Wk.20- Of Thick Skulls and Lessons Learned

Never question Serena. I guess SOMEONE should have learned that little lesson by now, huh?

There are just some things you don't do:

1) you don't get yourself put on Carl's "Squish List" (yep, I've done that)
2) you don't tempt the "Kuznetsova Curse" (ditto)
3) you don't spit in the face of The Rad (well... I haven't LITERALLY broken that commandment)
4) and, last but not least, you never underestimate Serena Williams (hanging head in shame)

I did that last week, expecting Williams' injury-related exit from Madrid to be followed by a similar end in Rome. Thus, I made the huge error of not predicting Serena through to even the quarterfinals last week, figuring she'd be headed to Paris by then.

So, of course, there was Serena bounding onto the court on Wednesday for her 2nd Round match against Andrea Petkovic... sans even a simple wrap on her injured thigh! She won handily, as she did all week, save for one lackadaisical set in the semifinals. Meanwhile, my "pick" Maria Sharapova was bounced early by Ana Ivanovic, handing the Russian her first clay loss to someone not named Serena over the 2012-14 span since her transformation into one of the more adept players on tour on the surface.

Sigh. I guess I should have known.

But, you know, maybe it was a case of The Rad finally popping Its head out of the shadows again, preparing for Its Wimbledon return. June 26th: The Radwanskian Massacre Day anniversary... mark your calendars in order to be adequately prepared with provisions and weapons!

Speaking of, did you see Aga's dress last week in Rome?



A fine fashion choice, or the work of her inner entity trying to regain control? There are differing opinions on the matter. Either way, you KNOW It still lurks in the background.

It shall return.



I'm just sayin'.

Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah...



*WEEK 20 CHAMPIONS*
ROME, ITALY (Prem.Mandatory $2.629/RCO)
S: Serena Williams/USA def. Sara Errani/ITA 6-3/6-0
D: Peschke/Srebotnik (CZE/SLO) d. Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA)


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Serena Williams/USA
... Williams reached the Rome final having lost just a single set (to AnaIvo in the SF) and putting up wins over Andrea Petkovic, Varvara Lepchenko, Zhang Shuai and Ana Ivanovic. In the final, she took out an injured Sara Errani perhaps just a little more quickly than she might have had the Italian remained fully healthy. It's title #60 for Williams (she's just the seventh woman to reach that career total, and is now seven behind Billie Jean King), and she's the first on tour to reach three titles and to win on multiple surfaces (she won Brisbane and Miami on hard court) this season. So, considering her dominance of Maria Sharapova over the last decade, does this now make Serena the definitive Roland Garros favorite? Well, I don't know if I want to tempt fate again. Lesson learned.
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RISERS: The Serbs
...the Serbian Fed Cup team might be on a seemingly never-ending slide, but the fortunes of individual Serbs have been progressing pretty well in 2014. In Rome, both Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic reached the semifinals. AnaIvo defeated Luksika Kumkhum and Alize Cornet, got her first victory in seven years over Maria Sharapova and came back from a set down to take out Carla Suarez-Navarro. While things didn't end well, to say the least, in the SF vs. Serena, Ivanovic at least took another set off Williams... even if it did just seem to get the world #1 angry, and makes it even less likely that AnaIvo will repeat her Australian Open win over her anytime soon. Meanwhile, JJ had an impressive week, too. She knocked off Svetlana Kuznetsova and Flavia Pennetta before defeating Aga Radwanska for the first time in six years. And, remember, earlier this season Jovana Jaksic had a surprise run to a tour singles final in Monterrey (vs. AnaIvo in the first all-Serb WTA final), and this week youngster Nina Stojanovic (in the Antalya $10K) claimed her fourth '14 ITF doubles crown and reached her second circuit singles final of the season, while Aleksandra Krunic reached the semifinals of the $100K event in Prague after notching wins over Katerina Siniakova, Madison Brengle and Misaki Doi.
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SURPRISES: Maria Sakkari/GRE & Danka Kovinic/MNE
...Sakkari is proving to be Greece's most successful player since Eleni Daniilidou's heyday. In the $10K challenger in Bastad, the 18-year old reached her fourth consecutive ITF final, finally winning her first crown of the season with a victory in the final over German Carolin Daniels. 19-year old Montenegran Kovinic won her seventh career ITF singles title at the $50K challenger in Saint-Gaudens, France. She put up wins over Maria Irigoyen, Ana Konjuh and three Pastries who were just award Roland Garros wild cards -- Fiona Ferro, Claire Feuerstein and Pauline Parmentier in the final.
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VETERANS: Kveta Peschke & Katarina Srebotnik (CZE/SLO) and Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci (ITA/ITA)
...what looked to possibly be the conclusion of a great month for Errani/Vinci turned into a great week for Peschke/Srebotnik. The Italians ran their match winning streak to eleven matches in Rome, reaching their third straight clay court final and looking to grab a title in all three to lift their '14 total to four. They'd lost in last year's Rome final to #1-ranked Hsieh/Peng, who were upset in the 2nd Round. But it wasn't meant to be, as Errani's hip injury in the singles final led to the doubles final lasting only four games (with Errani/Vinci losing 16 of 17 points) before the duo had to retire. The move gave the former-but-now-back-together pair of Peschke/Srebotnik their tenth overall title as a team, but their first since Sydney '12. They'd reached the final without dropping a set, and are now the oldest combined champs (71 years) on tour this season, as 33-year old Srebotnik won her 35th career doubles title and 39-year old Peschke picked up her 27th (her second this season).
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COMEBACKS: Sara Errani/ITA & Petra Cetkovska/CZE

...Errani has quietly, but steadily, begun to climb out of the funk she found herself in at last year's U.S. Open, then saw her bad state of mind went with her Down Under, as she was the First Seed Out in Melbourne. Since then, aside from her doubles success with Roberta Vinci, the Italian has reached two finals, a semi and a pair of QF. She's fallen out of the Top 10 in 2014, but not far (she's was #11 last week), and her clay court prowess has returned, as well. In Rome, she got wins over Chanelle Scheepers, Ekaterina Makarova, Petra Cetkovska, world #2 Li Ni (the biggest win of her career) and Jelena Jankovic to become the first Italian to reach the final in front of the home crowd since Raffaella Reggi won the event in 1985, almost two years before Errani was born. Hopefully, the hip injury that hampered her on Sunday will be healed up in time for Paris, where she's reached the final and semifinals the last two years. Cetkovska, 29, continued her own steady progress in her comeback from a foot injury that sent her tumbling down the rankings last year. A Top 25 player in 2012, the Czech has been saddled with a #132 season-ending '13 ranking coming into this year. Even while having picked up 63 rankings spots heading into Rome, she was still forced into qualifying. She came through with flying colors by notching victories over Jana Cepelova and Monica Niculescu. In the main draw, Cetkovska knocked off Tsvetana Pironkova and Angelique Kerber (her third Top 20 win in '14) before losing to Sara Errani.
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FRESH FACE: Alexa Guarachi/USA
...the 23-year old former University of Alabama Crimson Tide player claimed her first professional title when she won the doubles at the $10K challenger event in Antalya, and also reached her first career pro singles final. The Florida native had only four career ITF main draw wins before last week, but notched four more match wins in Antalya, including in the 2nd Round over Ksenia Palkina, before losing the three-set final against Pastry Oceane Dodin on Sunday. After Saturday's doubles final win, Guarachi and partner Kate Turvy celebrated with a "victory slide."

Roll Tide. Ugh, I actually hate saying that phrase... so let's make it Slide Tide.
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DOWN: Petra Kvitova/CZE & Simona Halep/ROU
...Kvitova road the down sloap of the rollercoaster again last week in Rome, dropping her first match to Zhang Shuai despite opening on a huge roll (leading 4-0, and holding set points in the 1st). Halep might be in the group of top contenders for Roland Garros, but questions about whether or not she'll be able to physically make it through seven rounds in Paris are becoming more and more concerning. After getting past Achilles issues earlier this season, last week in Rome, right after overcoming a slow start to dominate Madison Keys in a 5-7/6-0/6-1 win, the Romanian pulled out of the event with an abdominal injury, casting an entirely different light on the same tournament that last year -- with a qualifying-to-semifinalist run -- kicked off Halep's 12-month success spree. With a game that utilizes long rallies, lingering injuries do not a true slam contender make. Here's to hoping Halep can arrive in Paris in as close to full fighting form as possible, for it'd be a shame if she couldn't take advantage at a slam where there might be quite a few open doors that could lead to a deep run.
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ITF PLAYER: Heather Watson/GBR
...the 21-year old Brit won her second $100K challenger of the season, taking the event in Prague after having won in Midland, Michigan back in February. The unseeded Watson (she entered ranked #112, as she's still trying to work her ranking back up after falling outside the Top 100 after her illness-marred 2013 campaign) got impressive wins early in the week over #2-seeded Klara Koukalova and #5 Karolina Pliskova, then had to double up on the delayed semifinal and final on Sunday. She got wins over Timea Babos and #6 Anna Schmiedlova to walk away with her sixth career challenger crown.
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JUNIOR STAR: Darya Kasatkina/RUS
...the 17-year old Hordette, the #7-ranked junior, won the Grade 1 Torneo event in Italy. As the #2 seed, Kasatkina defeated #3-seeded Bannerette CiCi Bellis in the final. Just last year, Kasatkina was runner-up to Belinda Bencic at this same event, then went on to lose to Ana Konjuh in the Girls QF at Roland Garros. She won the International Hard Court Championships in College Park, Maryland last year, and earlier this season claimed the Yeltsin Cup in Kazan, Russia.
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1. Rome 2nd Rd. - Zhang Shuai d. Kvitova
...7-6(6)/5-7/6-3. The typical sort of Kvitova match we've come to expect the last couple of years. The Czech led 4-0, but lost the advantage and saw Zhang take a 5-4 lead and hold a set point. Kvitova survived that, then led 3-1 in the tie-break, holding two SP of her own. Zhang scored the final four points of the TB to win 8-6. In the 2nd set, Kvitova came back from 4-2 and Zhang serving for the match at 5-4, winning the final four games to send things to a 3rd. Once there, she immediately fell behind a double-break at 3-0, only to break Zhang twice to level things at 3-3... then got broken two straight times again and dropped the final three games. Did she really seem like something close to a "sure thing" back in 2011? Hard to believe it now, isn't it? What we didn't know then.
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2. Rome 3rd Rd. - Ivanovic d. Sharapova
...6-1/6-4. AnaIvo gets her first win in seven years over Sharapova, giving the Russian her first loss on to clay to anyone not named Serena over her 48-4 stretch between 2012-14. In the end, with so many matches under her belt of late, the early loss might allow Sharapova to arrive in Paris just a bit fresher -- and with one less brow-beating in the final by Serena on her mind, too..
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3. Rome Doubles 2nd Rd. - Erakovic/Parra-Santonja d. Mladenovic/Pennetta
...7-6(5)/6-0. Mladenovic & Pennetta haven't advanced past the 2nd Round in any of the six events in which they've paired in 2014. Meanwhile, in six additional doubles/mixed draws with other partners this season, Mladenovic has won two titles and reached two more finals.
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4. Rome QF - Errani d. Li
...6-3/4-6/6-2. Errani is still 0-7 vs. #1-ranked players, but she got her first win over a #2 by defeating Li. In fact, it was her first career win over any Top 3 player, as the Italian wasn't the only one with passion in this match-up. And by "passion" I don't mean throwing up 20 minutes before the match, as an ill Li admitted later that she did.

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5. $100K Prague Doubles Final - Hradecka/Krajicek d. Hlavackova/Safarova
...6-3/6-2. Ah, remember the days when Hradecka & Hlavackova were on the same team?
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6. Rome 2nd Rd. - Schiavone d. Muguruza
...3-6/6-1/7-5(5). On the bright side for Garbi, at least she didn't go down in flames in the 3rd, as there were zero breaks of serve in the set.
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7. Rome 2nd Rd. - Jankovic d. Kuznetsova
...6-2/4-0 ret. Hmmm, has the worm already turned in Sveta's recent/latest resurgence?
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8. Rome 1st Rd. - Schiavone d. Bouchard
...6-4/6-2. Francesca went on to get that additional win over Muguruza, but Genie got a selfie with Pope Francis.

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1. Rome Final - Serena Williams d. Errani
...6-3/6-0. Not that it might have mattered much, except maybe in the final games allowed total, but Errani injured her hip late in the 1st set and admitted afterward that she only continued playing for the benefit of the Italian fans. Hmmm, I'm not sure how losing eight straight games to end the match, never once getting to deuce and losing four games at love (not to mention she and Vinci registering just one point in four games in the doubles final later in the afternoon) "benefited" the fans, but I get her gist. Said Errani, "It was a special day, but it was also a very difficult day for me. I tried my best but I couldn't do anything more with the injury, so it ended up being a sad day for me in the end."
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2. Rome SF - Serena Williams d. Ivanovic
...6-1/3-6/6-1. After dropping the 2nd, Serena roared to a 5-0 lead in the 3rd while dropping just four points in the set up to that point. Yep, I guess we SHOULD put Williams back at the top of the list of RG faves, and move AnaIvo's name down a few notches.
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3. Rome QF - Jankovic d. Aga Radwanska
...6-4/6-4. Again, Aga has no closing burst. JJ hadn't beaten her in six years, since the the Round of 16 at RG in 2008.
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...since we don't know exactly when we'll actually see Vika again, this will have to suffice. Okay, fine.



**2014 WTA TITLE DEFENSES**
Brisbane - Serena Williams
Shenzhen - Li Na
Brisbane (d) - Anastasia Rodionova
Australian Open (d) - Errani/Vinci
Florianopolis (d) - Medina-Garrigues/Shvedova
Miami - Serena Williams
Stuttgart - Maria Sharapova [3 con.]
Rome - Serena Williams

**WTA FINALS - 2012-14**
23 - SERENA WILLIAMS (21-2)
16 - Victoria Azarenka (9-7)
16 - Maria Sharapova (7-9)
11 - SARA ERRANI (5-6)
11 - Li Na (4-7)
10 - Agnieszka Radwanska (6-4)
9 - Simona Halep (7-2)
9 - Angelique Kerber (3-6)

**CAREER CLAY TITLES - active**
11...SERENA WILLIAMS, USA
10...Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP
9...Maria Sharapova, RUS
7...Flavia Pennetta, ITA
7...Venus Williams, USA
6...Sara Errani, ITA
6...Jelena Jankovic, SRB
5...Francesca Schiavone, ITA
5...Roberta Vinci, ITA

**2014 WTA SF**
5 - Maria Sharapova (2-3)
5 - Agnieszka Radwanska (1-4)
5 - JELENA JANKOVIC (1-4)
4 - SERENA WILLIAMS (3-1)
4 - Li Na (3-1)
4 - Dominika Cibulkova (3-1)
4 - ANA IVANOVIC (3-1)

**2014 SINGLES/DOUBLES FINALS IN EVENT**
Hobart - Klara Koukalova, CZE (L-W)
Bogota - Caroline Garcia, FRA (W-W)
Marrakech - Romina Oprandi, SUI (L-W)
Rome - SARA ERRANI, ITA (L-L)

**2014 WTA FINALS - MOST SURFACES**
2 - SARA ERRANI = Hard,Red Clay
2 - Simona Halep = Hard,Red Clay
2 - Ana Ivanovic = Hard,Red Clay
2 - Klara Koukalova = Hard,Red Clay
2 - SERENA WILLIAMS = Hard,Red Clay

**CAREER WTA DOUBLES TITLES - ACTIVE**
79...Lisa Raymond, USA
58...Cara Black, ZIM
53...Liezel Huber, USA
38...Martina Hingis, SUI
35...KATARINA SREBOTNIK, SLO
27...KVETA PESCHKE, CZE

**2014 RG WILD CARDS**
Ashleigh Barty, AUS - 3 consecutive slam wild cards/2 con. RG WC
Fiona Ferro, FRA
Claire Feuerstein, FRA - 3 consecutive RG wild cards
Amandine Hesse, FRA
Mathilde Johansson, FRA
Alize Lim, FRA
Pauline Parmentier, FRA
Taylor Townsend, USA

**2014 ITF $100K FINALS**
FEB- Midland, USA - Heather Watson/GBR d. Ksenia Pervak/RUS
MAY- Cagnes-sur-Mer, FRA - Sharon Fichman/CAN d. Timea Bacsinszky/SUI
MAY- Prague, CZE - Heather Watson/GBR d. Anna Schmiedlova/SVK





NURNBERG, GERMANY (Int'l $250K/red clay outdoor)
13 Final: Halep d. Petkovic
13 Doubles Final: Olaru/Solovyeva d. Groenefeld/Peschke
14 Top Seeds: Kerber/Bouchard
=============================
=SF=
#1 Kerber d. Barthel
#7 Garcia d. #6 Nara
=FINAL=
#7 Garcia d. #1 Kerber

...not sure about Kerber's back being healthy enough for a final run, but it's easy to feel good about Garcia.


STRASBOURG, FRANCE (Int'l $250K/red clay outdoor)
13 Final: Cornet d. Hradecka
13 Doubles Final: Date-Krumm/Scheepers d. Black/Erakovic
14 Top Seeds: Stephens/Cornet
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=SF=
#4 Petkovic d. #1 Stephens
#2 Cornet d. McHale
=FINAL=
#2 Cornet d. #4 Petkovic

...hmmm, yes, Garcia and Cornet have done this sort of title two-fer once already this season right before a bit tennis week for France. Why not again?


ALSO: ROLAND GARROS QUALIFYING



All for now.