and Bartoli in the final, a near-Top 20er (Kleybanova) and a player against whom she'd been 0-3 (Martinez-Sanchez) provided the "goop that greatness is made of" (thanks, Steven Tyler) as she won her second top-level Premier event of the season and advanced to her third straight final. Once again, she's leading the tour with nineteen wins (22, if you count her three Fed Cup zone play outings). Not only that, but this makes it four straight seasons in which she's won multiple singles titles, tying the so-far-unextended in '11 four-year runs of the Williams Sisters as the only similar marks amongst active players (Elena Dementieva retired with an intact five-year run from 2006-10).
=============================
RISER: Marion Bartoli/FRA
...although she always presents an interesting sight when she's on the court, Bartoli tends to fly under the radar most of the time. Even with all the movement that generally occurs in the bottom half of the Top 20, she's been able to maintain her ranking there every week since the end of Roland Garros in '07 (a month before her surprise run to the Wimbledon final), though she hadn't been ranked in the Top 10 since July '08 (after her '07 SW19 runner-up points fell off) until she returned there today. In Indian Wells, the Pastry was in good form, fortunate, and not quite up to snuff in the end. She got nice wins over Andrea Petkovic, Ana Ivanovic and Yanina Wickmayer, but was losing to Kim Clijsters when the Belgian was forced to retire. She put up a good fight against Wozniacki in the final, but didn't have enough in reserve to complete her intended task. Still, her first appearance in a final since she won the season-closing Tournament of Champions in Bali in '09 after having lost five straight semifinals over the last two seasons, keeps her name in the conversation when it comes to listing some of the most dangerous players in any draw in which she appears.
=============================
SURPRISE: Sania Mirza/Elena Vesnina, IND/RUS
...while all the top-ranked doubles teams fell by the wayside over the last two weeks, it was the duo of Mirza and Vesnina who were the last pair standing. The IW title was Mirza's ninth on tour, and Vesnina was her seventh different winning partner. Meanwhile, Vesnina now has four crowns, including the '08 IW title, with four different partners. Mirza is the first non-Russian to lift a women's doubles trophy with her, though.
=============================
COMEBACK: Myriam Casanova/SUI
...Casanova was once a player to watch. She won a tour singles title in Brussels in '02, and was ranked in the Top 50 in '03. By the end of the next season, she'd retired and only made a few token Fed Cup appearances from 2005-09. She finally returned to the sport in late '09, and last season won an ITF event and claimed the Swiss Championships against a field of her countrywomen. She ended '10 ranked #793. Going into last week, the now-25 year old was still ranked outside the Top 800, but she managed to win her fifth career ITF title in a $10K event in Fallenden, Switzerland with a win in the final over Latvia's Diana Marcinkevica.
=============================
VETERAN: Maria Sharapova/RUS
...so, apparently, all it took to get a good result out of Sharapova was to essentially lose faith that she was capable of one? Good to know. Though the Russian barely escaped her early round match with Anabel Medina-Garrigues with a well-played 3rd set, her game picked up significantly after that as she downed Aravane Rezai, Dinara Safina and Peng Shuai en route to the semis. Of course, she then went out quickly in an example of a bad match-up between contrasting styles versus Wozniacki, whose great/safe level-headedness only served to highlight the inadequacy of Sharapova's Plan A of going for big winners over consistent shot-making (even Dr. Bartoli pointed it out turing the final on Sunday) when she serve and overall confidence are still issues that look like they may never be fully triumphed over. Her 1&2 loss was even worse than the similarly error-strewn 3&4 one she suffered against the Dane at last year's U.S. Open.
=============================
FRESH FACE: Cristina Dinu/ROU
...two weeks ago, 18-year old Dinu won a $10K challenger in Antalya, Turkey. This weekend, she won her second of the season there (the third of back-to-back-to-back events held at the site), tying her for the overall circuit lead so far in '11. Her win in the final came over Reka-Luca Jani (HUN).
=============================
DOWN: Kim Clijsters/BEL & Samantha Stosur/AUS
...while Wozniacki has claimed two, Clijsters hasn't won a title since the Australian Open and has already lost in two finals in '11 (after losing none post-comeback in '09-'10)... or, in what would likely be Lindsay Davenport's words, a stretch akin to the "greatest run in the history of tennis," at least by a tennis-playing mom. Clijsters' retirement with a shoulder injury in the 4th Round against Bartoli put a thankfully abrupt end to Davenport's 24/7 awe-smothered Tennis Channel commentary about the Belgian in Indian Wells, even if ESPN2/ABC's jump-in-late-even-though-you-don't-deserve-to-be-able-to coverage of the event's latter stages would have done so a few days later, anyway. Clijsters had a small chance of reclaiming the #1 ranking from C-Woz in California, and now she's facing having to defend her '10 Miami title points (if she plays at all, or physically makes it through the whole two weeks) while nursing a bad shoulder heading into the EuroClay season, where she hasn't put up memorable results (and hardly played at all) since before she retired. Meanwhile, Stosur continued her taking-a-step-back '11 pattern. The Aussie reached the semis in Indian Wells in '10, but was dumped out by Dinara Safina in the 3rd Round this year. The loss dropped her to 7-7 on the season, while she's seen two OTHER countrywomen (Groth and Dokic) win tour titles this year.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Anastasiya Yakimova/BLR
...while her countrywoman Victoria Azarenka retired after three games in the QF in Indian Wells after injuring her hip, Yakimova was busy winning the third $100K event on the ITF '11 schedule. In the Bahamas, Yakimova was crowned the Nassau champ with a 6-3/6-2 win in the final over Angelique Kerber. She'd also notched earlier wins over Kristen Flipkens, Anastasia Rodionova, Arantxa Rus and Magdalena Rybarikova.
=============================
"JUNIOR" STAR: Yuliana Lizarazo/COL
...in 2010, then-16 year year old Colombian Lizarazo lost in the 2nd Round of the G1 Banana Bowl to Lauren Davis. The tournament was ultimately won by Beatrice Capra. This year, at 17, Lizarazo returned to Blumenau, Brazil and walked away with her first big junior title when she defeated Peruvian Patricia Ku Flores in the final.
=============================


[IW Week 2 - Monday-Sunday]
1. IW 4th Rd - Bartoli d. Clijsters
...3-6/3-1 ret.. The worsening of her previously-existing shoulder injury ended the Belgian's run of five straight appearances in finals going back to last season and, depending on its ultimate severity, could have more impact on the WTA '11 landscape than even Serena's absence has to date.
=============================
2. IW Final - Wozniacki d. Bartoli
...6-1/2-6/6-3. As usual, Wozniacki outlasted her opponent in the 3rd set. A tiring La Trufflette did put on a final rush after falling behind early in the deciding stanza, but she wasn't able to keep it up.
=============================
3. IW 4th Rd - Wozniacki d. Kleybanova
...2-6/6-3/6-1. Speaking of a player not being able to finish a match in good physical form. Is there any player on tour who loses more three-setters against top players than Kleybanova? Again, here was a case where the Dane got better as the match progressed while the Russian started strong and tailed off down the stretch. Kleybanova has Top 10 ability, but so far her consistency and fitness level have continued to not do it or herself justice.
=============================
4. IW 4th Rd - Ivanovic d. Jankovic
...6-4/6-2. This was AnaIvo's first win over JJ since she defeated her in the '08 Roland Garros semis and claimed the #1 ranking.
=============================
5. IW SF - Wozniacki d. Sharapova
...6-1/6-2. C-Woz's victory was so swift and decisive one wonders if, in the recesses of TPFKATS's brain, it might render null and void whatever good her Indian Wells results might have done the Russian leading into the match.
=============================
HM- $10K Madrid Final - Julia Mayr d. Guilia Sussarello
...3-6/6-2/6-2. Mayr also won the doubles title wih her sister Evelyn.
=============================


**WTA FINALS**
[2011]
3...CAROLINE WOZNIACKI (2-1)
3...Kim Clijsters (1-2)
2...Petra Kvitova (2-0)
2...Li Na (1-1)
[2011 Consecutive]
3...Kim Clijsters, January-February (Sydney-L, AO-W, Paris-L)
3...CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, February-March (Dubai-W, Doha-L, I.W.-W) (current)
2...Li Na, January (Sydney-W, AO-L)
[Last 3 Seasons]
19...CAROLINE WOZNIACKI (8/8/3 - 11-8)
9...Kim Clijsters (1/5/3 - 7-2)
9...Vera Zvonareva (2/6/1 - 4-5)
9...Venus Williams (5/4/0 - 4-5)

**MOST 2011 WTA SF**
4...CAROLINE WOZNIACKI (3-1)
3...Kim Clijsters (3-0)
3...MARION BARTOLI (1-2)
3...Jelena Jankovic (1-2)
3...Vera Zvonareva (1-2)

**DOUBLES TITLES w/**
[Sania Mirza - 9]
2004 Hyderabad - Liezel Huber
2006 Bangalore - Liezel Huber
2006 Kolkata - Liezel Huber
2007 Fes - Vania King
2007 Cincinnati - Bethanie Mattek
2007 Stanford - Shahar Peer
2007 New Haven - Mara Santangelo
2010 Guangzhou - Edina Gallovits
2011 Indian Wells - Elena Vesnina
[Elena Vesnina - 4]
2005 Quebec City - Anastasia Rodionova
2007 Hobart - Elena Likhovtseva
2008 Indian Wells - Dinara Safina
2011 Indian Wells - Sania Mirza

I'll put up a post with my (always bet against 'em) Miami picks later, which at least won't be hindered by having to factor in whether or not to pick you-know-who, as I AM going to adhere to my resolution from last week about not picking Jada's Mom to win anything the rest of this season.

All for now.



Juump is a free online community that makes it easy to meet people and play more tennis – right in your neighborhood. . With Juump, you can FIND players and groups who play at your favorite courts, MEET players with similar skill levels, interests and schedules, and PLAY more tennis.

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Wk.10- 44 Short Thoughts During Indian Wells

It's Monday. Are you feeling more unflappable than ultra-cool chair umpire Kader Nouni?



Ha! Not bloody likely.

(Almost) mid-way through Indian Wells, it's time for a "commercial break." With there still a slight lingering buzz remaining at Backspin HQ from Jelena Dokic's win in Kuala Lumpur last weekend, I figured I'd steal the old "Short Thoughts" format that I occasionally used in my Jelena Corner columns (including the last official edition in January '06) and finally -- belatedly, really -- bring it into the Backspin light.

And we're off...

JELENA DOKIC post-KL QUOTE MOST LIKELY TO BE BROUGHT UP LATER THIS YEAR (if things go well): "I have to especially thank the two people who were here with me. My boyfriend (Tino Bikic) and my brother (Savo). I love you guys. Without you I wouldn't have been able to do this." I'm glad to see that Savo is back in Jelena's life, since that relationship always seemed to be the one most sadly interrupted by the battles between her and her ultimately-jailed father Damir. The necessary estrangement from her family could have potentially damaged what had always seemed to be a loving bond with her little brother. It's nice to see that, for once (and at least for now), all is good in the land of Dokic.

FACT: Bojana Jovanovski and Urszula Radwanska met in Indian Wells for their third match in a month.
GOOD FACT, for Bojo: Jovanovski had won the previous two, coming from a set down in both, and winning a 13-11 3rd set tie-break in Kuala Lumpur.
GOOD FACT, for U-Rad: Radwanska won the final act in the trilogy, taking a 2:50 match that ended in another tie-break. Jovanovski served for the match once, while Radwanska finally put away a victory on her own second attempt to serve it out.

DID YOU KNOW?: Indian Wells is the first-ever event in which all courts are covered by the HawkEye replay review system. All eight courts are equipped with the technology, and the same should, at the very least, be the case with all the courts used at the grand slams.

SAD REALIZATION: I really don't expect much of anything from Maria Sharapova anymore. If she'd dropped that 3rd set to Anabel Medina-Garrigues on Saturday, I'd have simply shrugged.
HOPEFUL PREDICTION: That, contrary to previous thoughts, the Russian will persevere and WON'T walk away from the sport if she begins to think that her chances of ever truly contending in a slam again are slim to none.
CURRENT THOUGHT: That I need to come up with something to identify Sharapova as "The Player Formerly Known as the Supernova," or TPFKATS. You know, sort of like how Prince used that weird symbol as a name when a dispute with his record company caused him to stop using his actual name.

HOPE: We get a Nadal/del Potro men's semifinal in I.W., then one of those two meeting either Federer, Djokovic or Raonic in the final.
FEAR: We'll see another "are-you-kidding-me?" men's champion, ala last year's (Ivan Ljubicic).
CHUCKLE-INDUCING: Andy Murray losing yet again... to Donald Young, no less.

NUMBERS: Even after qualifying and losing in the 1st Round in Indian Wells, Sorana Cirstea is 9-7 this season. That's a far cry better than the pre-2011 sub-.500 record she'd put together since she reached the Roland Garros quarterfinals in 2009.
NOT-THAT-GREAT NUMBERS: Jarmila Groth is 4-4 in WTA main draw matches since she won the Hobart title.
ROTTEN NUMBERS: After her three-set loss to Peng Shuai, Li Na is now 0-3 since she reached the Australian Open final. She's lost four straight matches.

FASHION SHOUT-OUT: Caroline Wozniacki's frilly neckline on her McCartney outfit the other day made her look very unique... although it was difficult NOT to think she looked like she might be wearing an Hawaiian lei, which would be a very odd look on a tennis court.
FASHION SHOUT-DOWN: On Tennis Channel's coverage, Lindsay Davenport and Brett Haber noted how C-Woz is able to be a fashion plate AND play winning tennis, while not-so-slyly taking a shot at "some other players" who couldn't say the same. Oh, her name wasn't mentioned, but we know who they were talking about. So, just to keep things based at least a little in the mostly-forgotten reality, I should say that Miss Kournikova did manage to rise to #1 in doubles, the Top 10 in singles and reach a slam semifinal before her career ultimately ended after a succession of injuries. Citizen Anna might not have had a "great" career, but it's a bit unfair to act as if she didn't have one at all.

DID YOU KNOW?: That watching ESPN and Tennis Channel is starting to resemble the Washington D.C. TV/radio/newspaper market more and more every day? Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon on "PTI." Ex-Redskin Mark May on NCAA football. Sara Walsh, Michael Kim and Sage Steele on SportsCenter & ESPNEWS. Chris McKendry on ESPN2 tennis coverage, and even TC's Justin Gimelstob (who was a regular on the "Sports Junkies" radio show, the same one where he made those remarks about the aforementioned Kournikova a few years ago). Now, as I just said, ex-ESPNer (and current D.C. CBS affiliate sports anchor) Brett Haber is all over TC with the Indian Wells coverage. Teaming with Davenport, I generally give him good reviews. He must have sought out TC work because of an affinity for the sport, since I find it hard to believe he'd pick up extra work there otherwise. It makes one wonder, had ESPN been as heavily invested in grand slam coverage back when Haber was there, might he have been installed in a major role then, and possibly still be there now? It would at least have spared us from Hannah Storm stooping to "slum" on the tennis set, I guess.

BACKSPIN RESOLUTION: If Kim Clijsters doesn't win this tournament, I won't pick her to win another title in 2011.
BACKSPIN FACT: While Davenport (likely correctly) noted quite often over the weekend how KC is the best player in the world and you can never pick against her, the Belgian has somehow managed to NOT win four times when I'VE picked her to be a champion over the last season and a half. And the way she once again fell into error-strewn patches in her match with Sara Errani shows why you still never really know what you're going to get with her.
BACKSPIN RESOLUTION AMENDMENT: All right, I might have to pick Clijsters on North American hard courts later this summer even if she doesn't win in Indian Wells. But nowhere else.

FACT: Daniela Hantuchova has won two Indian Wells titles.
ANOTHER FACT: With her 2nd Round loss to Dinara Safina, Hantuchova has only advanced as far as the QF one other time in her eight other trips to I.W., and she's now lost three straight matches there.
STILL ANOTHER FACT, THOUGH I SORT OF DOUBT IT'LL HAPPEN THIS WEEK: Clijsters could regain the #1 ranking in Indian Wells. It'll happen if KC reaches the QF, while '10 runner-up Wozniacki doesn't. The players still standing in the Dane's path to the QF are MJMS (they play today) and either Alisa Kleybanova or Flavia Pennetta.

DID YOU REALIZE?: WTA "Golden Girl" Kim Clijsters had more bad offseason press than Jelena for a change... though the Belgian's headline-grabbing incidents DID have a somewhat familiar ring to, say, ANOTHER blonde tennis player's past attention-diverting moments in the spotlight, as the world #2 dealt with the lingering sting of her charged comments about Justine Henin-Hardenne (she accused her of faking an injury and "disrespecting the game"), chose not to officially reprimand or object to her father's insinuations that JHH hadn't gained her new-found physical strength "naturally," attacked press stories about her as false in her official website's personal diary, and had a dispute with her country's tennis federation that led her to boycott the Olympics.

...oh, sorry, that's a leftover from another "Short Thoughts" edition of "Jelena Corner." I just thought I'd leave it in the template I transported from there to here. You know, for old time's sake. (Well, and as some sort of "warning" to KC that she might need to win this event for me to continue to ♥ her much longer.)

I WONDER: ...if the news that Clijsters wants to adopt a child might be a sign that her success is making her think about sticking it out a little longer on tour, and not walking away and getting pregnant again as quickly as she's previously stated that she might?

SPARE THOUGHT #1: Washington Redskins radio broadcasts used to run a "Sherwin-Williams Sure-Win Touchdown Sweepstakes" during games. Wouldn't a "Sherwin-Williams Serena-Winners Sweepstakes" be a good fit? She could even do a promotional ad for the paint company in which she says "I paint the lines with winners."
SPARE THOUGHT #2: Washington Nationals teen phenom Bryce Harper was plunked with a pitch in a 9th inning at-bat against the Yankees over the weekend. With it being a tie game with a runner on 2nd base, it was obviously not intentional, and fisitcuffs didn't break out... though a dirty look was exchanged with the pitcher. Which led me to wonder why baseball doesn't have a tennis-like -- though probably just as potentialy phony -- raised hand "apology" in such instances that magically wipes away potential animosity. There might be fewer brawls. In contrast, maybe that move could be legislated OUT of tennis. I mean, an occasional tennis brawl might be fun, you know?
SPARE THOUGHT #3: Roger Federer and the meteoric Milos Raonic could meet soon in Indian Wells. Might we be witnessing the passing of a former Wimbledon champ with a future one on a hard court in California? If the Canadian were to win THAT one, too, just how incredibly high will the bar be set for the rest of his season?
SPARE THOUGHT #4: Seriously, how little does Raonic look like a great player when he's just standing still behind the baseline between points, with his shoulders down and his slightly ill-fitting shirt tugging in so many seemingly-uncomfortable areas? He looks a little like the kid you'd see behind the counter at McDonald's or something. But then the ball is put into play, and everything instantly changes.


COMEBACKS: Dinara Safina/RUS & Marina Erakovic/NZL
...Safina defeating Daniela Hantuchova in Indian Wells -- where the Slovak has twice been crowned champion -- has to be one the best signs of life for her in quite come time. Meanwhile, 23-year old Croatia-born Kiwi Erakovic won a $25K challenger title in Irapuato, Mexico with victories over Olga Puchkova, Julia Cohen, Ivana Lisjak and Andreja Klepac in the final. Ever since Erakovic made that successful push to make the New Zealand '08 Olympic team, then won her last ITF crown and reached the Birmingham WTA event's semi later that summer (a stretch over which she defeated the likes of Yanina Wickmayer, Alona Bondarenko, Yaroslava Shvedova and Sania Mirza), she's had a pretty tough road. She lost ten straight matches later that season, missed six months with injury in '09 and had a hard time returning to form in' 10. With this title, though, she's now 12-5 in '11.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Urszula Radwanska/POL & Christina McHale/USA
...U-Rad finally got over the Bojo hump in I.W., while a properly-hydrated McHale upset Kuznetsova.
=============================
DOWN: Petra Kvitova/CZE
...losing to countrywoman Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova in three sets in the 2nd Round in I.W. isn't a "bad" loss, but it IS her second straight loss since defeating Clijsters in Paris. Since then, she's had issues with fatigue and an abdominal injury... but it's here that it should be mentioned how she went into a multi-month swoon last year after reached the Wimbledon semifinals, not to mention wondered whether a repeat temporary-lack-of-performance might be in the offering.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Ajla Tomljanovic/CRO
...the 17-year old Croat won the Clearwater, Florida $25K with a win over Sessil Karatantcheva in the final. She also notched victories over Karolina Pliskova and Michelle Larcher de Brito.
=============================
JUNIOR STAR: Alison van Uytvanck/BEL
...the Waffle was as it again last week. She won yet another title, this one a $10K challenger in Dijon, France. After first qualifying, she bumped off #1-seed Ana Vrljic in the QF, then topped Claire Feuerstein in the final. In case you're counting, van Uytvanck is now 25-0 in 2011 -- 15-0 in ITF action and 10-0 in junior play.
=============================

**2011 ITF TITLES**
2...Lara Arruabrrena-Vecino, ESP
2...Lu Jing-Jing, CHN
2...Kristina Mladenovic, FRA
2...Aleksandrina Naydenova, BUL
2...Alison van Uytvanck, BEL

INTERVIEW WORTH NOTING: Andrea Petkovic talked with USA TODAY on Friday, and here's a brief recap of a great exchange:
USAT: Your goal is to get one million (Twitter) followers. In America the fastest way to get to a million is...
AP: Is being Charlie Sheen?
USAT: Or stealing. Or going to prison... what can you do?
AP: I could buy 30 male models and sit them in my box every time I play a match.
USAT: I'm sure you could get them for free. Just post the job description on Twitter: "Looking for hot dudes to root for me."
AP: If they're naked I get 2 million!

GOOD NEWS: Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova are back playing doubles together in Indian Wells, while Sam Stosur decided to employ the "if you can't beat her, join her" motto by teaming up with Francesca Schiavone.
BAD NEWS: Stosur/Schiavone have already lost, as have Dulko/Pennetta and Peschke/Srebotnik.
BETTER NEWS: King/Shvedova might have a shot to win the title, at least keeping alive the flickering hope that my pre-season prediction that King would rise to doubles #1 at some point in '11.

SERENA QUOTE THAT WILL (hopefully) BE YET ANOTHER EYEBROW-RAISING SNAPSHOT OF THE PAST WHEN SHE LIFTS HER NEXT SLAM CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY: Williams said that her blood clots ordeal was "the scariest moment in my life."

I was going to include my All-Time "All-Backspin" team here, but I think I'll wait for the mid-way point of Miami to do that so I can go a bit deeper into the reasons why I include the players on that list that I do. So, essentially, that's a two-weeks-out preview for a semi-Special Edition, I guess.

All for now.

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Will All Be Well in Indian Wells?

So, at least we now know what it takes to get to gauge Caroline Wozniacki's bedside manner first-hand. Seems a pretty heavy price, don't you think?





**RECENT INDIAN WELLS FINALS**
1999 Serena Williams d. Steffi Graf
2000 Lindsay Davenport d. Martina Hingis
2001 Serena Williams d. Kim Clijsters
2002 Daniela Hantuchova d. Martina Hingis
2003 Kim Clijsters d. Lindsay Davenport
2004 Justine Henin-Hardenne d. Lindsay Davenport
2005 Kim Clijsters d. Lindsay Davenport
2006 Maria Sharapova d. Elena Dementieva
2007 Daniela Hantuchova d. Svetlana Kuznetsova
2008 Ana Ivanovic d. Svetlana Kuznetsova
2009 Vera Zvonareva d. Ana Ivanovic
2010 Jelena Jankovic d. Caroline Wozniacki





INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA USA (Premier 9 $4.5m/hardcourt outdoors)
10 Final: Jankovic d. Wozniacki
10 Doubles: Peschke/Srebotnik
11 Top Seeds: Wozniacki/Clijsters
=============================
=Round of 16=
#1 Wozniacki d. #13 Pennetta
#8 Azarenka d. Chakvetadze
#4 Stosur d. #16 Sharapova
#11 Kuznetsova d. #7 Li
Mattek-Sands d. #5 Schiavone
#3 Zvonareva d. #23 Wickmayer
#12 Kvitova d. #6 Jankovic
#2 Clijsters d. #21 Petkovic
=QF=
#1 Wozniacki d. #8 Azarenka
#4 Stosur d. #11 Kuznetsova
#3 Zvonareva d. Mattek-Sands
#2 Clijsters d. #12 Kvitova
=SF=
#1 Wozniacki d. #4 Stosur
#2 Clijsters d. #3 Zvonareva
=FINAL=
#2 Clijsters d. #1 Wozniacki

...yeah, yeah. Chalk semifinals with all four top seeds. But nothing else has been working the last month, so why not? In the sort of poke in the eye that I always managed to avoid in the past, correctly picking Clijsters in Melbourne and had a bad aftertaste when it's coming to picking any event ever since. I haven't sniffed a win since, going 0-for-9 (ten, if you count the junior AO pick). Not that I haven't come close, three times since Oz my pick has reached the final, only to lose. It's happened five times already in '11 -- twice when I went with Clijsters. Somewhere, the Tennis Gods are chuckling to themselves. But, undaunted, I will step into the Clijsters fun house once more in Indian Wells... just to show them that I they can't scare me that easily.

Translation: Caroline's probably going to win, or maybe Petra, or Vera, or Sam. Unless, of course, it's...

All for now.

Read more...

Wk.9- Jelena Corner

After such a great February, I wondered the other day just what surprise the tour could possibly have in store next. As it turned out, it was an unexpected gift from an old friend.



In a week where we were thankfully not sucker-punched by some sort of tragedy involving Serena Williams, while we were once again disappointed and dismayed but -- if we're lucky -- aren't watching another progressive step toward the end of the career of the best player of her generation, we DID manage to catch another triumphant sight of the WTA's version of a firefly... with an Aussie accent and an oft-altered passport.

Much like the nocturnal beetle, Jelena Dokic's sometimes-luminous traits are often obscured by the cover of darkness -- some of her own making over the years, some not, but when her presence IS felt it tends to produce a few heart-skipping instances of revelation... even if previous encounters SHOULD have trained observers to know that such moments are possible, usually with little, and usually NO, prior warning. Over the course of the past week in Kuala Lumpur, Dokic, now 27 and having only recently pulled herself, after much effort once again, back into the Top 100, plucked yet another rabbit of a tournament out of her occasionally-magical tennis bag, winning her sixth career tour singles title, but her first in nearly nine years (the third-longest time span between titles in WTA history).

As I've noted a few times before in this space, the Aussie is pretty much the face carved onto the front of Backspin's coin (if such a thing existed), as I chronicled her exploits and results in a weekly "Jelena Corner" column from 2001-04 (and occasionally for a few more seasons after that) to the tune of about 170 editions over the years, including when she last won a tour title back in 2002, completing a "career surface slam" by winning crowns on every surface over a 13-month span. She's my unquestioned Most Favored Player (sorry, LPT, we're talking a different language here). Probably ever, in fact. Not only that, but the template for WTA Backspin was born within and evolved from those Jelena Corner days, so getting a chance to talk about her here is always a special, though rare, treat. She made doing this a labor of love, and when, after all these years, she does the sort of things she did in Malaysia, it's enough to make a Backspinner a little giddy. And proud.

You see, Dokic, for all the personal difficulties she's had both before and after she reached the Top 5 in the early 2000's, has managed to never completely pull herself out of the game. She's persevered through several bouts of nation-hopping, familial nightmares, injuries, long losing streaks and what she later termed a battle with depression. She surely had every reason to turn her back on a sport that both made her a star at age 16 and very nearly led to her destruction from the inside out at the same time. But she didn't. If for every half-dozen Nicole Vaidisovas the tour can have just one Dokic with a still-lingering "if you think I'm done, well, you'd be wrong because I'm not finished until I say I am" attitude deepened through experience peppered with disappointment, well, then the tour would surely be blessed indeed. Maybe one day we'll get there, if she wish hard enough.

During Dokic's story-of-the-tournament wild card run to the Australian Open quarterfinals in '09, I was realistic about the situation, figuring that the unexpected occurrence might end up serving as a "last hurrah" in The Fair One's (my old Jelena Corner nickname for her -- see, even all that stuff started with her) career, so I was bound and determined to enjoy it for the singular, extended series of kinetic tennis moments that it produced. One year later, I used that reasoning as an excuse to look back at all my old commentary on her AO history in a Time Capsule offering titled "Dokic Down Under". After she fell out of the Top 100 again at the end of 2010, even after winning three straight ITF challenger titles during the summer, the thought that Dokic might never climb back into the spotlight again was still a valid one. But there she was before this season began, speaking about hoping for a healthy and successful '11 campaign because she had plans to play another six years, a period after which she'd be 33-years old. It was a rare example of long-term thinking on her part, but I'd learned over the years to never expect TOO much from her, avoiding disappointment while being ready to enjoy the moment should she manage to carve out something for herself in yet another comeback run. Somewhere. Someday. Maybe. Or not. Just that she still wasn't prepared to give up was enough for me.

"Momentum and the raging confidence it breeds are especially great for a go-for-it-game like Jelena's."

That's what I wrote back in '02 after Dokic won that title in Birmingham. And more than eight years later, it still holds true for Kuala Lumpur, a tournament that was just the latest crystalization of the sort of successful pattern that she can find herself in when she's "feeling" her risky game and going for winners, believing that every shot is going to land within the lines and not deterred when a few don't. As has so often been the case in the best moments of her career, Dokic improved as the week went on in Malaysia. As the tournament began, she was shaky, having come off successive thumpings in the Middle East to toss in fifteen double faults in the 1st Round against #1-seeded Francesca Schiavone. But the Italian's ankle injury, and a well-time rain delay, worked in Dokic's favor as she battled back from a set down to clock her first win over a Top 5 player (as well as #1-seed in a tour event) since topping Kim Clijsters back in 2003. Then, as so many of the other non slam-winning players on tour tend NOT to do, Dokic found a way to feed off her big win to climb to even greater heights (really, it's been her pattern ever since she knocked off Martina Hingis on that fateful day at Wimbledon back in 1999, and why I think only the sight of a screaming Serena's rush to victory has ever managed to top a surging Dokic over the last decade on tour when it comes to flat-out visceral excitement on a tennis court).

In the 2nd Round, Kurumi Nara took the first set off Dokic, and then served for the match at 6-5 in the 2nd. For the second straight match, though, the Aussie forced a 2nd set tie-break, won it 8-6, then took the match in three. After taking down Bojana Jovanovski (reaching her first tour SF since '04) and Michaella Krajicek in straight sets, Dokic found herself in her first WTA final since '03. There, against Lucie Safarova, Dokic yet again dropped the 1st set and was faced with winning a 2nd set tie-break to avoid defeat. In the tie-break, Safarova held two match points, but couldn't put the championship away. Dokic won the tie-break 11-9 to force a 3rd set. There, she fell behind 3-1. Come on, it's almost as if she was showing off at this point. Of course, she came back yet again, ending her week by winning by the same 2-6/7-6/6-4 score as she had against Schiavone at the start of it all, only while sporting a "luminescence" that wasn't in evidence when she arrived in Kuala Lumpur. While still dropping in eleven double-faults in the final, Dokic covered her errors by hitting thirteen aces. With Jelena, it's always been about the good finding a way to outweigh the bad.

Back in Birmingham in 2002, Dokic was the #1 seed and the eighth-ranked player in the world. Last week, she was unseeded and ranked #91. A few weeks ago, she defeated Safarova and Nadia Petrova in Paris before losing 3 & love to Clijsters in the QF match that assured the Belgian's brief return to the #1 ranking. She'd lost to Flavia Pennetta (2 & 2) and Jarmila Groth (2 & 1) since then, but one wonders if those early games against Clijsters, in which she played even while KC was forced to adjust to the power of her shots, actually managed to prepare Dokic for what happened this past week. After seeing what was passing for #1 on tour these days (or, at least seven of them), and realizing that she still could compete against it if she could only up her game a bit more, the notion that the Aussie could find a way through large chunks of the WTA field really isn't all that far-fetched. Even back in "the old days," while her "no Plan B" attack often came up short against the very BEST players on tour (she lost finals to the likes of Seles, Davenport, Venus and Henin) she COULD occasionally beat one or two, and was generally the favorite against everyone else as long as her game didn't fly off the handle and her shots couldn't find the broad side of a barn.

A player with that sort of talent, and a lot of heart, will often have her day. Kuala Lumpur was an indication that THAT, at least, hasn't changed. That's worth a satisfied smile, no matter what happens tomorrow, and the next day, and the one after that. I'm still realistic, though. Once again, I know that this, too, could prove to be a "last hurrah" for Dokic. At this point, I remain content that there's still a light hanging on the corner of "Jelena & 6th" (updated from that '02 column, don't ya know). That it's able to blink "green" on occasion is nothing if not a remarkable thrill. I've long since given up dreaming of HUGE things for The Fair One, after for so many years being seemingly disappointed that things couldn't even be "normal"-sized. And that's okay... she's already provided this Backspinner with too many good memories to count.

Like the firefly that she's become, Dokic once again has seen fit to put on a brief-but-brilliant display in the middle of the night. She may now escape to the shadows once more, or she may live to shine yet again. As was the case two years ago in Melbourne, I have no idea when or if this moment will ever have an equal, let alone a better. But if it does, it'll be another great day on the Corner.

Just like today. Thanks, Jelena.

*WEEK 9 CHAMPIONS*
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA (Int'l $221K/hard outdoor)
S: Jelena Dokic def. Lucie Safarova 2-6/7-6(9)/6-4
D: Dinara Safina/Galina Voskoboeva d. Noppawan Lertcheewakarn/Jessica Moore
MONTERREY, MEXICO (Int'l $220K/hard court outdoor)
S: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Jelena Jankovic 2-6/6-2/6-3
D: Iveta Benesova/Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova d. Anna-Lena Groenefeld/Vania King


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jelena Dokic/AUS
...even with all her issues, both real and/or imagined (and sometimes both, depending on the day of the week and her mindset at the moment), over the years, Dokic has managed to accomplish quite a bit and, at age 27, is still young enough to add a few more highlight-worthy lines to a tennis biography that already includes a Junior #1 ranking and Girls U.S. Open championship, Wimbledon semifinal, Top 5 rank, six tour titles, and victory-based historical footnotes spanning from age 16 to her late twenties. In Malaysia, she managed to string together five wins, a run that included three matches in which she dropped the 1st set and was forced to win a 2nd set tie-break just to survive (her four tie-break wins last week were as many as she had in all her tour matches from 2004-10), one match in which her opponent served for the match, and another in which she faced two match points AND a 3-1 3rd set deficit. It says something about Dokic that, even when it seemingly comes out of nowhere, such a week of consistent heroics isn't really all that surprising. I mean, it was only two years ago that we witnessed similar dramatics in Melbourne after she'd had an even longer absence from tour winning circles than the fairly short one she's waded through since her AO QF run in '09. Just to put her reclaiming-the-past week in Kuala Lumpur into further perspective, though, it's of interest to mention in succession that Dokic hadn't had a Top 5 win or a victory over a #1 seed in a tour event since '03, hadn't reached a WTA SF since '04, a tour final since '03 and had been without a WTA title since '02. If Kuala Lumpur had taken place a week or so later than it did, only Kimiko Date-Krumm's 13-year title-less span (after a decade-plus retirement) would stand out over Dokic's in tour history, as Barbara Rittner's drought was about a week longer. Her last Top 10 finish came in the same year she won Birmingham, and her last Top 20 year-end ranking was a season later. A look back at the Top 20 when she completed that "career surface slam" on the grass in England is like a trip down memory lane:

1. Venus Williams
2. Serena Williams
3. Jennifer Capriati
4. Monica Seles
5. Kim Clijsters
6. Lindsay Davenport
7. Justine Henin
8. JELENA DOKIC
9. Martina Hingis
10. Sandrine Testud
11. Amelie Mauresmo
12. Silvia Farina Elia
13. Daniela Hantuchova
14. Elena Dementieva
15. Meghann Shaughnessy
16. Iroda Tulyaganova
17. Anna Smashnova
18. Patty Schnyder
19. Anastasia Myskina
20. Maggie Maleeva

Most of those players are either long gone, recently out of the game and/or retired, now playing only doubles, retired and back, retired and back and retired again or barely holding on. Think about it, the last time Dokic lifted a tour singles title trophy it was still almost two years before the first Russian woman was to win a grand slam title, and nearly a year before the first Belgian would do so. Serena was only one title into her "Serena Slam," and Jennifer Capriati had just recently won her third slam in twelve months. Talk about being more than a few tennis lifetimes ago. If nothing else, this past week only proved once again that while Dokic is akin to a firefly, she's also very much like a cat... and only time will eventually tell how many more WTA lives she might still have left to live.
=============================
RISERS: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS & Lucie Safarova/CZE

...Pavlyuchenkova was a dominant junior player, and she's slowly-but-surely coming along on the WTA tour, too. Still not quite ready to make a BIG run, she's still managed to secure at Top 20 ranking, and the successful defense of her '10 title in Monterrey gives the 19-year old Russian three titles in three finals appearances over the last year. In Mexico, wins over Eleni Daniilidou, Melanie Oudin, Greta Arn and Gisela Dulko (the last two already WTA title winners in '11) led into her three-set win over Jelena Jankovic in the final. You never know what to expect from Safarova, but "good Lucie" was around for most of the week in Kuala Lumpur. The Czech notched wins over Zarina Diyas, Dinara Safina, Marion Bartoli and Jarmila Groth to reach her ninth career final, and held those two match points against Dokic in the final (and led 3-1 in the 3rd). Truth is, though, what happened on Sunday in the final speaks to why, while Dokic and Safarova have similar career totals when it comes to finals (JD 13, LS 9) and titles (6 to 4), the perception of the Aussie's career is quite a bit brighter than the Czech's. After her comeback against Safarova, Dokic said she really wasn't sure how she managed to pull it off... yet it is precisely that long-held ability to pull off such a feat, in contrast's to Safarova's not-exactly-surprising squandering of a title she nearly had wrapped up, that explains how one, even after drifting in and out of the Top 200 for most of the last decade, still has managed to leave a more indelible mark on the game than the player who's been a consistent Top 50 player for the last seven seasons.
=============================
SURPRISES: Lu Jing-Jing/CHN
...Lu is tied for the circuit lead with two ITF singles titles to her credit so far this season, and last week she made it through qualifying in Kuala Lumpur, getting a win over Jessica Moore to do it. She lost in the 1st Round to defending champion Alisa Kleybanova, but rebounded to reach the doubles SF with countrywoman Xu Yi-Fan. Their conquerors there? Well, Noppawan Lertcheewakarn and... Moore, getting some measure of revenge on Lu before the week was through. Payback is a you-know-what, I guess.
=============================
COMEBACKS: Michaella Krajicek/NED & Dinara Safina/RUS
...Krajicek, sister of former Wimbledon champ Richard, was seemingly a rising star a few years ago, but her fortunes haven't really played out as planned. She DID have a nice week in Kuala Lumpur, though, reaching the semifinals with wins over Tatjana Malek, defending champ Alisa Kleybanova and Anne Kremer. Meanwhile, Safina's 1st Round win in Malaysia over Han Xin-yun finally ended a six-match losing streak that stretched back to September (she now has ten total wins over a twelve-month period where back problems have severely hampered her game). She lost in her next match to Safarova, but went on to win the doubles title with Galina Voskoboeva. It's Safina's ninth career title with eight different women since '04, but her first since '08.
=============================
VETERANS: Anne Kremer/LUX & Iveta Benesova/Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova, CZE/CZE
...Luxembourg's Kremer made it through qualifying in Kuala Lumpur, getting a win over eventual doubles champion Voskoboeva, then put some main draw hurt on players from both ends of the WTA age spectrum with victories over 40-year old Date-Krumm and teenager Lertcheewakarn en route to the QF. Meanwhile, Czechs Benesova and Zahlavova-Strycova won the doubles title in Monterrey, getting their second crown of the season and their seventh overall as a duo.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Ksenia Pervak/RUS & Noppawan Lertcheewakarn/THA
...19-year old Hordette Pervak's QF in Monterrey, courtesy of wins over Julia Goerges and Lucie Hradecka, is her third such result this season. She's still looking for her second career tour SF, though. Meanwhile, another 19-year old, Lertcheewakarn, got a main draw win over Alberta Brianti in Kuala Lumpur before reaching the doubles final with Jessica Moore.
=============================
DOWN: Serena Williams/USA
...Serena has seemingly been the unluckiest player in the world since she won her thirteenth slam title at Wimbledon last July and immediately declared "13" to be her "lucky number." Apparently, she "crossed the line" with that comment, and things haven't been too pretty ever since. One lacerated foot and several surgeries later she entered '10 as a question mark hoping to make it back onto the court by the spring. Now, after finally getting her cast removed a few weeks ago, she's suffered through a blood clot in her lungs (likely linked on some level to complications with the foot injury) and then emergency surgery last week after suffering an embolism. Now on blood thinning medication and back at home, with some reports saying she could be out an additional six months, one year or even longer, it's clear that she WAS very lucky last week. In a statement, she said, "This has been extremely hard, scary and disappointing. I know I will be OK but am praying and hoping this will all be behind me soon. While I can't make any promises now on my return, I hope to be back early summer. That said, my main goal is to make sure I get there safely." Always one to put an optimistic spin on her predicament, Serena seems to want to point toward a WTA return in time for the North American hard court season. But a more conservative assessment of the situation would probably seek to pin cautious (but more realistic???) hopes on seeing her again come 2012, and crossing fingers that her remarkable career isn't teetering on the edge of its completion after so many far-from-run-of-the-mill health issues over the past nine months. If anyone can make a FULL comeback from all this, smart money would say it's Serena. But, as last week proved, even sometimes-unstoppable forces are all-too-human and fragile. Williams will say all the right things about her future intentions, but the "make sure I get there safely" portion of her comments could end up being the most important one when it comes to how things eventually play out. As should be the case.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Yurika Sema/JPN
...the 24-year old from Japan was able to rejoice a bit with her title at the $25K in Sydney, Australia with a win in the final over Rika Fujiwara. It wasn't JUST a title, though. Get this -- before last week, Sema hadn't won as many as two matches in ANY event since she reached the final at this very same Sydney challenger last year, losing then in the deciding match to Jarmila Groth. Between then and now, she'd struggled through twenty-one events with very little to show for her efforts.
=============================
"JUNIOR" STAR: Cristina Dinu/ROU
...all right, all right. So 18-year old Dinu isn't really a "junior" anymore, but since she's still currently ranked #14 in the Girls rankings based on her '10 results I'm going to go with her here in a week where there weren't too many other great choices. She won the $10K challenger event in Antalya, Turkey with a victory in the final over fellow Swarmette Diana Enache. It's Dinu's third straight title in Antalya, including two titles she won their last season. In fact, it's her third challenger win there, since she also won a $10K there in '09, as well.
=============================


1. Kuala Lumpur Final - Dokic d. Safarova
...2-6/7-6/6-4. Nothing against Safarova, but I am so thankful that she couldn't put away this match (while I'm realistic when it comes to Dokic, I really have little interest in feigning a lack of bias). Plus, if the Czech had won this match, I might have had to resort to a "Backward Backspin" edition this week since she's one of the hardest players to devise any sort of "book" on that would give anything said about her any legitimate footing. No matter what might be uttered about her performance in any single match or tournament, in contrast to the feeding-off-big-wins Dokic, Safarova will usually take whatever is said about her -- positive or negative -- and turn it on its ear the next time out by putting up a result that will immediately contradict any thought someone might have on her current form based on a recent good/bad result. Oddly enough (or maybe not), the same can often be said about longtime boyfriend Tomas Berdych. Interesting.
=============================
2. Kuala Lumpur 1st Rd - Dokic d. Schiavone
...2-6/7-6/6-4. Even while knocking off the #1 seed, Dokic set her bar somewhat low in the early going in Kuala Lumpur, winning in spite of fifteen double-faults to keep her record against the Italian vet spotless. She's now 3-0 against Schiavone in WTA action, and recorded a win over her in the Australian Open Girls competition in 1998, as well.
=============================
3. Monterrey Final - Pavlyuchenkova d. Jankovic
...2-6/6-2/6-3. Well, the OTHER Jelena has seen her '11 results advance from 1st Round to 2nd Round to back-to-back Semifinals to Runner-up. There's something to be said for going in the desired direction... especially when you're right up against attempting to defend the only title you currently own later this week in Indian Wells.
=============================
4. Kuala Lumpur 2nd Rd - Dokic d. Nara
...3-6/7-6/6-2. With the game on Nara's serving racket at 6-5 in the 2nd, Dokic had her right where she wanted her.
=============================
5. Kuala Lumpur 1st Rd - Kremer d. Date-Krumm
...4-6/6-2/7-6. It's not often that 35-year old Kremer gets to play a woman who's older than she is, but this was one of those rare occasions.
=============================
6. Kuala Lumpur 1st Rd - Safina d. Han
...6-2/6-0. Although Dinara's week wasn't nearly as fun a Dokic's, she did book end her trip to Malaysia with some long-overdue (though on a smaller scale than in her #1-ranked past) success. First here in singles, and then on Sunday in doubles.
=============================
7. Kuala Lumpur 2nd Rd - Jovanovski d. U.Radwanska
...1-6/7-5/6-4. For the second event in a row, Bojo foiled U-Rad's grand plans by coming back from a set down to win. After winning in Doha qualifying a week earlier in a 13-11 3rd set tie-break, the 19-year old Serb saved seven of eleven break points in the final two sets in Malaysia.
=============================
8. Sydney $25K Doubles Final - Dellacqua/Rogowska d. Fujiwara/Iijima
...3-6/7-6/10-4. Dellacqua's comeback continues, as she wins her second straight doubles title with Rogowska.
=============================


**LONGEST SPAN BETWEEN WTA TITLES**
[all-time]
13 years, 1 month - Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN ('96 San Diego > '09 Seoul)
8 years, 8 months, 3 weeks - Barbara Rittner, GER ('92 Schenectady > '01 Antwerp)
8 years, 8 months, 2 weeks - JELENA DOKIC, AUS ('02 Birmingham > '11 Kuala Lumpur)
7 years, 7 months - Elena Likhovtseva, RUS ('97 Gold Coast > '04 Forest Hills)
[2011 season]
8 years, 8 months, 2 weeks - JELENA DOKIC, AUS ('02 Birmingham > '11 Kuala Lumpur)
5 years - Lourdes Dominguez-Lino, ESP ('06 Bogota > '11 Bogota)
3 years, 8 months - Greta Arn, HUN ('07 Estoril > '11 Auckland)
3 years, 3 months, 2 weeks - Daniela Hantuchova, SVK ('07 Linz > '11 Pattaya City)

**DOKIC DEFEATED #1 SEED in PRO EVENTS**
'98 Saga $25K 2nd Round - Shinobu Asagoe (to Final)
'99 Wimbledon 1st Round - Martina Hingis (to QF)
'01 Tokyo SF - Kim Clijsters (won title)
'03 Zurich SF - Kim Clijsters (to Final)
'08 Caserta $25K 1st Round - Jorgelina Cravero (won title)
'11 KUALA LUMPUR 1st ROUND - FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE (won title)

**DOKIC CAREER WTA SINGLES FINALS**
[W]
2001 Rome (Tier I) - def. Amelie Mauresmo
2001 Tokyo (Tier II) - def. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
2001 Moscow (Tier I) - def. Elena Dementieva
2002 Sarasota (Tier IV) - def. Tatiana Panova
2002 Birmingham (Tier III) - def. Anastasia Myskina
2011 Kuala Lulmpur (Int'l) - def. Lucie Safarova
[L]
2001 Bahia (Tier II) - lost to Monica Seles
2001 Zurich (Tier I) - lost to Lindsay Davenport
2001 Linz (Tier II) - lost to Lindsay Davenport
2002 Paris (Tier II) - walkover loss to Venus Williams
2002 Strasbourg (Tier III) - lost to Silvia Farina Elia
2002 San Diego (Tier II) - lost to Venus Williams
2003 Zurich (Tier I) - lost to Justine Henin-Hardenne
[other titles of note]
Hopman Cup, 1999 (w/ Mark Philippoussis)
Hong Kong exhibition, 2001 (def. Anna Kournikova)
8 Challenger events (2008-10)
[other runner-up results of note, plus Olympics]
3 Challenger events (1998, 2009-10)
4th place - 2000 Sydney Olympics (lost Bronze Medal Match to Monica Seles)

**MOST CAREER WTA TITLES - AUSTRALIANS**
92...Margaret Smith-Court, 1968-76
68...Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, 1970-80
17...Kerry Melville-Reid, 1968-79
15...Dianne Fromholtz-Balestrat, 1973-79
9...Wendy Turnbull, 1976-83
6...JELENA DOKIC, 2001-11
5...Alicia Molik, 2003-05

**1998 JUNIOR YEAR-END RANKS**
[Girls]
1. Jelena Dokic, AUS
2. Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
3. Nadia Petrova, RUS
4. Elena Dementieva, RUS
[Boys]
1. Roger Federer, SUI
2. Julien Jeanpierre, FRA
3. David Nalbandian, ARG
4. Fernando Gonzalez, CHI

**UNDEFEATED IN MULTIPLE WTA FINALS, 2009-11**
4-0...Aravane Rezai, FRA
3-0...Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, ESP
3-0...ANASTASIA PAVLYUCHENKOVA, RUS
3-0...Agnes Szavay, HUN
2-0...Alexandra Dulgheru, ROU
2-0...Jarmila Groth, AUS
2-0...Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK

**WOMEN RANKED #1 in DOUBLES**
[26, chronologically by first #1 ranking]
Martina Navratilova
Pam Shriver
Helena Sukova
Jana Novotna
Gigi Fernandez
Natasha Zvereva
Larisa Neiland
Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
Lindsay Davenport
Martina Hingis
Anna Kournikova
Corina Morariu
Lisa Raymond
Rennae Stubbs
Julie Halard-Decugis
Ai Sugiyama
Paola Suarez
Kim Clijsters
Virginia Ruano Pascual
Cara Black
Samantha Stosur
Liezel Huber
Serena Williams
Venus Williams
Gisela Dulko (current co-#1)
FLAVIA PENNETTA (current co-#1)


With Indian Wells being a a two-week event, everything is pushed back a few days at the start of the coming week. So, as I've done the last few seasons, I'll post my picks in a couple of days, then have another mid-tournament "Random Musings" post next Monday or Tuesday, as well.

All for now.



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