WTA Backspin by Todd Spiker

Wk.21- Bare (but-not-Boned) Backspin

2012-05-26T21:21:00.002-04:00

No Carl. Just the facts.

*WEEK 21 CHAMPIONS*
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (Premier $637K/RCO)
S: Agnieszka Radwanska/POL def. Simona Halep/ROU 7-5/6-0
D: Mattek-Sands/Mirza (USA/IND) d. Rosolska/J.Zheng (POL/CHN)
STRASBOURG, FRANCE (Int'l $220K/RCO)
S: Francesca Schiavone/ITA def. Alize Cornet/FRA 6-4/6-4
D: Govortsova/Jans-Ignacik (BLR/POL) d. Grandin/Uhlirova (RSA/CZE)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Agnieszka Radwanska/POL
...no Vika? No problem. Unlike with, say, Schiavone, who really NEEDED to get herself going by playing the week before the start of RG, one can argue whether Brussels will hurt or help Radwanska. But, nevertheless, she won the title, edging herself closer to #1 Azarenka and #2 Sharapova. If she doesn't do well in Paris, at least she'll be able to say that. This was her tenth career title, but, more impressively, it was her sixth title since she turned her career around after Wimbledon and surged to that title in Carlsbad last August. So, who's the only woman with more titles than Radwanska since then? Aha! Trick question. NO woman has won more often than she has over the last ten months.
=============================
RISER: Simona Halep/ROU
...Halep is getting herself into finals, but she's having a hard time taking that next step. Her final run in Brussels -- after wins over Jankovic, Niculescu, Cibulkova and Arvidsson -- makes this the third straight season she's gotten to within one victory of her maiden tour title. But, after losing to Radwanska, she's now 0-3 in her attempts to get it.
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SURPRISES: Urszula Radwanska/POL & Alexandra Panova/RUS
...A-Rad won the title in Brussels, but U-Rad had some nice moments, too. She qualified (defeating Alexa Glatch, who then went on to qualify for RG), then knocked off Lepchenko and Bartoli to reach the QF. Meanwhile, in Strasbourg, Panova qualified, then notched even bigger wins over Barthel and Hradecka to get to the final eight.
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VETERAN: Francesca Schiavone/ITA
...I noted last week that Francesca was seemingly desperate to get something going before Roland Garros. She came to Strasbourg with a 8-14 record on the season, and was just 2-10 in her last twelve matches. It looked like she might be -- and how awful would this be? -- irrelevant in Paris this time around after back-to-back runs to the final and that memorable win two seasons ago. Hmmm, maybe she caught the whiff of Paris in Strasbourg and it's changed everything? Whatever it was, the Italian was five matches last week, and her title has now made her a legit topic of discussion for RG. So, we'll likely get to hear her gush all over again about how much she loves the season's second slam for at least a few rounds. She has a right to do it. Her career has essentially revolved around Roland Garros the last two years. This was her fifth career title, but her first since winning RG in 2010. She also hadn't reached a final since doing so in Paris in 2011. This story COULD get much more interesting VERY soon.
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COMEBACKS: Alize Cornet/FRA & Pauline Parmentier/FRA
...a pair of Pastries, both having slipped back into the bottom half of the Top 100, turned back the clock last week in France, to 2008. Hmmm, 2008... will this bode well over the next two weeks for a certain Russian, who hasn't won a slam since that season? Anyway, Cornet got a wild card into the Strasbourg draw, and ran off wins over Govortsova, Peer, Medina-Garrigues and (yes) countrywoman Parmentier to reach her first tour final in four years (it was also the season she won her only WTA singles title). Parmentier, with wins over Lisicki, Foretz-Gacon and Panova, reached her first tour SF since that same '08 season. That year, she won the second of her two career titles and climbed to a career-best ranking of #40.
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FRESH FACES: Sloane Stephens/USA & Alison van Uytvanck/BEL
...two teenaged NextGen stars set new career achievement bars last week. Stephens, with Strasbourg wins over Kirilenko, Babos and Morita, reached her first tour semifinal. In Brussels, wild card Waffle van Uytvanck reached her first tour QF after getting wins over the likes of Pervak and Scheepers. The two victories were twice the number of career WTA main draw wins the Belgian had before arriving in Brussels last week. AVU's only other win came one year ago, also in Brussels, when she upset Patty Schnyder. It turned out to be the penultimate match of the Swiss vet's career, as she retired after her next event. As it is, though, van Uytvanck WAS the last player against whom Schnyder ever won a set.
=============================
DOWN: Marion Bartoli/FRA
...a year ago, Bartoli rode a wave of emotion (and non-stop movement) to the Roland Garros semis. It wasn't exactly an expected run of success. But if she does it again over the next two weeks, though, now THAT will be shocking. Her opening match loss to U-Rad in Brussels means she's now lost four straight matches, and won just one match during the EuroClay season this spring.
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ITF PLAYER: Lyudmyla Kichenok/UKR
...the Kichenkok sisters have finally won a 2012 ITF singles title. After Nadiya had gone 0-2 in finals this season, Lyudmyla claimed the $25K challenger in Astana with a win in the final over Brit Lisa Whybourne.
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AMATEUR STAR: Lauren Embree/USA (Univ. of Florida)
...20-year old Florida native Embree, playing for the Gators, was named Most Outstanding Player as Florida defended its NCAA Women's Team Championship with a win in the final over top-seeded UCLA. For the second straight year, it was Embree who provided the title-clinching point.
=============================

1. Stras Final - Schiavone d. Cornet
...6-4/6-4. Francesca wins in France. Hmmm... that sounds familiar.
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2. Bruss Final - A.Radwanska d. Halep
...7-5/6-0. Make it 40-1 against everyone but Vika in 2012.
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3. Bruss SF - A.Radwanska d. Kanepi
...7-6/6-3. One wonders how much Brussels took out of Radwanska, especially if she goes up against Venus in the 2nd Round in Paris. Here, Kanepi was up two breaks in the 1st set, and held set point.
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4. Bruss Q3 - Mirza d. Tsurenko 6-0/6-0
Bruss 2nd Rd - A.Radwanska d. Tsurenko 6-1/6-0
...Tsurenko made the draw as a Lucky Loser, and actually lasted longer than the woman -- Mirza -- who beat her in qualifying. But, still, taking two lopsided losses like this in a matter of a few days can't do much good for the pysche.
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5. Bruss Doubles Final - Mattek-Sands/Mirza d. Rosolska/J.Zheng
...6-3/6-2. Bethanie and Sania have won together in doubles once before -- back in 2007.
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HM- Stras Doubles Final - Govortsova/Jans-Ignacik d. Grandin/Uhlirova
...6-7/6-3/10-3. After going 0-10 in tour doubles finals, Grandin (w/ Uhlirova) finally won her first title late last year in Seoul. Well, let a new streak begin. She's now 1-11.
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1. Brussels 2nd Rd - Urszula Radwanska d. Marion Bartoli
...6-4/6-2. A-Rad was the #1 seed, with Bartoli #2. So, U-Rad was as far away from her sister as possible in the main draw. So, no complaints from Agnieszka.
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2. NCAA Women's 1st Rd - Sabina Santamaria (USC) d. Chelsey Gullickson (Ga.)
...6-3/6-2. Chelsey, Carly's sister, was the 2010 NCAA Women's champ.
=============================
3. $25K Astana 2nd Rd - Lisa Whybourne/GBR d. Nadiya Kichenok/UKR
...3-6/6-4/3-2 ret.. No worries as, as is strangely often the case, one sister eventually got revenge on the player who knocked out her sibling. Lyudmyla took down Whybourne in the final. Of note, the previous week it was Lyudmyla who retired in a singles match against Nadiya... so maybe SHE'LL win her first ITF singles title of the season next week?
=============================

**2012 WTA TITLES**
4...Victoria Azarenka, BLR
3...AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA, POL
3...Sara Errani, ITA
2...Maria Sharapova, RUS
2...Serena Williams, USA
2...Angelique Kerber, GER
2...Kaia Kanepi, EST

**WTA TITLES SINCE AUGUST 2011**
[since Radwanska won Carlsbad in Week 31]
6...AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA, POL
5...Victoria Azarenka, BLR
4...Serena Williams, USA
3...Maria Sharapova, RUS
3...Sara Errani, ITA

**WORST RECORDS IN FINALS SINCE 2009**
0-6...Elena Vesnina, RUS
0-5...Lucie Safarova, CZE
0-3...SIMONA HALEP, ROU
0-3...Lucie Hradecka, CZE
0-3...Maria Kirilenko, RUS
0-3...Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP

**OLDEST 2012 CHAMPIONS**
31y,11m,1wk - FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE, ITA (Strasbourg)
30y,7m,3w - Serena Williams, USA (Madrid)
30y,6m,2w - Serena Williams, USA (Charleston)
28y,9m,3w Daniela Hantuchova, SVK (Pattaya)
28y,6m - Zheng Jie, CHN (Auckland)
28y,1w - Sofia Arvidsson, SWE (Memphis)

**2012 - TOP SEED WON TITLE**
Doha - Victoria Azarenka, BLR
Indian Wells - Victoria Azarenka, BLR
Budapest - Sara Errani, ITA
Brussels - AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA, POL

**2012 ITF TITLES**
4...Ana Savic, CRO
4...ANNA SCHMIEDLOVA, SVK (Wk.21 winner)
4...Maryna Zanevska, UKR

All for now. RG tomorrow.

Roland Garros Preview: The Remains of the Clay

2012-05-26T01:16:00.002-04:00

Suddenly, as Roland Garros is about to begin, there are all sorts of questions bouncing around the WTA landscape. Why am I not surprised?

What was foreshadowed last summer at Wimbledon seemed to finally become a reality in January. As Victoria Azarenka confidently stepped her game up to the level of a grand slam champion, after a few years of flux, the tour seemed to be ready to revolve around players about whom the discussion was about "why." Why they were champions. Why they would continue to be champions. Why players who weren't yet champions should follow the example of not only Azarenka, but Petra Kvitova, as well. But, as everyone gathers in Paris for what remains of the clay season, it's now easier to recount "why not." As in, all the reasons why certain players probably WON'T be winning Roland Garros two weeks from now.

Azarenka hasn't looked like a slam champ in recent weeks. Kvitova hasn't looked like one all season. Ditto for Sam Stosur and Francesca Schiavone. Save for Rome, the came can be said of '11 RG champ Li Na. Meanwhile, former #1 Caroline Wozniacki's ranking has been sinking like a stone lately. She might have to scramble during the hard court season to avoid dropping from the Top 10. Agnieszka Radwanska has beaten pretty much everyone but Azarenka (0-6) in '12, but has never been able to put together a good slam run.

Maria Sharapova is (once again) the Rome champion, but was the grit she displayed in sticking things out and winning that title more important than the crazy inconsistency she showed in the very same match? It's precisely that sort of display that has jumped up and taken her down before she could win seven straight slam matches so many times over the last four years. Serena Williams has looked spectacular on the clay this spring, but withdrew with a lower back injury in Rome (a precautionary move, or a hint that she won't be taking too many risks in Paris so that she doesn't jeopardize her two trips to Wimbledon later this summer?), and hasn't been able to keeps things together for seven straight matches in Paris since 2002. Something always goes wrong.

At the very least, as has been the case in pretty much every post-La Petit Taureau version of Roland Garros, the WTA field is full of "reasonable doubt." In the post-LPT era, no player other than Schiavone has seemed truly "at home" at Roland Garros. Because of that, unpredictability has become the norm. Three out of the four RG champions crowned since Justine Henin's first retirement have been first-time slam winners. Will a similar result occur this time?

With the seeming clarity of London and Melbourne thrown out the window, at least temporarily, it certainly wouldn't be a shocking development.

Here's a quick overview of the draw, quarter-by-quarter:

=AZARENKA QUARTER=
*POWER RANKINGS*
1. Victoria Azarenka, BLR...no killer draw, but "26 the Hard Way" runner-up Cibulkova (after missing a rematch in Rome due to Vika's walkover) lurks in the Round of 16
2. Samantha Stosur, AUS...less than impressive EuroClay build-up, but has found great success in Paris two (SF in '09, RU in '10) of the last three years
3. Dominika Cibulkova, SVK...a RG semifinalist in '09
4. Petra Cetkovska, CZE...the rare player not named Vika to get a win over The Radwanska in '12
THE BRACKET BUSTER: Cibulkova, SVK... if the Slovak outlasts Azarenka in the draw, the top quarter opens wide as Stosur suddenly becomes the only former slam winner/finalist in the section (which would probably mean the odds of a first-time slam finalist emerging in the top half would shorten considerably).
THE WILD CARD: Nadia Petrova/RUS or Chanelle Scheepers/RSA... they might face each other in the 2nd Round. I'd have said Lucie Safarova, but her slam results are actually TOO wild to even consider her a wild card.
DON'T COUNT HER CHICKENS: Sabine Lisicki, GER... she has very bad memories of Paris, and she's done nothing lately to make anyone think that's going to change this time out
THE POOR SOUL: the Sloane Stephens/USA vs. Ekaterina Makarova/RUS 1st Round loser... because the winner would probably get Lisicki in the 2nd. If the German even gets past Mattek-Sands in the 1st Round, that is.
=In the End...=
It's Azarenka's quarter to lose. But she just might. She hasn't been as comfortable on the clay as she was hard courts, is nursing a shoulder injury (or not, depending on which Top 2 player you talk to), and first-time #1 slam seeds don't exactly have a great history of walking off with big trophies (see below). Stosur is a good "second choice," but she wasn't able to gather an eleventh-hour push of momentum, ala Schiavone in Strasbourg. If Vika goes out, things could get really crazy in this joint.

=RADWANSKA QUARTER=
*POWER RANKINGS*
1. Agnieszka Radwanska, POL...that scream of "are-you-f***ing-kidding-me?" -- or the Polish equivalent -- you heard on Friday was A-Rad (in Brussels) after learning she'd been drawn to possibly face Vika (again) in a semifinal
2. Angelique Kerber, GER...maybe she's about to shock the world? She's already won one title in Paris this season.
3. Sara Errani, ITA...if A-Rad stumbles, which is possible in a slam, good fortune might fall into the little Italian's lap four months after she slipped into the Australian Open QF
4. Marion Bartoli, FRA...she rode a wave of mo' into the semis in '11, and a few months ago was a "pet pick" (by a certain Backspinner) for an even better run for this RG. But her 2012 season, so far, has sort of made that seem pretty unlikely.
THE BRACKET BUSTER: Venus Williams, USA... she's no threat to win this title, but she COULD send A-Rad out in a blaze of gory power in the 2nd Round.
THE WILD CARD: Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS... the Enigma looms, possibly for the A-Rad/Venus winner in the 3rd Round. The Round of 16 could see a match between the '09 RG champ (Sveta) and the '08 winner (AnaIvo).
DON'T COUNT HER CHICKENS: Radwanska, POL... she's never been seeded this high (#3), and has never reached the QF in Paris. And she played all this week in Brussels, not traditionally the best way to rest up in preparation for a deep run in a slam.
THE POOR SOUL: Bojana Jovanovski, SRB... she's not named Vika or Petra, and she plays The Radwanska in the 1st Round.
=In the End...=
Where, even with the questions in Azarenka's quarter, it's a good bet to go with the top seed there to reach the SF, I'm just not getting the same vibe in this quarter. Until Radwanska proves herself in a slam (reaching at least a semi), she'll remain a question mark no matter how many times she defeats nearly every single person who lines up across the net from her in every other tournament on her schedule. Kerber, on the other hand, has already reached a slam Final Four, and has only gotten better since then. She may prove me wrong, but I just don't think A-Rad can run the gauntlet. On the bright side, she wouldn't have to worry about going 0-7 this season against Azarenka.

=KVITOVA QUARTER=
*POWER RANKINGS*
1. Li Na, CHN...did Rome re-light her fire? If so, she very well could repeat (but only Henin has done that, winning from 2005-07, since Graf defended her title in '96).
2. Francesca Schiavone, ITA...she seemed almost irrelevant a week ago. But, after Strasbourg, maybe all that has changed. She couldn't, you know, do it again... right?
3. Petra Kvitova, CZE...her entire slam season is looking like it'll hinge on her SW19 defense attempt
4. ??????...hard to pick. Certainly not Zvonareva or JJ. Barthel? CSN? Wickmayer?
THE BRACKET BUSTER: Mona Barthel, GER... her early exit in Strasbourg might turn out to be a blessing in disguise. With extra time to settle into Paris, she could be ready to challenge Li in a potential 3rd Rounder.
THE WILD CARD: Kiki Bertens, NED... the Dutch (new) star won in Fes a month ago, then made it through qualifying this week. She enters the main draw riding an eleven-match winning streak. She faces a tough potential row of opponents that might include McHale, Barthel and Li, though.
DON'T COUNT HER CHICKENS: Kvitova, CZE... I'm not going crazy about her chances in Paris, even though she blew a huge opportunity (up 3-0 in the 3rd set) against eventual champ Li in the Round of 16 a year ago. Still, her draw isn't all that imposing. Well, unless Francesca has turned "Schiavo" -- "It's clobbering time!!!" -- by the time they could meet in the 4th Round.
THE POOR SOUL: Jelena Jankovic, SRB... she's yet to win since pushing Serbia into the FC final. It's time for the hangover to end. It might not yet, though. Hopefully, we'll get a JJ/Schiavone 3rd Rounder, at least (so, Ms. Wickmayer... don't mess things up in the 2nd Round against Francesca, all right?).
=In the End...=
If Li can carry over her Rome momentum -- the feel-good winning aspects, not the crazy streakiness of the final -- she's a good bet to return to the semis. Kvitova is never to be overlooked, but she just hasn't been able to string wins together this season. Seriously, no one could have guessed back in January that by this time of the season Sara Errani would have won more tour singles titles than either Kvitova or Wozniacki -- combined! Of course, everything could get thrown out the window if Francesca, fresh off a great week in Strasbourg, arrives in Paris talking about how much she loves Roland Garros and how it infuses joy into her blood and all that. We've already seen what can happen -- in back-to-back years -- when that occurs.

=SHARAPOVA QUARTER=
*POWER RANKINGS*
co-1. Maria Sharapova, RUS...she has a decent -- better than #1 Vika's -- draw. Well, if you don't count that Serena woman in the QF.
co-1. Serena Williams, USA...but there's a reason why she hasn't won on the clay in Paris in a decade, or reached the semis in nine years.
3. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN...after the Big 2, things really thin out. Ill and slipping, she seems to be playing on fumes this spring. But she's still fairly easily the #3 player in the quarter.
4. vacant
THE BRACKET BUSTER: Lucie Hradecka, CZE... she showed (for a set, at least) a few weeks ago that her big serve allowed her to compete with Serena. She might get another chance to prove it in the 3rd Round.
THE WILD CARD: Wozniacki, DEN... speaking of good recent outings against Williams. The Dane was the last player -- 17 matches ago, in Madrid -- to actually defeat Serena, and one of only two women (Petrova was the other) to get a set off her in Williams' last 32 completed stanzas. They're lined up to play again in the Round of 16. If Serena plays "20%" again, Wozniacki would win. In a slam, though, Serena's been known to play -- and win -- with very odd percentage-of-capacity numbers.
DON'T COUNT HER CHICKENS: Julia Goerges, GER... she finally reached her first slam Round of 16 in Melbourne, but might have difficulty getting past Hradecka in the 1st Round in Paris.
THE POOR SOUL: Virginie Razzano, FRA... a year ago, she played in Paris with a heavy heart (her fiance has passed away). This year, she gets Serena (46-0 in slam 1st Rounders matches) in her opening match.
=In the End...=
It would appear that this one will come down to the expected Sharapova/Serena quarterfinal. If it's neither of those two women reaching the semis, it'd be a shock. That said, Caro is probably saying "I like those odds"... but even she's probably not crazy enough to bet on herself. Plus, she'll probably be looking to spend some time in Paris comforting Rory McIlroy, whose atrocious performance this week in an event in England means he's likely about to lose his #1 golf ranking.

=QUALIFYING ROUNDS=
TOP PLAYER: Kiki Bertens/NED
...the was the #1 qualifying seed. After surving a tough opening match, she breezed into the main draw.
RISERS: Heather Watson/GBR & Chan Yung-Jan/TPE
SURPRISE: Dinah Pfizenmaier/GER
VETERANS: Eva Birnerova/CZE & Heidi El Tabakh/CAN
COMEBACKS: Yaroslava Shvedova/KAZ & Alexa Glatch/USA
FRESH FACES: Lauren Davis/USA & Karolina Pliskova/CZE
DOWN: #17 Gisela Dulko/ARG (1q) & #2 Andrea Hlavackova/CZE (2q)
OTHER QUALIFIERS: Zhang Shuai/CHN & Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino/ESP
WILD CARDS: Ashleigh Barty/AUS, Claire Feuerstein/FRA, Caroline Garcia/FRA, Victoria Larriere/FRA, Kristina Mladenovic/FRA, Melanie Oudin/USA, Irena Pavlovic/FRA, Aravane Rezai/FRA
LUCKY LOSERS: none so far

=QUALIFYING MATCHES=
Q1: #1 Kiki Bertens/NED d. Annika Beck/GER 6-1/4-6/9-7
...in Melbourne, Bertens defeated top-seeded Vesna Dolonc (nee "Manasieva," formerly spelled "Dolonts" and representing "RUS," but now spelled "Dolonc" and representing "SRB"... got all that?) in the opening round of qualifying. In Paris, as the #1 seed herself, the Dutch woman narrowly avoided a similar fate.
Q2: #5 Heather Watson/GBR d. (WC) Ons Jabeur/TUN 7-6/6-3
...the '09 U.S. Open Girls champ defeats the '11 Roland Garros Girls winner.
Q3: Lauren Davis/USA d. Julia Cohen 1-6/6-4/6-2
...it's Davis' second successful qualifying run (after also doing so in Strasbourg) in the past week.

Q1: Dinah Pfizenmaier/GER d. Kristyna Pliskova/CZE 2-6/6-2/6-1
...one Pliskova down, one to go.
Q2: #6 Eva Birnerova/CZE d. Yurika Sema/JPN 6-2/6-1
...one Sema down, one to go.
Q2: Heidi El Tabakh/CAN d. #20 Erika Sema/JPN 6-1/6-1
...two Semas down, none to go.
Q3: #11 Karolina Pliskova/CZE d. #15 Laura Robson/GBR 4-6/7-5/6-4
...and one sister -- a Pliskova -- remains standing at the end of qualifying.

*RG "Q-PLAYER OF THE WEEK" WINNERS*
2006 Julia Vakulenko/UKR
2007 Timea Bacsinszky/SUI & Ioana-Raluca Olaru/ROU
2008 Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez/ESP & Yanina Wickmayer/BEL
2009 Yaroslava Shvedova/KAZ
2010 Kaia Kanepi/EST
2011 Sloane Stephens/USA
2012 Kiki Bertens/NED

*SLAM QUALIFYING STREAKS*
=CONSECUTIVE SLAMS=
none (Laura Robson, a qualifier at the U.S. Open and Australian Open, lost in the RG Q3.)
=CONSECUTIVE RG's=
Chan Yung-Jan, TPE (2011-12)
Heather Watson, GBR (2011-12)

*PREVIEW NOTES*
...this Roland Garros will mark the first time that '12 Australian Open champ Victoria Azarenka has been the top-seeded woman at a slam, ending Caroline Wozniacki six-slam run as a top seed. Of course, it's nothing new for a different face to appear atop the draw in Paris. Eight different women has been the #1 seed at Roland Garros over the last eight years, and ten have filled the spot over the last twelve.

**ROLAND GARROS #1 SEEDS SINCE 2001**
2001 Martina Hingis, SUI (RU)
2002 Jennifer Capriati (SF)
2003 Serena Williams (SF)
2004 Justine Henin-Hardenne (2nd Rd.)
2005 Lindsay Davenport (QF)
2006 Amelie Mauresmo (4th Rd.)
2007 Justine Henin (W)
2008 Maria Sharapova (4th Rd.)
2009 Dinara Safina (RU)
2010 Serena Williams (QF)
2011 Caroline Wozniacki (3rd Rd.)
2012 Victoria Azarenka

Of course, newbie #1 slam seeds haven't exactly been all that adept at lifting the trophy in their first appearance as the top seed. Since Steffi Graf broke the Navratilova/Evert stranglehold on the top seed at the slams (26 consecutive, and 29-of-30 starting in '80) at the U.S. Open in 1987, sixteen different women have been seeded #1 at a major. Only four of them won the title at the slam at which they first were a #1 seed.

**WON TITLE AT FIRST SLAM SEEDED #1**
[since end of Evert/Navratilova era]
1991 Monica Seles (Roland Garros)
2002 Jennifer Capriati (Australian Open)
2002 Serena Williams (U.S. Open)
2004 Justine Henin-Hardenne (Australian Open)

All four of those women had already won two slam crowns (except for Serena, who'd claimed three) before getting their first as a #1 seed. Azarenka, of course, still has only her AO title from January in her career slam column. Needless to say, a title run by the Belarusian in Paris would be a direct challenge to much WTA history. Of note, neither Evert nor Navratilova won the title at the first slam event at which they were a #1 seed, either. Oh, and one more potential strike against Vika's chances: only one #1 seeded woman has claimed the RG crown over the last fifteen years (Henin in '07).

...meanwhile, Novak Djokovic is the men's top seed at his third straight slam. He, like the four women mentioned in the previous list, won the title at the first slam at which he was a #1 seed ('11 U.S. Open), but only after he'd already won three slam titles beforehand.

...the last five slams have been won by five different women (4 consecutive first-timers), and seven have won the last eight. Eleven women -- all but one, to-retire-after-the-U.S.-Open Kim Clijsters, are in the draw in Paris -- have claimed slams since 2008. But things couldn't be any more different on the men's side.

**RECENT WOMEN'S SLAM WINNERS**
2011 AO: Kim Clijsters, BEL
2011 RG: Li Na, CHN
2011 WI: Petra Kvitova, CZE
2011 US: Samantha Stosur, AUS
2012 AO: Victoria Azarenka, BLR

There, the three-headed monster -- Djokovic, Nadal & Federer -- at the top of the ATP has cornered the slam market. They've won 27 of 28 slams, and 29 of 31. And while the legendary Nadal/Federer combo once combined to take a men's record eleven consecutive slam crowns, the Djokovic/Nadal twosome now isn't far behind. The two men have shared the last eight slams, the second-longest men's streak for a pair of players.

=LONG ATP SLAM TITLES STREAKS - TWO PLAYERS=
11 - Federer/Nadal, 2005-07
8 - DJOKOVIC/NADAL, 2010-12
6 - Sampras/Bruguera, 1993-94
5 - Borg/Connors, 1974-75

Djokovic and Nadal, of course, are on opposites sides of the draw, so they could meet in the final. If they do, it'd be their fifth meeting in a slam final, tied for second behind Federer/Nadal on the all-time men's list.

=MOST SLAM FINAL MATCH-UPS - MEN=
8 - Federer/Nadal
5 - Agassi/Sampras
5 - Lendl/Wilander
4 - DJOKOVIC/NADAL
4 - Borg/Connors
4 - Borg/McEnroe
4 - Federer/Roddick

Djokovic has met (and defeated) Nadal in the final of the last three slams, already an ATP record for consecutive slam final meetings in the Oper era. So, he'll be going for not only a Career Grand Slam in Paris, but also a "DjokerSlam" of four straight major wins over a two-season span.

...the only player on the women's side with a Career Grand Slam is Serena Williams, but there IS a woman in the draw with a shot to add her name to the list of players who've won all four slams during their careers -- Maria Sharapova. A semifinalist at Roland Garros in '11, and a two-time slam finalist over the last year, Sharapova just defended her title in Rome and comes to Paris as the #2 seed behind Azarenka.

*COMPLETED CAREER "GRAND SLAM" - WOMEN*
[AO-RG-WI-US; where/when completed; age]
Doris Hart, USA [1-2-1-2, 1949 AO, 24]
Maureen Connolly, USA [1-2-3-3, 1953 AO, 20]
Shirley Fry, USA [1-1-1-1, 1952 AO, 30]
Margaret Smith-Court, AUS [11-5-3-5, 1963 WI, 20]
Billie Jean King, USA [1-1-6-4, 1972 RG, 28]
Chris Evert, USA [2-7-3-6, 1982 AO, 27]
Martina Navratilova, USA [3-2-9-4, 1983 US, 26]
Steffi Graf, GER [4-6-7-5, 1988 US, 19]
Serena Williams, USA [5-1-4-3, 2003 AO, 21]
[needs RG title]
Maria Sharapova, RUS [1-0-1-1, currently age 25]

Seven men and nine woman have won Career Slams throughout modern tennis history. Three of those players will be in action in Paris: Serena (who completed her CGS at the AO in '03), Federer ('09 RG) and Nadal ('10 U.S.). For their part, both Williams and Federer once again have a shot to complete a SECOND CGS by winning a second RG title, meaning they would have won all four slams at least twice. Only six players have accomplished that feat.

*TWO-OR-MORE TITLES AT ALL 4 SLAMS - M/W*
[AO-RG-WI-US, years]
Margaret Smith Court [11-5-3-5, 1960-73]
Roy Emerson [6-2-2-2, 1961-67]
Chris Evert [2-7-3-6, 1974-86]
Steffi Graf [4-6-7-5, 1987-99]
Rod Laver [3-2-4-2, 1960-69]
Martina Navratilova [3-2-9-4, 1978-90]
--
ACTIVE, NEED 2nd RG TITLE: Roger Federer [4-1-6-5, 2003-10], Serena Williams [5-1-4-3, 1999-10]

At the very least, Federer seems assured to finally surpass Jimmy Connors as the all-time slam match winner in men's tennis history. Federer needed five wins in Melbourne to pass the American, but came up just short when he lost in the semifinals (he'd had a walkover earlier in the tournament, "robbing" him of the one victory he ended up needing). Tied at 232 wins, he'll only need to take his 1st Round match in Paris to climb to the top of the heap.

=ALL-TIME MEN'S SLAM MATCH WINS - OPEN ERA=
232...Jimmy Connors
232...ROGER FEDERER
224...Andre Agassi
222...Ivan Lendl
203...Pete Sampras

=ALL-TIME RG MATCH WINS - MEN=
56...Guillermo Vilas
53...Ivan Lendl
51...Andre Agassi
49...ROGER FEDERER
49...Bjorn Borg
--
NOTE: Nadal has 45

Meanwhile, Nadal heads to Paris looking to maintain his Roland Garros dominance. 45-1 there in his career, he's a six-time champion. One more title and he'll pass Bjorn Borg to become the tournament's all-time leader in men's singles titles.

*MOST RG TITLES - SINCE 1925*
6...Bjorn Borg (1974-75,1978-81)
6...RAFAEL NADAL (2005-08,2010-11)
4...Henri Cochet (1926,28,30,32)

*CAREER RG FINALS*
6...Bjorn Borg
6...RAFAEL NADAL
5...Henri Cochet
5...Jaroslav Drobny
5...ROGER FEDERER
5...Rene Lacoste
5...Ivan Lendl
5...Mats Wilander

...Federer, for his part, is appearing in his 50th consecutive slam, and is closing in on Wayne Ferreira's record of 56. Francesca Schiavone will appear in her 47th straight, the longest such run on the women's tour. But she's still quite a few behind the WTA's all-time leader -- Ai Sugiyama, who had 62.

...Serena Williams is the #5 seed in Paris. Only three women seeded #5 has emerged as champions at the last eighty-one slams, going back to 1992. The last was Maria Sharapova in Melbourne in 2008. Only two #5-seeded women have won in Paris during the Open era -- Nancy Richey (1968) and Justine Henin-Hardenne (2006). Additionally, a title run by 30-year old Serena would be a rarity, as well. Since the start of the 1988 season, only one woman aged 30-plus has lifted a slam singles trophy -- a 33-year old Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 1990.

...at least one Russian woman has reached the semifinals at twenty-eight of the last thirty-two slams, and at every Roland Garros since 2003.

*RUSSIAN RG SEMIFINALISTS, since 2003*
2003 Nadia Petrova
2004 Elena Dementieva (RU), Anastasia Myskina (W)
2005 Elena Likhovtseva, Nadia Petrova
2006 Svetlana Kuznetsova (RU)
2007 Maria Sharapova
2008 Svetlana Kuznetsova, Dinara Safina (RU)
2009 Svetlana Kuznetsova (W), Dinara Safina (RU)
2010 Elena Dementieva
2011 Maria Sharapova

...meanwhile, women's wheelchair champ Esther Vergeer is back for more. The 20-time slam singles champion Dutch woman's winning streak is nearly at 500 consecutive matches now. She last lost a singles match in January 2003.

=ROUND OF 16 PREDICTIONS=
#1 Azarenka d. #15 Cibulkova
#6 Stosur d. Stephens
#3 A.Radwanska d. #21 Errani
#10 Kerber d. #8 Bartoli
#7 Li d. Suarez-Navarro
#14 Schiavone d. #4 Kvitova
#5 S.Williams d. #9 Wozniacki
#2 Sharapova d. Zakopalova

=QUARTERFINAL PREDICTIONS=
#1 Azarenka d. #6 Stosur
#10 Kerber d. #3 A.Radwanska
#7 Li d. #14 Schiavone
#2 Sharapova d. #5 S.Williams

=SEMIFINAL PREDICTIONS=
#10 Kerber d. #1 Azarenka
#2 Sharapova d. #7 Li

=FINAL PREDICTION=
#2 Sharapova d. #10 Kerber

...it's been a long wait, but maybe the time is finally right for a Supernovic rebirth. When Sharapova won her first slam eight (!!!) years ago, I paraphrased a definition for "supernova" to fit the occasion. It read:

su*per*no*va - n. - "a rare celestial phenomenon in which a star explodes,
resulting in an extremely bright object"

It seemed to fit. Supernovae were, after all, "the most powerful forces in the universe." Of course, if one were to dig a bit deeper, there WAS another, darker side of the coin when it came to a TRUE definition of the astrological term:

su*per*no*va - n. - "a cataclysmic explosion caused when a star exhausts its fuel and ends its life."

Every star eventually runs its course. Over the last four years, after rotator cuff surgery put her entire career in jeopardy, Sharapova's time on the WTA stage -- or at least the grand slam-winning stage, really the only one that truly matters to her when you get right down to it -- surely seemed at times to be THIS CLOSE to ending, for all intents and purposes.

supernova remnant: An expanding shell of gas ejected at high speeds by a supernova explosion. Supernova remnants are often visible as diffuse gaseous nebulae usually with a shell-like structure. Many resemble "bubbles" in space.

Yet, over the last twelve months, remnants of the old "Supernova" have shown up at grand slam time. At least year's Roland Garros, Sharapova seemed to be on her way to completing the Career Grand Slam, only to be tripped up in the semifinals. She followed up the result by reaching the Wimbledon final. She lost to Kvitova. She reached the Australian Open final, as well. She lost there, too, to Azarenka. She hasn't given up. The thought here is that she WILL be able to stay ahead of the WTA's young twentysomething pack and get her first slam win since 2008. In not in Paris in two weeks, then soon.

At recent slams, considering the oh-so-thorough nature of her dominance from Day 1 during her three previous slam title runs, I've always been on the lookout for the slight cracks in Sharapova's game -- namely, her serve -- that would seem to rule out title #4. I never really fully bought into her Paris attempt a year ago because of this and, as it turned out, the pattern held. It seemed as if the old Supernova would never return. But after watching -- and listening to -- Sharapova over the last few months, maybe she doesn't need to anymore.

A win by the Russian in Paris wouldn't qualify as another slam claimed by a "first-timer," but is that NECESSARILY the case? This isn't really the "same old Maria."

Maybe Nova 2.0, as we saw in the Rome final, has learned how to win big matches and titles even while NOT always playing at her best. Serena has perfected the act over the years, but Sharapova has had a much harder time learning to overcome sometimes mediocre-or-worse serving, some of it attributed to the shoulder surgery, but also with much of the blame resting on her growing nervousness in such situations. But maybe on the clay Sharapova doesn't need the serve. It's not as effective a weapon there for her as it might be on other surfaces anyway, and, knowing that, it's quite possible that double-digit double-fault days on clay don't necessarily mean that her ENTIRE game will hopelessly fall apart in short order, as well. Where the clay used to slow down her game and give other players a better shot against her, it now slows down her game and gives her a better chance to stop the slide on a not-great day before it gets out of control.

Plus, Sharapova's been pretty chesty lately. She's always been like an elephant, never forgetting a slight sent in her direction. She's been more forward about that aspect of her personality in 2012, though. Radwanska mouths off about her on-court noise? Sharapova makes a point to note, essentially, how the Pole hasn't REALLY (0 slam titles, finals or semifinals) won anything yet. Just last week, the Russian openly questioned the seriousness of Azarenka's injuries, and disagreed with the world #1's assertions that WTA zero-point rules "forced" her to play last week in Rome. Sometimes, Sharapova said, a player has to bite the bullet and take a zero on her points ledger in order to keep an eye on the long-term aspect of maintaining good health during a career.

No longer the shock-and-awe 17-year old who toppled Serena at Wimbledon, Sharapova speaks from experience.

It's time for it to serve her well. No pun intended.

...meanwhile, on the men's side, it's a race to see whether Nadal can win a 7th Roland Garros title, or if Djokovic can complete his DjokerSlam with a fourth consecutive major title. Oh, and of course there's that Federer fellow. Outside of those three, though, there's really nothing worthy of discussion, at least in my opinion.

=QUARTERFINAL PREDICTIONS=
#1 Djokovic d. #11 Simon
#3 Federer d. #7 Berdych
#6 Ferrer d. #4 Murray
#2 Nadal d. #12 Almagro

=SEMIFINAL PREDICTIONS=
#1 Djokovic d. #3 Federer
#2 Nadal d. #6 Ferrer

=FINAL PREDICTION=
#2 Nadal d. #1 Djokovic

Carl back!! Pay no attention to Todd picks. He no match for Carl. Did Todd pick Vika to win in Melbourne? No. Carl did. Carl play by Todd rules -- even if just thought of doing so make Carl want to squish!!! -- and let pick first... and Carl still beat Todd.

Carl like Maria. Carl pick her to win Rome. No surprise, she did. But Todd pick Maria for Paris, so Carl now see Maria as enemy for two weeks. So, naturally, Carl pick for Roland Garros now easy.

=QF=
6 stosur d. 1 azarenka
3 radwanska d. 8 bartoli
7 li d. 4 kvitova
5 s.williams d. 2 sharapova
=SF=
3 radwanska d. 6 stosur
7 li d. 5 s.williams
=FINAL=
3 radwanska d. 7 li

Carl and The Radwanska go good together. Carla no worry, though.

**MOST SLAM #1 SEEDS - ACTIVE PLAYERS**
8...Serena Williams, USA
6...Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
3...Maria Sharapova, RUS
3...Dinara Safina, RUS
2...Ana Ivanovic, SRB
1...VICTORIA AZARENKA, BLR
1...Kim Clijsters, BEL
1...Jelena Jankovic, SRB
1...Venus Williams, USA

*ROLAND GARROS FINALS - IN 2012 DRAW*
2...Ana Ivanovic (1-1)
2...Svetlana Kuznetsova (1-1)
2...Francesca Schiavone (1-1)
1...Li Na (1-0)
1...Serena Williams (1-0)
1...Samantha Stosur (0-1)
1...Venus Williams (0-1)

*RECENT RG SEMIFINALISTS*
2006: Henin-Hardenne (W) - Kuznetsova (RU) - Clijsters/Vaidisova
2007: Henin (W) - Ivanovic (RU) - Jankovic/Sharapova
2008: Ivanovic (W) - Safina (RU) - Jankovic/Kuznetsova
2009: Kuznetsova (W) - Safina (RU) - Stosur/Cibulkova
2010: Schiavone (W) - Stosur (RU) - Dementieva/Jankovic
2011: Li (W) - Schiavone (RU) - Bartoli/Sharapova

**LOW-SEEDED RG SEMIFINALISTS - since 2000**
unseeded...Clarisa Fernandez, 2002
unseeded...Nadia Petrova, 2003
#30...Samantha Stosur, 2009
#21...Mary Pierce, 2005 (W)
#20...Dominika Cibulkova, 2009
#17...Francesca Schiavone, 2010 (W)
#16...Elena Likhovtseva, 2005
#16...Nicole Vaidisova, 2006
#14...Paola Suarez, 2004
#14...Justine Henin, 2001
#13...Dinara Safina, 2008
#12...Kim Clijsters, 2001
#11...Marion Bartoli, 2011
#10...Justine Henin, 2005 (W)

*ROLAND GARROS GIRLS FINALS - since 1998*
1998 Nadia Petrova/RUS def. Jelena Dokic/AUS
1999 Lourdes Dominguez-Lino/ESP def. Stephanie Foretz/FRA
2000 Virginie Razzano/FRA def. Maria-Emilia Salerni/ARG
2001 Kaia Kanepi/EST def. Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS
2002 Angelique Widjaja/INA def. Ashley Harkleroad/USA
2003 Anna-Lena Groenefeld/GER def. Vera Dushevina/RUS
2004 Sesil Karatantcheva/BUL def. Madalina Gojnea/ROU
2005 Agnes Szavay/HUN def. Ioana-Raluca Olaru/ROU
2006 Agnieszka Radwanska/POL def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS
2007 Alize Cornet/FRA def. Mariana Duque-Marino/COL
2008 Simona Halep/ROU def. Elena Bogdan/ROU
2009 Kristina Mladenovic/FRA def. Daria Gavrilova/RUS
2010 Elina Svitolina/UKR def. Ons Jabeur/TUN
2011 Ons Jabeur/TUN def. Monica Puig/PUR

**FIRST-TIME SLAM CHAMPS AT ROLAND GARROS**
[Open Era]
1971 Evonne Goolagong, AUS
1974 Chris Evert, USA
1976 Sue Barker, GBR
1977 Mima Jausovec, SLO
1978 Virginia Ruzici, ROU
1987 Steffi Graf, GER
1989 Arantxa Sanchez, ESP
1990 Monica Seles, YUG
1997 Iva Majoli, CRO
2003 Justine Henin, BEL
2004 Anastasia Myskina, RUS
2008 Ana Ivanovic, SRB
2010 Francesca Schiavone, ITA
2011 Li Na, CHN
--
NOTE: Ann Haydon-Jones won first career slam at '61 Roland Garros, before Open era began in '68

All for now. Day 1 awaits... as well as Bare (but-not-Boned) Backspin.

Wk.20- Gods Only Know

2012-05-21T16:49:00.003-04:00

All right. What exactly are the Tennis Gods trying to do to us?

For most of 2012, the WTA season felt new and refreshed. But it seemingly had some sort of orderliness to it. Petra Kvitova has simply refused to be dominant (unless she's wearing "CZE" on her sleeve), but Victoria Azarenka had utterly no problem with the prospect becoming a reality when it came to her. Right under the surface, The Radwanska lurked, with only Vika having the ability to defeat her. Italians (only with a "Sara" taking the lead rather than a "Francesca") loved the dirt, and then Serena Williams made it HER domain as well, rather it be colored green, blue or red. With Roland Garros approaching, the prospects of a series of top-flight performers all coming together for one two-week stretch made the possibilities seem endless.

And there came Rome. There, all the "order" of 2012 was splintered into a millions shards. Just a week before the start of play in Paris, too.

Many of the top players who showed up in Rome left without actually losing a match. Azarenka, Serena and Caroline Wozniacki all either retired or withdrew mid-tournament due to injury (real or imagined, as Maria Sharapova reminded us). Kvitova probably should have been on that list, but she played on after being injury, potentially putting a negative spin not only on her Parisian endeavors, but raising a possible future eyebrow about London, as well. Agnieszka Radwanska lost, but it wasn't Azarenka who put her down.

And then there was the women's final. There, the Tennis Gods seemed to revel in twisting the knife just a little bit more, causing the tour to not really be able to determine WHAT has happening. The crazy meeting between Sharapova, the '11 Rome champ, and Li Na, the '11 RG winner, included fireworks, helicopters, planes, sirens, cheering soccer fans and rain delays. But what was actually happening ON the court, though, was even nuttier.

Li, always known for her ability to slip in and out of potent play, reeled off six straight games to take a 6-4/4-0 lead, winning 21 of 27 points during one stretch. But the match was far from over. The Chinese vet double-faulted to break herself, and the battle for survival was on. An animated courtside session with her husband/coach followed, but so did another double-fault on game point in Game #9 of the 2nd set. Another came on break point, and Li found herself down a break at 5-4. In all, Sharapova followed Li's six-game run by an eight-game winning streak of her own. The Russian knotted the match, then took a 2-0 3rd set lead that soon turned into 4-1. She even held game point for 5-1, only to see Li break back to get to 4-2.

Then it was Sharapova's turn to suffer through a case of nerves and iffy play. She was clearly rattled as her play slipped and the rain became more and more steady on Sunday after a previously sun-filled week. Li broke again to get to 4-4, then a foreshadowing blink-and-you-missed it rain delay arrived at 5-5, 30/30. Once play resumed, down 6-5, Sharapova won a long, dragging-Li-from-side-to-side rally to avoid going down match point. As the rainfall started to become a downpour, umpire Kader Nouni offered the players an "out" to escape the becoming-slippery conditions, but both decided to play on. Then Sharapova missed on a high bouncing overhead attempt into the rain, and was forced to save a match point. Moments later, she double-faulted on her first attempt at securing a game point opportunity and forcing a deciding tie-break. But then Li slipped on the worsening court behind the baseline, and Nouni decided that the clay was going to have to be covered after one more point. Sharapova won it to hold for 6-6, and out came the tarp.

It would be two hours before the players returned to the court.

Sharapova quickly grabbed a 3-0 tie-break advantage, but Li bounced back to get back on serve at 4-3. A Li shot skidded off the baseline and Sharapova framed her shot. It was 5-5, and still more drama seemed fated. It never really came, though. Sharapova won the next point to get her first match point, then Li fired a shot wide to give Sharapova a 4-6/6-4/7-6(5) victory. After 2:52 of action, the actually five-hours-in-real-time contest resulted in a successful defense attempt of the Russian's '11 Rome title. The constantly-shifting nature of the contest was evident in the final stats, as the pair combined for 41 winners, but 115 errors.

Still, after surviving-with-a-smile, BOTH players might be able to now head to Paris claiming that fortune might be ready to smile on them. For Li, she'll return to the scene of her greatest career moment hoping to catch another, Schiavone-esque wave. Her chances seem better now than they did a week ago. For Sharapova, the attempt at a Career Grand Slam that failed one year ago might not be nearly as out-of-the-question as it might have seemed a few years back. With all her recent success on the dirt, suddenly, Sharapova is something of a clay court "specialist." Well, not really... but who's to say what the Tennis Gods have in their bag of tricks? Surely, it'd now be no shock to see Sharapova and Li meet up again in three weeks, perhaps with an even bigger title at stake.

Rome managed to raise new questions about some players, while answering a few about a couple of others. The result? Yet another post-La Petit Taureau version of Roland Garros which will begin without anything resembling a consensus choice for which player should be declared the true "favorite" to lift the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen. But I guess that's how it should be. After all, it's been the case in Paris for decades, as more than a third of the Roland Garros champions crowned in the past forty years have been first-time slam champions, including three of the past four.

And if last week was any indicator, yet another wild two weeks in Paris awaits. Gods willing, we should hope so.

*WEEK 20 CHAMPIONS*
ROME, ITALY (Premier $2.168m/RCO)
S: Maria Sharapova/RUS def. Li Na/CHN 4-6/6-4/7-6(5)
D: Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) d. Makarova/Vesnina (RUS/RUS)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Maria Sharapova/RUS

...hmmm, maybe many of those long-held notions about Sharapova aren't as valid as they used to be? Formerly a "cow on ice" on clay, the Russian has worked very hard over the last few years to improve her footwork on the dirt. It's worked. Her win in Rome, her second red clay title of '12, makes her 5-0 in clay court finals in her career. Four of her last five titles have come on clay. Her last grass court title? That was all the way back in 2005. Rome wins over Christina McHale, Ana Ivanovic, Venus Williams (her first win over VW since 2007), Angelique Kerber and Li Na got her her 26th career title, exactly double the next highest total (Kuznetova's 13) by an active Russian woman. And as the season's second slam approaches this weekend, one has to think that world #1 Victoria Azarenka has Sharapova on her mind, too. And not just because the Russian questioned the seriousness of Vika's many "injuries," either. Azarenka only played one match in Rome, getting a win and 3rd Round points before withdrawing with a sore shoulder, and said afterward that she showed up and briefly played because she needed the ranking points. One of her eyes has to be on #2 Sharapova, who's now just 630 points behind and might have a shot to overtake her for #1 after Roland Garros with the right combination of results.
=============================
RISERS: Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci (ITA/ITA) & Angelique Kerber/GER
...nobody beats Errani & Vinci on clay. Really... NOBODY. Not in a long time, anyway. The Italian duo won their tour-leading fifth 2012 title in Rome without dropping a set, taking out top-seeded Huber/Raymond in the semifinals, then defeating Makarova/Vesnina in the final (one week after outdistancing the Russian pair in the Madrid final). Overall, Errani & Vinci have won thirteen straight matches and three consecutive titles. But, on clay, they've become even more lethal opponents than that. Going back to last season, they're on a 25-match clay court winning streak. Kerber didn't win a title in Rome, but she continued to flex her muscles as 2012's best German player. Her sixth semifinal run of the season included wins over Vania King, Julia Goerges and Petra Kvitova, the latter of which being her sixth Top 10 victory of the season. Fittingly, Kerber today climbed into the Top 10 herself for the very first time, becoming the seventh German woman to do so in WTA history.
=============================
SURPRISES: Margarita Gasparyan/RUS & Ana Sofia Sanchez/MEX
...this week's honors go to a pair of movers-and-shakers on the ITF circuit. Gasparyan, 17, has won more challenger titles than any other Hordette in '12, taking her third consecutive title (spread out over the last three months) this weekend in the Moscow $25K. After getting an earlier win over Olga Puchkova, Gasparyan took out Daria Gavrilova in the final by the exact same score -- 4-6/6-4/7-6 -- by which Sharapova won in Rome. Weird. Meanwhile, the unexpected march of the Mexicans continues, as 18-year old Sanchez claimed her second ITF crown of the season. She won the $10K event in Rosario, Argentina with a win in the final over Argentine Guadalupe Moreno.
=============================
VETERANS: Venus Williams/USA & Flavia Pennetta/ITA
...Venus received a wild card entry into Rome, and she made good use of it. She got wins over Simona Halep (it was a bit easier affair than her win over the Romanian in Madrid), Ekaterina Makarova and '11 Rome runner-up Samantha Stosur en route to the quarterfinals. Williams isn't a likely contender in Paris, but, come on, we know anything Venus is doing right now is fine-tuning for her two trips to the All-England Club this summer. So far, so good, too. Meanwhile, Pennetta had a bittersweet week back home in Italy. She got good wins over Maria Kirilenko, Sloane Stephens and Petra Cetkovska (0 & 1) to reach the quarterfinals. It was enough to lift her back into the Top 20 for the first time since before the Australian Open (she's one of only three players -- with Kirilenko and Roberta Vinci -- ranked in the Top 20 in both singles and doubles), but her week ended with a retirement due to a wrist injury in her match with Serena Williams.
=============================
COMEBACK: Li Na/CHN
...even before her run to the final in Rome, Li had quietly put together an 18-7 season record. But no one was talking about the '11 Roland Garros champion as a possible frontline contender in Paris for this season. With her best result since a singles final in Week 2, and her near-miss loss to Sharapova on Sunday, though, Li is back in the mix. Of course, where Li is concerned, maybe she'd have been in a better position if she'd remained under the radar for a while longer. Oh, well. I guess we'll soon find out. After Francesca Schiavone followed up her '10 RG title with a spot in the final a year later, maybe Li can follow in the Italian's footsteps. Of course, we are talking about Li. So who really knows?
=============================
FRESH FACES: Donna Vekic/CRO & Lauren Davis/USA
...Vekic won her second ITF challenger title of the season at the $25K in Fergana, Uzbekistan. The Osijek-born (just like Jelena Dokic, by the way) 15-year old defeated Cagla Buyukakcay, Sabina Sharipova and Nadiya Kichenok in the final. Meanwhile, 18-year old Bannerette Davis managed to place herself into a WTA main draw based on performance for the first time, rather than through her previous wild card entries. In Strasbourg, she qualified with a trio of victories over Chang Kai-Chen, Caroline Garcia and Mandy Minella.
=============================
DOWN: Jelena Jankovic/SRB & Agnieszka Radwanska/POL
...well, at least JJ still has November's Fed Cup final to look forward to. Since leading the Serbs into the FC final, though, Jankovic is STILL looking for her first follow-up match win. In Rome, she dropped a 1st Rounder to Sorana Cirstea in a 3rd set tie-break. Today in Brussels, she lost another 1st Round match in a 3rd set breaker to Simona Halep. Worse yet, last week's early exit, along with Pennetta's good pre-wrist injury performance, managed to drop Queen Chaos from Top 20 status. It ends JJ's tour-best string of 300 consecutive weeks in the Top 20. Marion Bartoli (259), welcome to the spotlight. The next longest current Top 20 streak? Radwanska's 223. Yet here she is, too. The Pole's longstanding 2012 I'll-take-out-anyone-but-Vika run finally ended in Rome after 36 matches, as she dropped her first non-Azarenka match to Petra Cetkovska despite holding a 4-1 lead in the 3rd. The loss, combined with her nursing of a sore back (and there's probably still that old shoulder injury, too), surely raises some red flags about A-Rad's chances in Paris, no matter how far away from Azarenka in the draw she might be. Radwanska, already sporting a not-anything-to-get-excited-about slam history, is also scheduled to play this week in Brussels. Even a win there wouldn't exactly be a great precursor to success in Paris, as (Azarenka in Oz excluded) it's now a super rare occasion for an eventual slam champ to also win a tour title the week leading into a major. Just ask a certain Dane (who won Brussels in '11, by the way). And, considering their friendship, Aga surely could.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Lucie Safarova/CZE
...taking a rare turn "off WTA book" in the $100K Prague challenger back in the Czech Republic, nearly-Top 20er Safarova (since I did it with JD, I'll mention that Safarova was born in Brno, just like Jana Novotna) claimed the singles title with wins over Alize Cornet, Ayumi Morita, Karolina Pliskova and countrywoman Klara Zakopalova in the final. Safarova has lost six straight tour singles finals over the last four seasons, including this year in Charleston, so this is her first singles title (WTA or ITF) since she won the tiny, now-defunct pre-U.S. Open Forest Hills event (which was actually only a $74,800 tournament) in 2008.
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JUNIOR STAR: Ana Konjuh/CRO
...the 14-year old Croat won her first career Grade 1 Girls event at the Santa Croce Sull'arno in Italy. The #102 junior reached the final without dropping a set, getting wins over #2-seed Montserrat Gonzalez and #6 Ilka Csoregi. In the decider, Konjuh faced off with #3-ranked junior Ashleigh Barty, the '11 Wimbledon Girls champ who was playing her first junior-level event of the season prior to heading to Paris, where she's received a wild card into the women's main draw. Barty, 16, won the 1st set, then retired after falling behind 5-2 in the 2nd, handing the title to Konjuh.
=============================

1. Rome Final - Sharapova d. Li
...4-6/6-4/7-6. Really, even with the sometimes-iffy play and conditions, we could do far worse (and often have, especially if a non-slam winning Hordette was involved) if we got a version of this one in Paris in a few weeks, preferably one round later than when the two met at RG a year ago. Grit, craziness and drama can make for a memorable big match, after all.
=============================
2. Rome 2nd Rd - Cetkovska d. A.Radwanska
...6-4/4-6/6-1. Make it 36-1 against everyone but Vika in 2012. Then again, Cetkovska is a sort of "mini-Azarenka" when it comes to A-Rad. Her career mark against her is 4-0.
=============================
3. Rome 2nd Rd - S.Williams d. Petrova 4-6/6-2/6-3
Rome SF - Li walkover S.Williams
...hmmm, was the three-setter against Nadia a sign that something was/will be bothering Serena? Her withdrawal in the semis with a lower back injury at least put a finger on an issue. Williams will still head to Paris having won her last seventeen clay court matches, but she was on a similar hard court run heading into the U.S. Open last summer and it didn't translate to a title. Something always seems to eventually bedevil Serena in Paris. But she's only won there once (ten years ago), and reached at least the semis one other time (2003). Here's to thinking that this relatively minor-seeming blip probably foreshadows something once again, as the prospect of not wanting to jeopardize her double dose of action at the All-England Club might play on her mind.
=============================
4. Rome 2nd Rd - Medina-Garrigues d. Wozniacki
...6-4/4-0 ret. This time it was a respiratory illness that preceded Wozniacki's latest defeat, and slipping yet another spot in the rankings to #9.
=============================
5. Rome 3rd Rd - Cibulkova walkover Azarenka
...15 the easy way. Or, at least this would have been the Slovak's 15th win of the season if the WTA actually counted walkovers as "wins." Either way, Azarenka's exit with a "shoulder injury" robbed us of a rematch of that "26 the Hard Way" win by Vika over Cibulkova from earlier this season. As things stand, Azarenka will still be the eighth consecutive different woman to be seeded #1 at Roland Garros (go ahead, see if you can remember all eight), and tenth in the last twelve years. (The answer is in the Lists section.)
=============================
6. Rome QF - Kerber d. Kvitova
...7-6/1-6/6-1. Despite an abdominal injury, Kvitova played on and lost. She didn't crack wise about being only 20% of herself afterward, but there DOES come a time when a player has to make the selfish decision between being "sporting" to an opponent and taking "unnecessary risk" a week before a slam (and barely a month before a slam title defense attempt). If Kvitova's injury lingers in Paris and beyond, she'll have done HERSELF a disservice.
=============================
7. $25K Caserta ITA Final - Bianca Botto/PER d. Alexandra Krunic/SRB
...6-1/6-0. Even though Serbian Girl Wonder Krunic got spanked pretty thoroughly by qualifier Botto, this is still the best singles result by any member of the Serb FC team since the upset of the Russians in Moscow.
=============================
8. $25K Casablanca MAR Final - Parra-Santonja/ESP d. Savchuk/UKR
...6-4/6-1. Parra-Santonja defeated both Olga Savchuk and Renata Voracova en route to the singles title. But Savchuk & Voracova pooled their resources and joined Parra-Santonja in the winner's circle, taking the doubles crown. No word about whether the duo mugged the Spaniard after the trophy ceremony and stole her winner's check, though.
=============================
9. $50K Saint-Gaudens FRA SF - Duque-Marino/COL d. Rezai/FRA
...6-1/7-6. The events get smaller, but Rezai's results don't get any less disappointing.
=============================
10. Strasbourg 1st - Parmentier d. #1 Lisicki
...6-4/6-4. Lisicki has been the Invisible German in 2012.
=============================
HM- Brussels Q3 - Mirza d. Tsurenko
...6-0/6-0. Please, Sania. Don't hurt her!
=============================

1. $25K Fergana QF - Nadiya Kichenok/UKR d. Lyudmyla Kichenok/UKR
...3-3 ret. The twins didn't whine, Radwanska-style, about having to play each other. Of course, they didn't finish the match, either.
=============================
2. $25K Fergana Doubles F - Kichenok/Kichenok (UKR/UKR) d. Khabibulina/Vasylyeva (UZB/UKR)
...6-4/6-1. The Kichenoks then set things right and won their 6th career title as a duo. In the end, it alleviated the burn that Nadiya felt after losing in the singles final, too.
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3. $100K Prague Doubles 1st Rd - Cornet/Razzano (FRA/FRA) d. Pliskova/Pliskova (CZE/CZE)
...6-2/4-6/10-8. The path to the doubles crown went through the Pliskovas, as the all-Pastry entry went on to win the title.
=============================
HM- $100K Prague 1st Rd - U.Radwanska/POL d. Kr.Pliskova/CZE
...6-3/6-3. The same couldn't be said for the singles, though, as U-Rad DIDN'T go on to take the title.
=============================

**LONGEST ACTIVE TOP 20 STREAKS**
259 weeks...Marion Bartoli, FRA
223 weeks...Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
211 weeks...Victoria Azarenka, BLR
196 weeks...Caroline Wozniacki, DEN

**2012 WTA FINALS**
6...Victoria Azarenka (4-2)
5...MARIA SHARAPOVA (2-3)
3...Sara Errani (3-0)

**2012 WTA SF**
6...Victoria Azarenka (6-0)
6...Agnieszka Radwanska (2-4)
6...ANGELIQUE KERBER (2-4)
5...MARIA SHARAPOVA (5-0)
4...Sara Errani (3-1)

**GERMANS IN WTA TOP 10**
[by year first reached]
1981...Sylvia Hanika
1981...Bettina Bunge
1984...Claudia Kohde-Kilsch
1985...Steffi Graf
1992...Anke Huber
2011...Andrea Petkovic
2012...Angelique Kerber

**CAREER WTA TITLES - ACTIVE**
43...Venus Williams, USA
41...Serena Williams, USA
41...Kim Clijsters, BEL
26...MARIA SHARAPOVA, RUS
18...Caroline Wozniacki, DEN

**CONSECUTIVE SEASONS w/ 2+ WTA TITLES - ACTIVE**
6...Serena Williams, 2007-12
4...Victoria Azarenka, 2009-12
3...MARIA SHARAPOVA, 2010-12
2...Agnieszka Radwanska, 2011-12
--
NOTE: Caroline Wozniacki has won 2+ four straight seasons (2008-11), but has won no titles in '12

**MOST TIER I/$2m+ PREMIER TITLES**
[all-time]
31...Martina Navratilova
30...Steffi Graf
17...Martina Hingis
12...Serena Williams *
11...Chris Evert
11...Lindsay Davenport
11...Gabriela Sabatini
10...Justine Henin
10...MARIA SHARAPOVA *
[active]
12...Serena Williams, USA
10...MARIA SHARAPOVA, RUS
8...Venus Williams, USA
7...Kim Clijsters, BEL
6...Jelena Jankovic, SRB

**2012 ITF TITLES - NORTH AMERICANS**
3...Grace Min, USA
2...Eugenie Bouchard, CAN (Wk.20 winner)
2...Jennifer Elie, USA
2...Heidi El Tabakh, CAN
2...Nicole Melichar, USA
2...Ana Sofia Sanchez, MEX (Wk.20 winner)

**ROLAND GARROS #1 SEEDS SINCE 2001**
2001 Martina Hingis, SUI
2002 Jennifer Capriati, USA
2003 Serena Williams, USA
2004 Justine Henin-Hardenne, BEL
2005 Lindsay Davenport, USA
2006 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
2007 Justine Henin, BEL
2008 Maria Sharapova, RUS
2009 Dinara Safina, RUS
2010 Serena Williams, USA
2011 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
2012 Victoria Azarenka, BLR

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (Premier $637K/red clay outdoor)
11 Final: Wozniacki d. Peng
11 Doubles Champions: Hlavackova/Voskoboeva
12 Top Seeds: A.Radwanska/Bartoli
=============================
=SF=
#8 Kanepi d. #1 A.Radwanska
#2 Bartoli d. #4 Cibulkova
=FINAL=
#8 Kanepi d. #2 Bartoli

...I'm banking on A-Rad "somehow" finding a way to not have to play this entire tournament. Thing is, her not-scary draw might make it difficult. She might get an "out" in the semis, though, so I'll pick her to bow out and get herself to France at that point. Maybe Bartoil can get some momentum heading into Roland Garros?

STRASBOURG, FRANCE (Int'l $220K/red clay outdoor)
11 Final: Petkovic d. Bartoli
11 Doubles Champions: Amanmuradova/Chuang
12 Top Seeds: Lisicki/Schiavone
=============================
=SF=
#5 Barthel d. #4 Medina-Garrigues
#6 Erakovic d. #2 Schiavone
=FINAL=
#5 Barthel d. #6 Erakovic

...Schiavone desperately needs to get something going heading into her year-after-the-year-after trip to Paris. Lisicki has already been dumped out, but I'll go with Barthel to keep the title in the German "family" following Petkovic's '11 win.

ALSO: ROLAND GARROS QUALIFYING

Meanwhile, Carl (are those some of his relatives in the '12 RG poster art?) is protesting this week and has decided not to provide us with his picks for Week 21. I suspect he's pouting because I told him I wasn't going to have him do a "Bare Bones Backspin" this weekend because of the messed-up -- my words -- early start on Sunday for Roland Garros. So, while the Week 21 recap this weekend will be "bare," it won't be "boned"... or something like that.

Anyway, I suspect Carl is just revving up to try to smite me with this Roland Garros picks (which will come in the RG Preview, before the rollout of RG's Daily Backspin after Sunday's Day 1 action), as he did email me a gloating message about how both Carla's and my Rome picks exited the draw with "injuries," while HIS pick came from a 6-4/4-0 hole and match point down to win the title. I figure he thinks he had something to do with all that. Of course, who knows what's going on behind the scenes after matches and during rain delays. Maybe Carl DOES wield a little more influence than we'd like to imagine.

After all, the ability to squish is a powerful thing.

All for now.

BACKSPIN TIME CAPSULE: 2004 Roland Garros

2012-05-17T14:54:00.005-04:00

(sixteenth in a series)

To the naked eye, Anastasia Myskina never looked like a player who'd make history.

She was skinny and gangly, giving her a somewhat awkward appearance. Her emotions often got the best of her on court, usually leading to angry, screaming outbursts (usually directed at her coach in the stands). She was streaky to the nth degree. She sometimes overscheduled, and often her results showed it. In the age of "Big Babe Tennis," Myskina's game wasn't a powerful one, and she had no overwhelming weapon. She was almost like a Frankenstein's creature stitched together with the various neuroses of all sorts of other players deemed underachievers or to be too-loftily ranked through the years. But the Russian, never scary and imposing, was clever and quick (both on and off court). She had a good, reliable backhand. And she knew how to seize a moment, too. She may not have looked like the prototype for a "champion," but in her heart, she was. Myskina had the ability to get on a roll in any given event, elevating her game to a level where she could beat almost anyone put in front of her, even if she had to first save match point to do it.

In the early 2000's, after Anna Kournikova had made the first inroads in the late 1990's, the Russians were just beginning to (over)populate the WTA tour. But, by 2004, the questions about how long the Hordettes were going to be defined by their "quantity" rather than "quality" were beginning to resonate. In 2003, two Russians -- Myskina and Elena Dementieva -- had finished in the Top 10 for the first time ever. But no Russian woman had yet won a slam title, and none from the current generation had even managed to reach a major final.

But in one two-week stretch at Roland Garros in the spring of '04, all those thoughts became mere footnotes to the actual making of tennis history. By the time Myskina had left Paris that June, the stage had been set for Russia's epic tennis revolution. Nothing would ever be the same.

June 7, 2004 - "Anastasia the Great"

Just call her Czarina... Czarina Myskina.

After seemingly being forever fated to be "near" great, Anastasia Myskina seized upon the stumbles of nearly every other top player in women's tennis and walked away from Roland Garros with a cup (coupe?) full of newfound respect. Of course, as it became increasingly clear that the Russian Horde had descended upon Paris in full force, how could Miss Opportunity have been anything other than a Muscovite? Fittingly, though, in perhaps the purest display of the true depth of the Horde's talent pool, the final two members standing weren't named Anna or Maria (and neither had ever set up camp in Bradenton, Florida, either).

For the past two seasons, tennis brainstormers had wondered if any, besides maybe the Supernova (or possibly the immensely talented, but brain-locking and injury-prone, Nadia Petrova), had the tennis goods to win a grand slam singles crown. After all, all had had their individual flaws somewhat exposed over time. In the case of Myskina and counterpart Elena Dementieva, it was any combination of an inability to control nerves and/or emotions, inconsistency, a deficiency of power or (in Dementieva's special case) an horrendous serve with a knack for bringing even a diehard fan to tears. But at Roland Garros '04, none of it mattered. Well, not until the very end, anyway.

In Paris, the carcasses of talented players fell in both Russians' paths for two full weeks. Whether it be the result of the falls of the excuse-making Venus Williams & Jennifer Capriati, cramping Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi, brittle-minded Amelie Mauresmo or aching-bodied Lindsay Davenport, the path to the first all-Russian slam final opened like a gaping hole between the center and guard that the running back burst through for a TD (if desired, insert your own soccer -- err, I mean "football" -- reference here). The semifinals consisted of seeds numbered 6, 7, 9 & 14. Be careful, don't hurt yourself trying to remember the last time anything similar occurred on the women's side of a slam (even at Wimbledon in '99, when Alexandra Stevenson and Mirjana Lucic made the final four, the likes of Davenport and Graf held true to form). Needless to say, both Myskina and Dementieva were fortunate. But that doesn't take anything away from the accomplishment of a pair of 22-year olds who grew up playing each other at the Spartak Club in Moscow -- sometimes for a pizza prize -- meeting head-on in another of the seemingly endless all-SOMETHING (Belgian, Williams, American, etc.) finals in recent WTA slam history.

Myskina has surely earned her full "Great" title. Of course, if the foundation of that notion was solely based on what happened in Paris it might not be enough to convince everyone. With the likes of Venus & Capriati (and, in the final, Dementieva, who went quietly via a 6-1/6-2 score) falling over themselves to commit enough unforced errors to present victories on a silver-plated platter, Myskina didn't often have to extend herself over the fortnight. It's easier to look at her recent past to prove that her Roland Garros title wasn't a fluke. From 2002-04, she hasn't just been the most undervalued Russian, but also the most overlooked talent in all of women's tennis. The top-ranked of the Horde since after the 2002 US Open, Myskina's quietly won eight career titles (4 in 2003, 2 this year), a Tier I in Moscow (the first Russian to do so) and knocked off both #1 Justine Henin-Hardenne and #2 Kim Clijsters in winning a title in Leipzig last season (the first woman to defeat both the top two players in the world in the same European tour event since 1979).

Still, since she was just 1-4 at Roland Garros before her 7-match run this year, a title was unforeseen. Myskina deserves major credit for her ability to "play smart." She didn't have too many bad patches (she squeaked past Alicia Molik in the 1st, and was match point down vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova in the 4th), and was able to prevent her emotions from boiling over. The tactic enabled her opponents to do just enough to lose. If there's an art to that style of play, the Czarina of Russian tennis just perfected it.

Of course, Backspin wishes she'd had to dig out a great performance in the final to put all questionable glances to rest. It was almost a disappointment that the rest of the world didn't get to see any of her brand of entertaining histrionics when things start to go slightly bad. But she remained subdued for a greater goal... so all is forgiven.

But what of Dementieva, "Punch-Drunk" the former? Well, she'd had a mediocre-at-best season prior to Paris (she was 2-4 in the EuroClay season going into RG), and was having a hard time finding the form to match her three-title 2003 success even with the addition of Russia's previously most successful player, Olga Morozova, as her coach. Punch-Sober wasn't exactly clear-headed the past two weeks, but she managed to overcome herself (her 10 double faults in the final equaled her tournament match average) most of the time. Punch-Drunk wouldn't have been able to do that. Of that, everyone can be certain.

There are still more Hordettes elbowing for attention (Miss Kirilenko, you have a phone call from a Miss Sharapova -- she wants her bevy of photographers back), but Myskina's breakthrough victory means the Russians are no longer stuck with talking about their "potential" and answering questions about "quantity over quality." The second Russian slam title will surely be tougher (vs. a fully loaded field) than Myskina's, but Paris will force an ongoing evaluation to rule whether this is the start of something big and not just one of the more surprising endings to a slam in recent memory. The new shiny hardware in the Czarina's trophy case means if there IS to be a "Russian Era" it has now officially begun, but... nous verrons ce que nous verrons (we shall see we shall see).

Oh, and one more thing...

Come now, you know we couldn't experience a Czarina championship without a brief trip into "The Mind of Myskina." Leave it to Anastasia to never exit the stage without gracing us with something to make Backspin smile. Her pre-match meal? Hamburgers! And what did she say to coach Jens Gerlach immediately after she experienced the biggest moment of her career? "Sorry for everything."

As usual with Myskina, she ultimately made the trip worth the price of admission. I'd been hoping something historic would occur in Paris to help commemorate this, the 100th edition of Backspin. Thanks to Anastasia's Whopper (Le Whopper?)... it was at least a memorable two weeks in the city of lights

Myskina's Roland Garros win opened the floodgates for the Hordettes' success. In 2004, the rise of the Russians epitomized the notion that athletes from one sports generation -- often from the same nation -- tend to push each other to greater success by achieving it themselves. It happened with the American men -- Chang, then Sampras, Courier and Agassi -- in the early 1990's, and the same can be said of the Russian women in the 2000's.

One breakthrough followed another. Myskina won Roland Garros, then Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon a month later. By the end of the summer, a second all-Russian slam final produced a third Hordette slam winner in Svetlana Kuznetsova (def. Dementieva) at the U.S. Open. Sharapova then won the WTA Championships and, to end the season, Team Russia won its first Fed Cup crown. Four Russians finished the year ranked in the Top 6, and the nation has been a consistent force in the sport ever since. The nation was crowned Fed Cup champion four times in five years between 2004-08. Two players from the generation (Sharapova and Dinara Safina) eventually rose to #1 in the world, and at least two Hordettes have finished in the year-end Top 10 every season since Myskina and Dementieva first did it in '03. Since Kournikova first broke into the group in 1998, nine different Russian women have reached the Top 10 (two others during the Soviet era, including two-time slam runner-up Olga Morozova in the 1970's, had made it that high while representing the U.S.S.R.), more than all but one (USA) nation in WTA history.

Myskina's legacy will likely be to be the "difficult" answer to the trivia question about who was the FIRST female Russian slam winner but, really, it's fitting that she was her nation's maiden women's champion. Slightly older than most of her countrywomen, she always served as something of a "mother figure" for the Russian players who'd gotten their start at the famed Spartak Club in Moscow. Before Kuznetsova later assumed a similar role on the Russian Fed Cup team, Myskina was the unquestioned "leader" of the (non-Sharapova) Hordette players. In the 2004 Fed Cup final, it was Myskina who played a part in all three of the points (2 in singles, 1 in doubles in the 3-2 score) the team won against France to claim its first FC title. She even posted the best career mark (4-0) of all her countrywomen in the tour's (so far) twenty-six all-Russian tournament singles final matchups.

"Czarina Myskina," as she became to known in Backspin, won her first WTA tour singles title after competing in just her second career main draw event in 1999. She was the first Russian woman to win the Kremlin Cup title in Moscow in '03, and is still the only to successfully defend (2004, defeating Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva and Lindsay Davenport en route) her crown. In Leipzig in 2003, she defeated both the world #1 (Kim Clijsters) and #2 (Justine-Hardenne) to win the title, becoming the first player to do so at a non-slam event in Europe in fourteen years. Myskina was the first Russian woman to reach the Top 5 and Top 3, and to reach #2 (Sept. '04), though she never got to #1. While Sharapova eventually passed her to lead all Hordettes in slam and overall titles, Myskina still ranks high in the Russian record books with her ten career titles on three different surfaces (she failed in her three final attempts to get the grasscourt title that would have completed a Career Surface Slam).

But she never could -- nor did she ever -- top her 2004 season.

Myskina finished the year at #3, with a RG and Fed Cup title in hand. But she came up just short of having her career year being even more rapturous than it nonetheless turned out anyway. After defeating the likes of Venus Williams, Jennifer Capriati and Dementieva in Paris (and becoming the first woman since Margaret Court in '62 to win in Paris after facing a match point, as she did in the 4th Round against Kuznetsova), she went to San Diego that summer and notched victories over Sharapova and Zvonareva, the latter of which after saving nine match points and winning at 17-15 3rd set tie-break, finally winning her own fifth MP. But she lost in the final to Davenport. Myskina very nearly made big news in the '04 WTA Championships, as well. In Round Robin play, she defeated Davenport and Dementieva, but lost to Serena Williams after holding a 6-4/3-0 lead, and being up a break at 3-2 in the 3rd set. She reached the semifinals, but lost a three-setter to Sharapova (after having been 3-0 against her in three previous meetings that season), who'd eventually defeat an injured Serena in the final and become THE Russian tennis headline-grabber of the year.

But that was nothing compared to what happened -- and almost happened -- at the Olympics in Athens.

It was there that Henin-Hardenne got back at Anastasia for swiping away her Roland Garros crown "while her back was turned."

You see, Henin had been the defending champ in Paris heading into the '04 event one year after being crowned a grand slam winner there for the first time. But that was the season in which the Belgian was dealing with fatigue and illness that would eventually be diagnosed as cytomegalovirus. Having won three of the past four slams, Henin attempted to defend her RG crown, only to lose in the 2nd Round, the earliest exit in Paris by a women's #1 seed in the history of the tournament. She wouldn't see action again until late in the summer in Athens where, wouldn't you know it, she met up with her RG title inheritor, Myskina, in the semifinals. The Russian won the 1st set, and led 4-2 and 5-3 in the 2nd, only to see Henin storm back to force a 3rd. Myskina led 5-1 in the final set, and twice served to reach the Gold Medal Match (giving her a shot to add another "first Russian woman to..." honor to her career resume). But Henin completed a ridiculous comeback, and then went on to win Gold.

Myskina, still crushed by her defeat, went on to lose the Bronze match to Alicia Molik and went home with no medals at all. Four years later in Beijing, Dementieva became the first Russian woman to claim Olympic tennis Gold, as Hordettes completed a sweep of the medal stand, with Safina taking Silver and Zvonareva the Bronze. Dementieva, 0-3 in slam finals during her career, claimed her Gold Medal run as the greatest moment of her career, and maintained that her medal was better than any slam trophy ever could have been. She never got to put that statement to the test, though, as she retired at the end of the 2010 season, generally acknowedged as one of the best (and quite possibly THE best) women's player to never win a slam title.

Meanwhile, the magnitude of the Belgian's accomplishment in Athens would be realized later as, after winning Gold after a nearly three-month absence, her illness limited her to just four more matches the remainder of the season. In my "Decade's Best" series, I named it as the WTA's top overall performance (and don't be surprised to see a further Capsulized reminder of that in a few months time... hint, hint). Henin would go on to win three Roland Garros titles in 2005, 2006 and 2007; while Myskina only won three more matches in Paris for the remainder of her career.

It was Myskina's lack of follow-up success to her '04 season that allows her to be listed with the "surprises" and "flukes" when it comes to past slam champs. Surely, her results in Paris for her career lend some credence to the notion. She played the tournament just eight times, with her single title far outdistancing her other results: one Round of 16, one 2nd Round and five 1st Round exits. She produced five quarterfinal results at the other three slams, but never advanced beyond that point elsewhere. She'll always be overlooked and underrated because of that. But Myskina will always have a spot in the Heart of Backspin. Even before her RG title run, back when I jokingly responded to her sometimes which-way-it-up? results by calling her "Anastasia the (Near) Great," I thought she was "a hoot" (my words in early '04... I know, I found it in the archives). Her on-court theatrics and unintentionally charming off-court comments made her, I thought, one of the most entertaining players on tour. "Entertaining," I said, "and, not to be overlooked, a pretty damn good player, too."

She also courted a bit of off-court controversy in her WTA lifetime. She sued over the publication in a Russian magazine of two topless shot taken of her during a GQ photoshoot in 2002. She lost the suit, as she had signed over the rights to the photos, though a question about whether she actually understood what she was signing remained. Also, she was often irritated by the stir created by her seemingly posing nude atop a horse, always making a point to note that she wasn't actually naked during the photoshoot (and that the shot was altered to make it appear as if she was). It all served to contribute to the unique WTA entity that was the Czarina.

But it's the winking at the wonderfully nutty moments that Myskina had a tendency to naturally provide that I'll remember most. I even had a phrase for those flights of fancy that occurred as the Russian sometimes made more "sense" with her endearing, sometimes-broken English than she probably even realized. I called it a trip into "The Mind of Myskina," and I chronicled some of her best comments whenever they happened to occur. It was an oddly entertaining exercise long before the term "Jankovician" entered the Backspin lexicon.

[And, yes, in case you were wondering, Myskina and the equally entertaining -- in so many similar ways, in fact -- Jelena Jankovic DID meet during their careers. Three times, in fact. Fittingly, all three matches went to three sets, including their first match-up in 2002 when Myskina was ranked #33 and the 17-year old Serb was at #328. They also met in the 3rd Round at Wimbledon in 2005. Naturally, the match had started with the Russian taking the 1st set at love, then grabbing a 6-0/5-3 lead and holding a match point, only to see Jankovic storm back to take a 5-1 3rd set advantage, but lose a 10-8 deciding stanza. Myskina went 9-for-33 in break point attempts, but still won in 2:43. It was a match that, at the time, I thought qualified for both "Choke" AND "Comeback" of the season honors. Apparently, the Tennis Gods just couldn't resist getting Their jollies by giving us that one... even if They knew that no one would realize the oddball significance of the pairing until years later.]

In putting together this Time Capsule, I've come to realize how much I miss Myskina. Except for a short entry in the "Decade's Best" series (she came in at #24), I haven't really written about Myskina for five years. So, I'm going to take one more "honorary M.O.M." timeout, just for old time's sake:

-- After a longer-than-it-should-have been match: "I played really well that 1st set, but then I got a little bored. I was thinking, 'When is this match going to finish?,' and the next thing I knew I was down 4-love."

-- "We can't play 365 days a year. We're human beings and can get tired or have a bad day. We can't just go on the court and be a robot."

-- On accepting sympathy from players after returning from an injury: "All of them smile to me. So it's nice. But you never know what they say behind your back.''

-- After being challenged by a lesser-ranked opponent: "I must admit, she surprised me a lot by playing such good tennis today."

-- "My coach even said that I played well. That's really new."

And, my personal favorite, Myskina's various comments during a long grand slam rain delay:

-- (After spending her time eating three doughnuts and playing card games) "I just want a sweet right now, something sweet, because the weather NOT sweet."

-- (When asked if they had doughnuts in Russia) "Yes, yes. Not anymore upstairs, because I ate all of them."

-- (About playing a card game called "Stupid," or maybe not. It was hard to tell.) "Who lost, THEY called stupid. But they cheat, for sure. I have to find out how."

-- (The next day, after still more card games) "I won 50 bucks! I'm really happy."

Of course, Myskina's didn't always charm. She often spoke her mind, especially about the Sharapova family. During the 2004 Fed Cup title run, Myskina laid down an ultimatum concerning her future participation with Team Russia. If Sharapova was on the team, Myskina said, then she wouldn't be on it with her. Myskina spoke out about Yuri Sharapov's behavior, and Sharapova's now-legendary aloofness (she was never part of the close-knit Spartak Russians, having come to America to train at a young age), and stated that she wouldn't be on the team with a player she didn't respect. She backed up her animosity on the court in '04, too, going 3-0 against Sharapova during the 17-year old's breakout season before losing that three-setter in the semis of the WTA Championships.

Ever honest, Myskina's words even foreshadowed the end of her career in 2007. After having ended her '06 early and missed much of '07 after having foot surgery, she returned to Roland Garros after having had a fine time during her period away from the tour. She admitted that she didn't really know why she came back. "I had a great life,'' Myskina said following her 6-1/6-0 1st Round loss to Meghann Shaughnessy. "I don't know why I'm here.'' She had difficulty with her movement because of the foot injury, and her usual defensive skills were absent. "You can see that I'm moving like a big cow now,'' Myskina said. "I can't push, you know, from my foot, from the left foot like I used to. I can't run.''

(Of course, in a footnote to the whole Myskina/Sharapova thing, Sharapova is famously known for once describing her own movement on red clay as resembling "a cow on ice." Did she intentionally-or-not "borrow" and "enhance" Myskina's quote for her own devices? Probably not, but Sharapova has a notoriously long memory when it comes to slights and criticism from other players... so nothing can ever be totally certain.)

In Moscow during her '07 recovery, Myskina discovered a life away from the WTA. And she liked it. "I had a soccer show on television. I have no idea about soccer, but now I'm kind of into that,'' she said. She also did some tennis commentary. "I had the great life these five months in Moscow,'' Myskina said. "So I know how it's going to be after tennis. And it's fine with me.''

As it turned out, Myskina couldn't wait. She never played another match after that Roland Garros loss. Her exit, quiet as it was, quite possibly marked the beginning of the end of the Russian tennis revolution. Once the maiden Hordette slam winner left the stage, others from her generation surpassed her, if not in ultimate (i.e. slam-winning) accomplishments, then in reputation and lingering memory. Myskina won't likely ever be a Hall of Famer, but at least two (and maybe three) of her countrywomen from the same tennis generation will be. Time has served to marginalize Myskina's historical significance. And as time has moved on, maybe so has the dominant Russian era that her slam win in Paris kicked off. But it was a great ride.

The early 2000's generational wave of Russian women was transformative. They won six slam crowns and produced twelve other major runners-up. But while Sharapova and Safina reached the top of the rankings, none ever finished as year-end #1. And while Dementieva, Safina and Zvonareva reached a total of seven finals, they went 0-7, with the latter two becoming more known for their emotional collapses in such big matches as for their ability to put themselves into the situation in the first place. Kuznetsova had maybe the most potential, talent-wise, of the entire group. But the free-spirited Sveta has sometimes seemed disinterested on court over the years, and is constantly searching for the "right" coach to get the most out of her. At this point, even if she manages to win a third slam, she'll be viewed as something of an underachiever, though her two slam wins and Fed Cup heroics will get her into the HOF. Safina's back issues mean her career may already be over, and Zvonareva is showing the signs of a player ready to soon drop from relevance. Since the multi-headed breakthrough of '04, no WTA season has been completed in which a nation other than Russia has produced more singles finalists. But from a high of 38 (with 18 titles) in '08, Hordettes filled just 14 (w/ 7 titles) in '11, the group's worst numbers since 2002. The streak of two Top 10ers in the year-end rankings might end in '12, with only Sharapova a lock and second half surges needing to come from either the enigmatic Kuznetsova, fading Zvonareva or underachieving youngster Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to secure a second spot.

Suddenly, the old "quantity over quality" argument is back in the discussion when it comes to the Hordettes. Really, only Sharapova survives (at the moment) as a legit slam contender. The group has claimed just one slam crown since Sharapova's pre-shoulder surgery Australian Open title in 2008. So far, no member of the next generation has shown similar major-winning ability. They're a talented lot, and the Russian junior stars keep coming in mini-waves, but many are even sometimes more emotionally destructive on court than even Safina or Zvonareva. Additionally, some of the better younger players -- such as Ksenia Pervak, now playing for Kazakhstan -- are deciding to represent other nations with smaller talent pools, allowing themselves more opportunities for support and/or spots on Fed Cup or Olympic rosters. Pavlyuchenkova, now 20, would seem to have the most ability of the new generation. She was once as dominant in junior play as any girl ever was, but fitness and coaching questions (a year or so ago she remarked about how reporters tell her that her game should fit a certain surface, but seemed to have no idea of how to take advantage of the notion, or even if she knew if they were onto something) have caused her to take a step back over the past year. Over the next few years, the fate of the NextGen Hordettes might rest on her shoulders.

But even if the follow-up generation becomes a mere footnote to Russian and WTA tennis history, the Hordettes will always have 2004 in Paris... and then London and New York, too.

Myskina never played after 2007, but she never officially retired, either. As she'll only turn 31 in 2012, a tennis comeback (and rumblings of such a thing do bubble up occasionally with her name attached) isn't inconceivable. But it's not likely, either. She's given birth to two boys since she left the sport, Zhenya (2008) and Georgii (2010). And she's enjoying the life of a Russian television personality, as her penchant for entertainingly speaking her mind has turned out to serve her quite well.

So, while Myskina's legacy might full well boil down to being the answer to a trivia question when things are all said and done, she was really more than that. She isn't the most famous of the Russian champions, but she WAS the first. She's not the GREATEST Hordette, either, but she was probably Backspin's favorite. And, at least around here, that will always mean something.

**RUSSIANS IN SLAM FINALS**
1974 Wimbledon - Chris Evert def. Olga Morozova
1974 US Open - Chris Evert def. Olga Morozova
2004 Roland Garros - Anastasia Myskina def. Elena Dementieva
2004 Wimbledon - Maria Sharapova def. Serena Williams
2004 US Open - Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Elena Dementieva
2006 Roland Garros - Justine Henin-Hardenne def. Svetlana Kuznetsova
2006 US Open - Maria Sharapova def. Justine Henin-Hardenne
2007 Australian Open - Serena Williams def. Maria Sharapova
2007 US Open - Justine Henin def. Svetlana Kuznetsova
2008 Australian Open - Maria Sharapova def. Ana Ivanovic
2008 Roland Garros - Ana Ivanovic def. Dinara Safina
2009 Australian - Serena Williams def. Dinara Safina
2009 Roland Garros - Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Dinara Safina
2010 Wimbledon - Serena Williams def. Vera Zvonareva
2010 US Open - Kim Clijsters def. Vera Zvonareva
2011 Wimbledon - Petra Kvitova def. Maria Sharapova
2012 Australian Open - Victoria Azarenka def. Maria Sharapova

**RUSSIA IN FED CUP FINAL**
1988 Czechoslovakia def. USSR 2-1
1990 United States def. USSR 2-1
1999 United States def. Russia 4-1
2001 Belgium def. Russia 2-1
2004 Russia def. France 3-2
2005 Russia def. France 3-2
2007 Russia def. Italy 4-0
2008 Russia def. Spain 4-0
2011 Czech Republic def. Russia 3-2

**FIRST-TIME SLAM CHAMPS AT ROLAND GARROS - OPEN ERA**
1971 Evonne Goolagong, AUS
1974 Chris Evert, USA
1976 Sue Barker, GBR
1977 Mima Jausovec, SLO
1978 Virginia Ruzici, ROU
1987 Steffi Graf, GER
1989 Arantxa Sanchez, ESP
1990 Monica Seles, YUG
1997 Iva Majoli, CRO
2003 Justine Henin, BEL
2004 Anastasia Myskina, RUS
2008 Ana Ivanovic, SRB
2010 Francesca Schiavone, ITA
2011 Li Na, CHN

**BEST RUSSIAN WOMEN'S OLYMPIC RESULTS**
[GOLD]
2008 Elena Dementieva
[SILVER]
2000 Elena Dementieva
2008 Dinara Safina
[BRONZE]
2008 Vera Zvonareva
[4th Place]
2004 Anastasia Myskina
--
ALSO: Ex-USSR "Unified Team" duo Natasha Zvereva & Leila Meskhi won 1992 Doubles Bronze

**MOST CAREER WTA TITLES - RUSSIANS**
25 Maria Sharapova (2003-12)*
16 Elena Dementieva (2003-10)
13 Svetlana Kuznetsova (2002-10)*
12 Vera Zvonareva (2003-11)*
12 Dinara Safina (2002-09)*
10 Nadia Petrova (2005-11)*
10 Anastasia Myskina (1999-05)
9 Olga Morozova (1969-75)
8 Anna Chakvetadze (2006-10)*
-
* - active

**MOST RUSSIAN-vs.-RUSSIAN FINALS**
12 - Elena Dementieva (6-6)
8 - Svetlana Kuznetsova (4-4)
7 - Dinara Safina (3-4)
5 - Maria Sharapova (3-2)
4 - Anastasia Myskina (4-0)
3 - Elena Vesnina (0-3)

All for now.

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

NEXT UP: Backspin memories of 2004 continue...

Wk.19- Ridiculatis Expectatious

2012-05-14T15:49:00.006-04:00

Sometimes, Serena Williams makes it TOO easy to fall for the idea that she can do no wrong.

No player has the innate ability to ramp up expectations to a seemingly ridiculous level quite like Williams. None. Zero.

She was at it again breezing to a big title in Madrid last week, just like she was in Charleston last month. And with Roland Garros now just around the corner, then Wimbledon after that, followed by the Olympics and the U.S. Open, it's not a far leap into the wild blue yonder to think that, even in what has been the Year of Vika, we might be on the edge of what could be Serena's next (last? first of many more? one to grow on?) great chapter in a career that has been both more AND less than it could have been because of the various incarnations that we've seen of her on the court over the years.

When you see her like she was in Melbourne back in January, your eyes lead you to believe that she'll never again be what she ONCE was. Then you see her lose to Caroline Wozniacki in Miami, and think, "Yep, time is catching up with her." But then the last six weeks happen and everything changes. Things could change just as violently the other way by this time next week, too.

Such is the Serena Enigma, fated to cause her to be viewed as both the most disappointing AND most awesome tennis player in the world during the run of her career. At 30, she's at the age when tennis players start to show their age. But she's also young enough -- and so much better than everyone else when she's at her very best -- to recapture her former glory, as well. It's been a few years since she won a slam title, and for a while her career seemed to be in jeopardy due to a series of health issues. Then she tore up the North American hard court circuit last summer, sparking new life into the notion of her "awesomeness." But then she imploded in a fit of anger again in the U.S. Open final. Disappointing. Now, we're back to "Mad Serena Beyond Thunderdome" Williams.

Oh, good grief.

"People who never care that they lose have never won so much." - Nicole Vaidisova, in 2005

Last week, I came across that great quote while doing my research for the next edition of Backspin Time Capsule (coming this week, by the way). Setting aside that it was made by a player who's become synonymous around these parts as much for giving up and quitting as she once was for finding early success in her tennis career, it's a great quote. And one we're not likely to see echoed by the likes of a certain Dane, either. But it does seem to be the sort of mindset that separates good players from great ones.

And speaking of Wozniacki, it's become quite clear that Serena cared a great deal about her "20%" loss to C-Woz in Miami back in March. She's played in two events and one Fed Cup weekend since her first-ever loss to the former #1 (who's going to have to fight to stay in the Top 10 this summer if she doesn't watch herself) and has yet to lose (on three different colors of clay, none of which is anywhere near her best surface), winning two titles while making the world's other very best players (aside from Petra Kvitova, who can't win enough matches to even get to Serena in the draw) look very ordinary by comparison.

In the Madrid final, Williams had her way with world #1 Victoria Azarenka. The American's "aura" seemed to mess with the Belarusian's head as if she was playing the roll of Agnieszka Radwanska to Serena's dominating Vika (hmmm, I guess maybe the Pole shouldn't have said anything about the noise Vika makes on the court, huh?). Azarenka pressed in the face of the power/aggression potential of Serena, resulting in now-uncharacteristic mistakes. Her poor serving never allowed her into the match, leading to the sort of on-court frustration that we haven't seen much from her in '12. Williams broke Azarenka's serve to start to match, and Vika's double-fault ended the 1st set after just twenty-seven minutes. Soon, she was down 6-1/3-0. And while Serena came back from a 6-4/4-0 deficit against Azarenka in Oz in '10, the tables were not going to be turned this time around. In the end, while Serena totaled up a 26/11 winner-to-error ratio, Azarenka's numbers were 6/19 and her serve percentage was below 50%.

In the final, unfortunately fitting, conclusion to the 6-1/6-3 match, Williams hit a match-closing ace when a bad bounce caused Azarenka to totally whiff on her return attempt. It was sort of an unintentional twisting of the knife into the back of the top-ranked player, as Williams' biggest problems on the day seemed to be the bra strap that broke right before the start of play (unusually chagrined, Serena had to go off court to fix her "wardrobe malfunction") and her inability to remember the name ("Lauren") of a woman in her players box during the post-match ceremony.

Seemingly an Avenger-in-waiting (she was once again wearing her blue, superhero-fitting outfit on the blue clay in Madrid) -- and, seriously, what are Robert Downey Jr. & Co. waiting for? -- Serena even found a way to (mostly) avoid her lingering case of Triskaidekaphobia this weekend. After winning her thirteenth career slam title at Wimbledon in '10, her health began to spin out of control starting with that unfortunate incident in the German restaurant. She ended her run in Madrid with her 13th straight win. Her victory over Azarenka was the thirteenth in her career over a #1-ranked player. She had thirteen aces in the final as she lined up for match point, too. But the bad bound gave her 14 for the day.

Sigh. Even the Tennis Gods couldn't bring Themselves to let Serena suffer the fate of another "13" hanging over her head. And if They're on her side, well, maybe everyone should hold hands, gather into a circle and sing "Kumbaya" for the rest of the women's field for the next few months. By the end of that time, there might be no reason for Serena to fear her then-up to date numbers of consequence... like, say, 14, 15 or even maybe 16.

Oh, there I go again. Sorry about that. The ridiculousness of expectation when it comes to Serena just comes WAY too naturally.

*WEEK 19 CHAMPIONS*

MADRID, SPAIN (Premier $3.77m/BCO)
S: Serena Williams/USA def. Victoria Azarenka/BLR 6-1/6-3
D: Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) d. Makarova/Vesnina (RUS/RUS)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Serena Williams/USA
...since losing to Wozniacki in Miami, after which she said, in oh-so-very-Serena fashion, that she was only about "20%" of herself, Williams has yet to lose. In those thirteen green, red and blue clay court matches, she's claimed 25 of 26 sets (the only set she lost was, oddly enough, also to Wozniacki in Madrid) and crushed Top 5 players Stosur, Sharapova and Azarenka, the latter two names -- the #2 and #1 players in the world -- coming last week in Madrid's SF and Final. It's the first time since 2010 that a player has defeated both the top two players in the world at an event, but it's the seventh time Serena has done it in her career. No female player has ever accomplished the feat more often. In fact, it's really not even close. Second on this list is Venus with four #1/#2 combos. In Rome, Serena could have yet another shot to double up her lead on that particular all-time list. But just sticking to what her win in Madrid has added to her career resume, it should be noted that this was her 41st career title, tying her with Kim Clijsters for second among active players (Venus has 43). After only having three clay titles in her career before '12, she's now won two this season. The pair of titles gives her six straight seasons with two or more singles crowns, the longest current streak on tour. She's the first-ever BLUE clay court champion, too. And if the likes of Mr. Nadal and Mr. Djokovic (and I use those gentlemanly titles loosely, considering their spoiled brat comments about the Madrid surface last week), there may NEVER be any other than herself and Madrid men's champ Roger Federer. Since she was the winner of the season's only green clay event in Charleston last month, Serena also now has a chance to become the first player to ever win green, blue and red clay events in a single season... with shots at hard and grass court crowns still in her '12 future, too. Suddenly, Williams is at #6 in the rankings and, as long as her health holds, the sky might be the limit over the next few months.
=============================
RISERS: Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci (ITA/ITA)
...while Errani's personal 16-match clay court winning streak was ended quite rudely (6-0/6-1) by The Radwanska in the 2nd Round (though, technically, her RED-clay string is still alive), the little Italian rebounded quite well in doubles with partner Roberta Vinci. The pair had already won back-to-back events earlier this season, and with their Madrid title coming after their last, equally successful, partnering in Barcelona they've now done it again. It's the duo's ninth overall crown, and fourth this season. Three of the four wins have come on clay courts, while the team Errani and Vinci are now tied with for most season titles -- Huber/Raymond -- have won all four of their crowns on hard courts. The Italians have now reached the final in six of the eight events they've entered in '12, and both (at #8 & #9, respectively) finally climbed into the doubles Top 10 rankings today.
=============================
SURPRISE: Varvara Lepchenko/USA
...the Uzbeki-born American (she's been a citizen since '07, and lived in the U.S. since '01) continued to experience a '12 surge (Best Win: Goerges in Doha) with a QF result in Madrid. Lepchenko, 25, has yet to reach her first career tour semi, but this was her second quarterfinal result this season. A qualifier, she notched nice main draw wins over Francesca Schiavone, Shahar Peer and Anabel Medina-Garrigues. She's up to a career-best #59 in the latest singles rankings. Over the weekend, she lost in Madrid qualifying to Anna Chakvetadze.
=============================
VETERAN: Lucie Hradecka/CZE
...the hard-serving 27-year old Czech (19 aces against Stosur in the QF!!) blasted her way into the Madrid semis, not exactly an expected result from the world's #105th-ranked singles player. A qualifier, she got wins over Alla Kudryavtseva, Peng Shuai and Ekaterina Makarova, along with huge upsets of Petra Kvitova and Sam Stosur. Needless to say, it's Hradecka's best big event result, though she's never managed to advance past the 2nd Round at a slam during her career. The points grab had a dramatic impact on her ranking, as she leaped from #105 to #55 in the newest rankings.
=============================
COMEBACK: Anna Chakvetadze/RUS
...since the Russian Doll was a slam semifinalist and nearly a Top 5 player (climbing as high as #6 in '07), most of the news she's generated has come off the court. From a home invasion incident and run for political office, Chakvetadze has rarely been focused on tennis over the last five years. After opening her '12 season with a QF result in Hobart (she retired with cramps), she's struggled with a back injury, sitting out three months before coming back three tournaments ago. During that time, her ranking slipped outside the Top 400, but her weekend qualifying run in Rome (wins over Lepchenko & Tatishvili) was her third consecutive such successful attempt to get back into the WTA main draws for which she used to automatically qualify. In the most recent rankings, the 25-year old has managed to at least get back to #337.
=============================
FRESH FACE: Ekaterina Makarova/RUS
...Makarova, as she occasionally does, has made use of her talent in '12. She's posted wins over Kaia Kanepi, Vera Zvonareva and Mona Barthel in '12. Oh, and she upset someone named Serena during her QF run at the Australian Open, too. Her success was mixed last week in Madrid. She knocked off Galina Voskoboeva and Maria Kirilenko before losing in the 3rd Round, but she came back strong in doubles, teaming with Elena Vesnina to reach the doubles final. Today in Rome, she knocked off Schiavone in straight sets.
=============================
DOWN: Petra Kvitova/CZE
...one year after winning the Madrid title on red clay, Kvitova was sent packing in the 2nd Round by countrywoman Hradecka. Quite the disappointing result for a player who seemed destined to reach #1 few months ago, but now seems something of a longshot to top the rankings at any time during the 2012 season. At least the Czech didn't whine and complain as she went out the door, blaming the blue clay for her results and childishly threatening to never come back unless that nasty clay was chased off to a place where it can't hurt her. Oh, if only any top men's players not named Roger had displayed such class last week. Unfortunately, quite the opposite was the case on that side of the tennis aisle. Either way, Kvitova has to be longing for some grass under her feet. Have no fear, Petra. It's only about a month away.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Grace Min/USA
...for the second straight week, Min lifted a challenger singles crown. The 2011 U.S. Open Girls champion's third ITF title of the '12 season came in Raleigh, North Carolina. Currently ranked just outside the Top 200, the just-turned-18 year old American notched victories over Allie Kiick, Olivia Rogowska, Heidi El Tabakh and Tamaryn Hendler in the three-set final.
=============================
JUNIOR STAR: Yulia Putintseva/RUS
...Hordette Putintseva showed quite a bit of emotional immaturity in losing this year's Australian Open Girls final to Taylor Townsend. Her talent isn't in question, though. The 17-year old won her second (and biggest) challenger event of '12 in the $100K tournament in Cagnes-Sur-Mer, France. After making it through qualifying, she defeated the likes of Kristina Mladenovic, Alexandra Panova, Stephenie Dubois, Caroline Garcia and Patricia Mayr-Achleitner en route to the title.
=============================

1. Madrid Final - S.Williams d. Azarenka
...6-1/6-3. Well, Serena is now officially one week away from the very first -- and maybe last -- green, blue and red clay court three-title winning streak.
=============================
2. Madrid QF - S.Williams d. Sharapova
...6-1/6-3. Remember when Sharapova defeated Serena at both Wimbledon and the WTA Championships in 2004? Well, Serena surely does. Even since, Williams has gone 7-0 against Sharapova, and this match was the fourth time in that seven-match, eight-year streak that she's allowed the Russian four games or less.
=============================
3. Madrid 3rd Rd - S.Williams d. Wozniacki
...1-6/6-3/6-2. After what's happened in the Serena/Sharapova series since '04, what does the future have in store for Wozniacki now that Williams has that (20% of herself) loss to the Dane in Miami planted in her memory bank over the next few seasons? After a poor 1st set, Serena cruised here. The two could meet again in another 3rd Rounder in Rome. Maybe Caroline and Aga will find time in Rome to commiserate on their respective recent (un)luck of the draw?
=============================
4. Madrid 2nd Rd - Hradecka d. Kvitova
...6-4/6-3. Hmmm, did the blue court make Kvitova think she was playing on a hard cout in North America?
=============================
5. Madrid 2nd Rd - Kerber d. V.Williams
...6-4/6-1. Kerber has moved up to #11 in the rankings, and is now officially the top-ranked German woman.
=============================
6. Madrid 2nd Rd - Wozniacki d. Barthel
...6-4/7-6. A nice win for the Dane. But she's fallen to #8 in the latest rankings, just in time to get a far-more-difficult-than-she's-used-to slam draw in Paris.
=============================
7. $50K Fukuoka Final - Casey Dellacqua/AUS d. Monique Adamczak/AUS
...6-4/6-1. The Aussie gets her first challenger crown of '12, after having ended '11 by winning six consecutive ITF titles.
=============================
8. $25K Brasilia Final - Gabriela Paz/VEN d. Andrea Koch-Benvenuto/CHI
...6-3/6-3. The 20-year old Venezuelan wins her second straight ITF title.
=============================
9. Madrid 1st Rd - Suerez-Navarro d. Jankovic
...4-6/7-6/7-4. JJ continues to experience a post-FC hangover. After this loss, she's dropped to #20 in the singles rankings and her tour-best streak of 300 consecutive weeks in the Top 20 is once again in jeopardy.
=============================
10. $100K Cagnes-Sur-Mer 1st Rd - Ayumi Morita/JPN d. (WC) Aravane Rezai/FRA
...6-4/7-5. The Once-Opinionated Pastry is playing way from the spotlight, but still very little has changed.
=============================

1. Madrid SF - Azarenka d. A.Radwanska
...6-4/6-4. STILL worth repeating: A-Rad is 0-6 against Azarenka this season, but 36-0 against the rest of the WTA field. That clean non-Vika slate might be threatened this week, though, as Serena could be looming in the Rome QF.
=============================
2. $25K Raleigh Doubles Final - Panova/U.Radwanska (RUS/POL) d. Marosi/Voracova (HUN/CZE)
...7-5/4-6/10-8. Safely away from Azarenka's sphere of influence, the Radwanska family DID manage to win a title last week.
=============================
3. $100K Cagnes-Sur-Mer Q1: Irena Pavlovic/FRA d. Kristyna Pliskova/CZE 4-6/6-0/6-4
$100K Cagnes Sur-Mer Q3: Yulia Putintseva/RUS d. Karolina Pliskova/CZE 6-3/6-1
...not a good week for the Pliskova sisters.
=============================
HM- $25K Tarakan 2nd Rd - Nudnida Luangnam/THA d. Lu Jia-Xiang/CHN
$25K Tarakan Final - Nudnida Luangnam/THA vs. Lu Jia-Jing/CHN
...for some reason, this Indonesian tournament's final result is seemingly being kept under wraps in order to protect state secrets or something. But I'm going to include this in the Sister Update anyway. Either Luangnam's title run will come after sweeping through BOTH Lu sisters, or Jia-Jing will get revenge for Jia-Xiang's defeat at the hands of the Thai player before things are wrapped up in Tarakan. There, all bases covered.

UPDATE: Jia-Jing Lu/CHN def. Nudnida Luangnam/THA 6-2 0-6 6-2

=============================

**ALL-TIME WINS OVER #1-RANKED PLAYERS**
18...Martina Navratilova
15...Lindsay Davenport
13...SERENA WILLIAMS
13...Venus Williams
[S.Williams #1 wins by player]
5 - Martina Hingis
2 - Jennifer Capriati
2 - Justine Henin
1 - Victoria Azarenka
1 - Lindsay Davenport
1 - Venus Williams
1 - Caroline Wozniacki

**2012 WTA FINALS**
6...VICTORIA AZARENKA (4-2)
4...Maria Sharapova (1-3)
3...Sara Errani (3-0)
2...Kaia Kanepi (2-0)
2...Angelique Kerber (2-0)
2...Agnieszka Radwanska (2-0)
2...SERENA WILLIAMS (2-0)
2...Daniela Hantuchova (1-1)
2...Flavia Pennetta (0-2)

**2012 CONSECUTIVE TOUR TITLES**
[singles]
4 JAN-MAR - Victoria Azarenka - Sydney/Australian Open/Doha/Indian Wells
2 APR-MAY - Sara Errani - Barcelona/Budapest
2 APR-MAY - SERENA WILLIAMS - Charleston/Madrid (active)
[doubles]
4 FEB-MAR - Huber/Raymond - Paris/Doha/Dubai/Indian Wells
2 FEB-MAR - Errani/Vinci - Monterrey/Acapulco
2 APR-MAY - ERRANI/VINCI - Barcelona/Madrid (active)

**ALL-TIME TIER I/HIGH-LEVEL PREMIER TITLES**
31...Martina Navratilova
30...Steffi Graf
17...Martina Hingis
12...SERENA WILLIAMS

**2012 DOUBLES TITLES - TEAMS**
4 - Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond, USA/USA
4 - SARA ERRANI/ROBERTA VINCI, ITA/ITA
2 - Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka, CZE/CZE

**DEFEATED WORLD #1 & #2 IN SAME EVENT**
[Most Times]
7...SERENA WILLIAMS
4...Venus Williams
3...Tracy Austin
2...Kim Clijsters
2...Steffi Graf
2...Justine Henin
2...Martina Navratilova
[WTA History]
1978 Boston - #5 Evonne Goolagong (2 Navratilova/1 Evert)
1979 US Open - #3 Tracy Austin (2 Navratilova/1 Evert)
1979 Filderstadt - #3 Tracy Austin (2 Evert/1 Navratilova)
1980 Tokyo LC - #3 Martina Navratilova (1 Evert/2 Austin)
1981 Toyota Chsp - #3 Tracy Austin (1 Evert/2 Navratilova)
1981 Tokyo LC - #3 Martina Navratilova (2 Austin/1 Evert)
1985 US Open - #4 Hana Mandlikova (1 Evert/2 Navratilova)
1989 Amelia Island - #3 Gabriela Sabatini (2 Navratilova/1 Graf)
1998 Philadelphia - #17 Steffi Graf (2 Hingis/1 Davenport)
1999 Roland Garros - #6 Steffi Graf (2 Davenport/1 Hingis)
1999 US Open - #6 Serena Williams (2 Davenport/1 Hingis)
2000 Los Angeles - #6 Serena Williams (1 Hingis/2 Davenport)
2000 US Open - #3 Venus Williams (1 Hingis/2 Davenport)
2000 Wimbledon - #5 Venus Williams (1 Hingis/2 Davenport)
2000 Sydney - #9 Amelie Mauresmo (1 Hingis/2 Davenport)
2001 Australian Open - #14 Jennifer Capriati (2 Davenport/1 Hingis)
2001 San Diego - #10 Monica Seles (2 Capriati/1 Hingis) *
2002 Miami - #9 Serena Williams (2 V.Williams/1 Capriati)
2002 Roland Garros - #3 Serena Williams (2 Capriati/1 V.Williams)
2002 WTA Chsp - #6 Kim Clijsters (2 V.Williams/1 S.Williams)
2003 Roland Garros - #4 Justine Henin-Hardenne (1 S.Williams/2 Clijsters)
2003 Leipzig - #10 Anastasia Myskina (1 Clijsters/2 Henin-Hardenne)
2005 Australian Open - #7 Serena Williams (2 Mauresmo/1 Davenport)
2005 Wimbledon - #14 Venus Williams (2 Sharapova/1 Davenport)
2005 WTA Chsp - #5 Mary Pierce (2 Clijsters/1 Davenport) *
2006 US Open - #4 Maria Sharapova (1 Mauresmo/2 Henin-Hardenne)
2006 WTA Chsp - #3 Justine Henin-Hardenne (2 Sharapova/1 Mauresmo)
2007 Miami - #18 Serena Williams (2 Sharapova/1 Henin)
2008 WTA Chsp - #8 Venus Williams (2 Safina/1 Jankovic)
2009 Roland Garros - #7 Svetlana Kuznetsova (2 S.Williams/1 Safina)
2010 Sydney - #5 Elena Dementieva (2 Safina/1 S.Williams)
2010 WTA Chsp - #4 Kim Clijsters (2 Zvonareva/1 Wozniacki)
2012 Madrid - #9 Serena Williams (2 Sharapova/1 Azarenka)
--
* - didn't win event title

ROME, ITALY (Premier $2.168m/red clay outdoor)
11 Final: Sharapova d. Stosur
11 Doubles Champions: Peng/Zheng
12 Top Seeds: Azarenka/Sharapova
=============================
=SF=
#9 S.Williams d. #1 Azarenka
#2 Sharapova d. #4 Kvitova
=FINAL=
#9 S.Williams d. #2 Sharapova

...when Serena is playing the way she is right now, it's best to just go the simplest route and take her to win. She's got a chance to do herself one better in Rome than in Madrid, as the draw gives her a chance to face and defeat the #1, #2 AND #3 (A-Rad) players in the world in one tournament. It's only been done three times in WTA history -- by Steffi, Venus... and, of course, Serena.

Carl getting angrier and angrier about Todd picking first! Todd pick Serena to win last week in Madrid. Carl pick Azarenka. Serena win over Vika. Todd win. Carl no win. Carl angry! Now Carl have to hear all day Sunday from Carla that Carl not as smart as Carl think Carl is. Carl must do better. Or die trying. Or, better yet, make Todd die trying? Hmmm.

ROME
=SF=
(1)Azarenka d. (3)A.Radwanska
(2)Sharapova d. (12)Kerber
=FINAL=
(2)Sharapova d. (1)Azarenka

Carla nagging Carl about getting her own chance this week. Carl say NO. Todd say YES. Typical.

ROME
=SF=
(1)Azarenka d. (9)S.Williams
(5)Stosur d. Goerges
=FINAL=
(1)Azarenka d. (5)Stosur

...poor, Vika. No one ever picks her to win anymore. What more does the woman have to do to accord the proper respect in this segment? Well, don't worry, dahling. Carla will pick you. I'm sure you'll reward me for my loyalty.

All for now.

THIS WEEK: Backspin Time Capsule... a heady trip back into the “Mind of Myskina“

Wk.18- .now for All

2012-05-06T23:59:00.002-04:00

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

.now for All

Stupid Todd. Left Vika for Carl to pick. Carl make up for Carla errors last week and once again put Todd in place where belongs. Squished under Carl foot!!!!!!!!...

1 azarenka d. 2 sharapova
=FINAL=
2 sharapova d. 3 kvitova
1 azarenka d. 4 radwanska
=SF=
MADRID

Carl go away for one week and Carla screw things up! Carl beating Todd 2-0 past few weeks, then Carl go on important Northern trek and Carla let Todd win 1-0 last week! Why must Carl always clean up mess? Sigh. Carl work never done. But Carl still find way to do it.

Maybe the "ridiculous" (Serena's words) blue clay court will make Williams think she's on hard courts in Australia or North America. Under the right circumstances, Serena could face off with Sharapova, Kvitova AND Azarenka. If she runs the table against such competition, watch the field take a very big, nervous gulp less than a month away from Paris...

#9 S.Williams d. #1 Azarenka
=FINAL=
#9 S.Williams d. #3 Kvitova
#1 Azarenka d. #4 A.Radwanska
=SF=
=============================
Azarenka & Kirilenko :11 Doubles Champions
Azarenka/Sharapova :12 Top Seeds
Kvitova d. Azarenka :11 Final
(blue clay outdoor/$3.755m Premier) SPAIN, MADRID

2...Alexandra Panova, RUS
2...CHUANG CHIA-JUNG, TPE
2...Lucie Hradecka, CZE
2...Andrea Hlavackova, CZE
3...Roberta Vinci, ITA
3...Sara Errani, ITA
4...Lisa Raymond, USA
4...Liezel Huber, USA
**2012 DOUBLES TITLES - INDIVIDUALS**

BUDAPEST - SARA ERRANI, ITA (def. Vesnina)
Indian Wells - Victoria Azarenka, BLR (def. Sharapova)
Doha - Victoria Azarenka, BLR (def. Stosur)
**TOP SEED WON TITLE**

* - active streak
-
2...SARA ERRANI (Barcelona/Budapest) *
4...Victoria Azarenka (Sydney/Australian Open/Doha/Indian Wells)
**CONSECUTIVE 2012 WTA TITLES**

2...APR-current - SARA ERRANI
3...MAR-current - Maria Sharapova
4...JAN-MAR - Victoria Azarenka
**CONSECUTIVE 2012 WTA FINALS**

2...Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
2...Angelique Kerber, GER
2...KAIA KANEPI, EST
3...SARA ERRANI, ITA
4...Victoria Azarenka, BLR
**2012 WTA SINGLES TITLES**

=============================
Defeating two sisters WAS ultimately the key to success for eventual Budapest doubles champs Husarova and Rybarikova, though.
...6-7/6-2/10-5 Husarova/Rybarikova (SVK/SVK) d. Hsieh/Hsieh (TPE/TPE)- 1st Rd. Budapest Doubles - HM
=============================
So, even though they went 0-2 against Yang in singles, the Lu family ended up with more titles than their Chinese countrywoman in Jakarta.
...6-4/6-4 Lu/Lu (CHN/CHN) d. Fitzpatrick/Windley (GBR/GBR) - Final Doubles Jakarta $10K .3
=============================
Yang was 2-0 against the Lu sisters, but lost in the final to another Chinese woman.
...4-6/6-1/6-3 Yang Zi/CHN d. Lu Jia-Jing/CHN - QF Jakarta $10K
6-0/6-2 Yang Zi/CHN d. Lu Jia-Xiang/CHN - 1st Rd. Jakarta $10K .2
=============================
One 19-year old Floridian sibling beats her 16-year old Floridian sibling.
...6-3/6-2 Chichi Scholl/USA d. Chalena Scholl/USA - 1st Rd. Indian Harbour Beach $50K .1

=============================
Hmmm, where exactly did Alexandra go wrong? Probably precisely where Aleksandra went right.
...6-7/6-0/6-0 Wozniak d. Cadantu - 2nd Rd. Budapest .7
=============================
These two met in the Estoril final a year ago, with the same result. It ended here, though, as AMG lost her next match.
...6-4/6-1 Medina-Garrigues d. Barrois - 1st Rd. Estoril .6
=============================
Another great win from Barthel. Her next opponent? Someone from Denmark.
...6-4/6-1 Barthel d. Goerges - 1st Rd. Madrid .5
=============================
A ridiculously tough 1st Round match for a top seed, but Vika didn't break a nail.
...7-6/6-4 Azarenka d. Kuznetsova - 1st Rd. Madrid .4
=============================
"Disaster" averted.
...7-6/3-6/6-4 Wozniacki d. Pervak - 1st Rd. Madrid .3
=============================
If a WHOLE lot of things work out, Kanepi could face Kvitova (the new world #4, as A-Rad moved past her in the new rankings) in the Madrid SF. Every one of their five meetings has gone three sets, including that particularly memorable QF meeting in Wimbledon two years ago.
...3-6/7-6/6-4 Kanepi d. Suarez-Navarro - Final Estoril .2
=============================
Hordettes are now 1-6 in 2012 tour singles finals. Which is still a better mark than Vesnina's career final record.
...7-5/6-4 Errani d. Vesnina - Final Budapest .1

=============================
The 16-year old from Belarus, as the #8 seed, won the G4 Daytona Beach girls title with a win in the final over Jessica Ho, via a 3rd set tie-break, to claim her first career ITF junior crown. And, yes, this Sharapova IS related to THAT Sharapova. She's her cousin...
BLR/Daria Sharapova :JUNIOR STAR
=============================
18-year old Min, the '11 U.S. Open Girls champ, won her second ITF challenger title of the season at the $50K event in Indian Harbour Beach, Florida. Along the way, she knocked off top-seeded Irina Falconi, Shelby Rogers, Allie Kiick and Krista Hardebeck before defeating 22-year old, former USC player, Maria Sanchez (USA) in the final. Wild card Sanchez, who'd defeated the likes of Sharon Fichman, Coco Vadeweghe, Heidi El Tabakh and Lauren Davis during the tournament, had managed to get herself within a final victory over Min from clinching a main draw wild card at Roland Garros, but failed to close things out in the 6-4/7-6 loss...
USA/Grace Min :ITF PLAYER
=============================
How does a player who reaches a tour singles final -- and who's not also named Caroline -- manage to win the Down award, you ask? Well, it's not that difficult when you're Elena Vesnina. The Russian's loss in the Budapest final makes her 0-6 in career WTA singles finals. She's not negatively partial to any one surface, either. She's 0-4 on hard court, 0-1 on green clay and 0-1 on red clay. In those six finals, she's dropped twelve of thirteen sets. But, wait. I'm not finished. Vesnina has been remarkably consistent when it's come to reaching finals, as she's one of only ten women who've managed to reach at least one final in each of the last four seasons. But, of those ten women, only she and Lucie Safarova (0-5) have failed to win at least one of those finals, and ONLY Vesnina from the group has NEVER been able to win a tour singles title in her career. Anway, THAT'S how you reach a tour final and still end up a Down award winner. But if you're looking for a more traditional winner/loser for this spot, let's go with Vera Zvonareva, a 1st Round loser in Madrid to Petra Cetkovska. She's now 7-7 for the season. I'll toss in Francesca Schiavone, too. She dropped her Madrid opener to Varvara Lepchenko to see her '12 mark fall to 8-13. She's going to have to do some major work over the next few weeks for a third straight trip to the RG final to even be worthy of wild consideration...
RUS/Elena Vesnina, RUS/Vera Zvonareva & ITA/Francesca Schiavone :DOWN
=============================
Watson made last week's Monday Backspin "Matches of the Week" section thanks to her qualifying wins over Caroline Garcia and Sloane Stephens. She only notched an additional main draw win in Estoril over Lucie Hradecka, but, in the absence of a deep run by another young up-and-comer, her week's work is enough for official award consideration this time around. Meanwhile, on the ITF circuit, 16-year old Kazakh Anna Danilina, the world's #4-ranked junior and Banana Bowl Girls champion a few weeks ago, claimed her first pro title at the $10K challenger in Wiesbaden, Germany. She claimed the victory in the final with a 7-6/7-6 win over Laura Siegemund...
GBR/Heather Watson & KAZ/Anna Danilina :FRESH FACES
=============================
Back in 2008, Karin Knapp was a Top 40 player. Times have been lean over the last four years for the now-24 year old, though. But she made it through qualifying in Estoril, then pulled off wins over Eleni Daniilidou, Maria Kirilenko and Galina Voskoboeva to reach her first tour SF since that same '08 season...
ITA/Karin Knapp :COMEBACK
=============================
Husarova, 37, has been winning titles on the WTA tour since way back in 1996, but her Budapest doubles win was her first since 2008 (also in Budapest). Career title #25 came with Magdalena Rybarikova (it's HER first tour doubles title!), the Slovak vet's sixteenth different partner in a winning effort. Thus, the young Slovak joins the pack of Husarova's successful partners, a virtual "Who's Who" list of champions that includes Paola Suarez, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Elena Dementieva, Kim Clijsters and Conchita Martinez. It's her eighth victory in her last nine tour doubles finals. Normally, a 37-year old would be the senior honoree in a week's award, but not with Date-Krumm around. The 41-year old added to her long list of accomplishments with her second ITF singles title of the season. Her title run in the $50K Gifu, Japan challenger was highlighted by wins over a pair of 20-year olds, Kurumi Nara and Noppawan Lertcheewakarn in the final. Naturally, it MUST be pointed out that KDK is older than the COMBINED age of both those opponents...
SVK/Janette Husarova & JPN/Kimiko Date-Krumm :VETERANS
=============================
SSE is a Spanish woman on the move. A few weeks ago, she got a big upset win over Daniela Hantuchova in Spain's eventual losing Fed Cup effort against the Slovaks. Last week in Estoril, she notched wins over Sorana Cirstea and defending champ Anabel Medina-Garrigues en route to the QF. Over the weekend in Madrid, she opened up her next tournament with a win over Tamira Paszek. The 24-year old broke into the Top 60 for the first time in her career in the new rankings...
ESP/Silvia Soler-Espinosa :SURPRISE
=============================

After her Week 1 win in Brisbane, Kanepi's season seemed to get lost somewhere along the way. She's found it, though. Career title #3 came this weekend in Estoril, as she raced through a series of opponents that included Sloane Stephens, Vania King, Petra Cetkovska, Roberta Vinci & Carla Suarez-Navarro. Meanwhile, CSN is still looking for HER first career tour singles titles. She continues to give herself opportunities, though, especially on red clay. Her Estoril wins over Olga Govortsova, Polona Hercog, Silvia Soler-Espinosa and Karin Knapp helped her reach the final, the third such result of her career. Though she's 0-3 in those matches, each of them has gone the full three sets...
EST/Kaia Kanepi & ESP/Carla Suarez-Navarro :RISERS
=============================
So far in 2012, there are no players not nicknamed Vika who've won more tour singles titles than Errani's three. All have come on red clay, as the Italian's win in the Budapest final over Elena Vesnina was her fifteenth consecutive victory on the surface. Her fifth career title -- with additional wins over Mandy Minella, Melinda Czink, Alberta Brianti and Anna Tatishvili -- moved her to a new career-high of #24 in the latest singles rankings...
ITA/Sara Errani :PLAYER OF THE WEEK

(CHN/CHN) Chuang/Zhang d. (KAZ/KAZ) Shvedova/Voskoboeva :D
3-6/7-6/6-4 EST/Kaia Kanepi def. ESP/Carla Suarez-Navarro :S
(red clay outdoors/$220K Int'l) PORTUGAL, ESTORIL
(SVK/SVK) Husarova/Rybarikova d. (CZE/NED) Birnernova/Krajicek :D
7-5/6-4 ITA/Sara Errani def. RUS/Elena Vesnina :S
(red clay outdoors/$220K Int'l) HUNGARY, BUDAPEST
*CHAMPIONS 18 WEEK*

We shall see. But I suspect you're right. He's such a caveman.:ANSWER

Hmm, I guess you're right. I should apologize to Carla. Although, Carl was likely going to use his segment this week to blame her anyway. :QUESTION

Oh, I wasn't going to bring that up. Especially since it'd just give Carl the chance to knock Carla's 0-for-2 week. She hasn't been able to do as well as Carl in the picks segment, but I know that it's not as easy as it looks. Carl will probably simply blame her for "ruining" his record. He should remember that he's lucky to have her. If the day ever comes, he'll be marrying WAY up. :ANSWER

Speaking of opportunity, here's your chance to nudge Carl a little about getting your Errani-in-Budapest pick right last week while he was away doing whatever it is that he does when he's away. :QUESTION

Oh, clean up your dirty mind. I mean she's not going to be wearing her now-customary shorts in Paris. Nike has her wearing a dress instead. It probably means nothing, but you'd think the world #1 would be able to wield a little of her new power to get her sponsor to come up with some sort of unique outfit that would allow her to wear shorts, since they've sort of become her "good luck charm" and personal trademark in 2012. You know, maybe something like that Bjorn Borg-styled shirt-and-shorts look that a few female players donned a couple of years ago. It just seems like a wasted opportunity. :ANSWER

What!?!?! :QUESTION

Well, I wonder whether it's a good thing for Victoria Azarenka to be going shorts-less in Paris in a few weeks? :ANSWER

That it would. Speaking of Paris, any wild notions about the upcoming second slam of 2012? :QUESTION

Oh, and I should note that there is precisely ONE green clay event on tour, and now precisely ONE blue clay event on tour, as well. As a result, if Charleston champion Serena Williams can also win in Madrid, she'll have a shot by the time Roland Garros rolls around in a few weeks to become the very first player EVER to win green, blue AND red clay events in a single season. It'd be an interesting feat to add to her career resume. :ANSWER

Yeah, that was pretty good. :QUESTION:

Umm, I like that Milos Raonic called it "the smurf court." :ANSWER

So, you don't have anything to say about the blue court? :QUESTION

Good question, nameless Backspin aficionado most definitely not also named Todd. I always do the "Backwards" edition (in its eighth big, brain-frying, annual appearance) somewhere around this time of the season. It actually says a great deal about the overall quality of play this year that it was never even under consideration until Week 18. With Roland Garros a month away, though, the usual early spring WTA "lull" has fully taken shape the last few weeks. Some things just cannot be avoided. Sort of like the recent phenomenon that seems to occur around HQ whenever some sports network sees fit to show video of Miss Wozniacki and Mr. McIlroy. The eye-rolling all over the office can actually be heard THROUGH THE WALLS, as the interoffice message system heats up with snide comments about how the Dane probably told Rory on Monday night that his losing in that tournament playoff on Sunday wasn't a "disaster" since he still managed to return to the #1 golf ranking even with his loss. After all, Caro knows all about being ranked #1 after failing to win a title. Not that I participated in such nonsense. I'm just saying that I know it's going on, and I can't do anything to stop it. Only you-know-who has that sort of "disaster-averting" power. :ANSWER

So, Todd, why are you once again using this gimmicky "Backwards Backspin" trick? Isn't it getting old? As usual when you do this, it seems as if you're not giving this week's tour singles champions -- especially three-time '12 champ Sara Errani -- the proper attention compared to the "Players of the Week" the rest of the season. Didn't the results in Budapest and Estoril qualify for attention, or would you, like everyone else, rather just talk about that blue clay court in Madrid? :QUESTION

2012, 6 May, Sunday

Wk.17- April No-One's-Fools

2012-04-30T14:53:00.009-04:00

There were no WTA fools in April, but some were less foolish than others.

"She was amazing." - Lucie Safarova, after losing to Serena Williams in Charleston

*April Awards - Wk.14-17*
**PLAYERS-OF-THE-MONTH**
1. Serena Williams, USA
...no one looked better this past month than Serena did in Charleston. Whether that will mean anything come Paris and/or London, though, is anyone's guess.
=============================
2. Jelena Jankovic, SRB & Serbian Fed Cup Team
...JJ, after briefly dropping to #20, rebounded well and has now held onto her Top 20 ranking for a tour-best 298 consecutive weeks. Oh, and she played the lead role in the upset of Russia in Moscow that sent the Serbs to their first-ever Fed Cup final, too.
=============================
3. Maria Sharapova, RUS
...exorcising quite a few of her recent demons, Sharapova busted through a talent-heavy Stuttgart field to MAYBE place her name atop the list of favorites for at least one of the season's three remaining slams (+ Olympic competition at SW19).
=============================
4. Sara Errani, ITA
...in Barcelona, Errani swept the singles and doubles crowns at an event for the second time in 2012.
=============================
5. Angelique Kerber, GER
...in winning her second title of the year in Copenhagen, she dealt a blow to two-time hometown defending champ Wozniacki. Then turned around and crushed her with even less mercy with her own home country advantage in Stuttgart.
=============================
HM- Petra Kvitova, CZE
...the definitive Czech team leader, but with something of a "Sharapova problem."
=============================

**RISERS**
1. Angelique Kerber, GER
2. Sara Errani, ITA
3. Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA
4. Samantha Stosur, AUS
5. Dominika Cibulkova, SVK
HM- Lucie Safarova, CZE & Ayumi Morita, JPN

**FRESH FACES**
1. Simona Halep, ROU
2. Christina McHale, USA
3. Polona Hercog, SLO
4. Garbine Muguruza-Blanco, ESP
5. Ons Jabeur, TUN
HM- Donna Vekic, CRO

**JUNIORS**
1. Taylor Townsend, USA
2. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, SVK
3. Allie Kiick, USA
4. Yulia Putintseva, RUS
5. Sabina Sharipova, UZB
HM- Chalena Scholl, USA & Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA

**SURPRISES**
1. Kiki Bertens, NED
2. Stefanie Voegele, SUI
3. Laura Pous-Tio, ESP
4. Camila Giorgi, ITA
5. Yuliya Beygelzimer, UKR
HM- Florencia Molinero, ARG & Paula Ormaechea, ARG

**VETERANS**
1. Serena Williams, USA
2. Jelena Jankovic, SRB
3. Maria Sharapova, RUS
4. Samantha Stosur, AUS
5. Sofia Arvidsson, SWE
HM- Venus Williams, USA & Iveta Benesova/Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova, CZE/CZE

**COMEBACKS**
1. Jelena Jankovic, SRB
2. AUS Fed Cup Team
3. Evgenia Linetskaya, ISR
4. Anna Chakvetadze, RUS
5. Alize Cornet, FRA
HM- Kaia Kanepi, EST & JPN Fed Cup Team

**DOWN**
1. Andrea Petkovic, GER
2. RUS Fed Cup Team
3. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
4. Francesca Schiavone, ITA
5. CHN Fed Cup Team
HM- Kim Clijsters, BEL & Sabine Lisicki, GER

**ITF PLAYERS**
1. Camila Giorgi, ITA
2. Sandra Zaniewska, POL
3. Heidi El Tabakh, CAN
4. Ksenia Milevskaya, BLR
5. Silvia Njiric, CRO
6. Hsieh Su-Wei, TPE
7. Jennifer Elie, USA
8. Fatma Al Nabhani, OMA
9. Maryna Zanevska, UKR
10. Olga Puchkova, RUS
HM- Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor, ESP

**TOP PERFORMANCE**
[Overall]
Serena Williams wins Charleston without dropping a set, taking 24 of 27 games in the semifinal and final. It's her first clay crown since 2008.
[In the Fed Cup Bubble]
JJ! JJ! JJ! What chaos could the Queen reign over in the Czech-hosted FC final?

*MOST IMPORTANT MATCH?*
FC SF (CZE/ITA) - Safarova d. Schiavone
...7-6(3)/6-1. With Kvitova capable of only winning two of the three necessary matches for the Czechs to return to the FC final, Sararova's role was an important one. With a career 5-10 Fed Cup record, her legendary "iffyness" could have proven costly. In Match #1, it nearly was. Serving and coming within two points of claiming the 1st set, Safarova was broken by long-time FC star Schiavone. After saving three set points, Safarova got into a 1st set tie-break, then took a quick 5-1 lead against the frustrated Italian vet. With Kvitova going her customary 2-0 on the weekend, it was Safarova's Day 1 victory that provided the "extra" push needed for the defending champs to get a chance to repeat -- on home soil -- in November.

CHOKING? (again): After breaking their four-year Fed Cup losing streak with a Zone play victory in February, thanks to the "A" team of Li, Peng and Zheng, the Chinese went with the "C"-teamers again in the World Group II Playoffs. The result was another loss (this time to Argentina), and a return to Zone play in 2013.
=============================
A COMEBACK OF SEISMIC PROPORTIONS?: One year after having to postpone a scheduled Fed Cup tie in the aftermath of the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown tri-disaster, the Japanese Fed Cup team defeated a group of Belgian girls in the World Group Playoffs to return to the World Group 1st Round for 2013. It'll be the team's first appearance there since 2007.
=============================
BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE: As a qualifier without a career main draw tour win to her credit, Dutch player Kiki Bertens wins FIVE in Fes to claim her maiden WTA title and become the first singles titlist from the Netherlands in six years.
=============================
AN UNSINKABLE DANISH DISASTER?: Trying to win her third straight title at her hometown Copenhagen event, Caroline Wozniacki loses in the final in straight sets to Angelique Kerber, taking just eight games. Says Caro, "Yes, it's a disappointment to lose. But it's not a disaster." Two weeks later, the two meet again in an early-round match in Stuttgart. Wozniacki loses once more, winning just three games this time around.
=============================

(Cue Celine Dion singing "My Heart Will Go On")

*WEEK 17 CHAMPIONS*
STUTTGART, GERMANY (Premier $740K/RCI)
S: Maria Sharapova/RUS def. Victoria Azarenka/BLR 6-1/6-4
D: Benesova/Zahlavova-Strycova (CZE/CZE) d. Goerges/Groenefeld (GER/GER)
FES, MOROCCO (Int'l $220K/RCO)
S: Kiki Bertens/NED def. Laura Pous-Tio/ESP 7-5/6-0
D: Cetkovska/Panova (CZE/RUS) d. Begu/Cadantu (ROU/ROU)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Maria Sharapova/RUS
...was that You-Know-Who on the court in Stuttgart? Well, it SORTA looked like her, though since we haven't really seen her since 2008 one can never be certain. But Sharapova's couldn't-have-handled-the-pressure better title run in Stuttgart surely LOOKED a bit "Supernovic." She took out an in-form Samantha Stosur 6-7/7-6/7-5 in the QF, backed that up with a straight sets win over Petra Kvitova to end the Czech's 27-match (unofficially 31) indoor winning streak, then never allowed world #1 Victoria Azarenka a chance to get her balance in the final in the third tournament-deciding meeting between the two women in 2012. And her serve didn't break down at any point along the route, either. In fact, it thrived in the Stuttgart indoor clay court thunderdome. Sharapova only lost her serve once against Kvitova and Azarenka, the two women who defeated her in slam finals over the last year. Sharapova currently still sits at #2 in the rankings behind Azarenka, but she's surely stirring. She's reached the final in four of her five '12 events, and just ended her string of three straight finals lost. If her serve can maintain it's current level, maybe the unfinished business of completing the Career Grand Slam in Paris that Sharapova seemed destined (according to some) to do last year CAN be accomplished six weeks from now. This title was Sharapova's 25th title, allowing her to pass Jana Novotna on the all-time WTA list, and tie Amelie Mauresmo. Next up: 27-time winners Gabriela Sabatini and Hana Mandlikova. Also, with a title in her tenth consecutive season, Sharapova is now alone in sixth on the tour's all-time consecutive title-winning seasons list, behind only some players named Martina, Chris, Steffi, Evonne and Virginia.
=============================
RISERS: Simona Halep/ROU & Iveta Benesova/Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova (CZE/CZE)
...the 20-year old Swarmette continues to have great success in the Fes event. Halep was the runner-up there the past two years, and reached the semifinals this time around after getting wins over Alexandra Cadantu and top-seeded Anabel Medina-Garrigues. It's the Romanian's second win over a #1 seed this season, more than any other player on tour. Benesova and Zahlavova-Strycova won the doubles title in Stuttgart, their tenth as a duo, but their first since winning in Luxembourg in October.
=============================
SURPRISE: Mathilde Johansson/FRA
...Johansson lost in Fes qualifying early last week, but slipped into the main draw as a Lucky Loser. She made (nearly) the most of her second chance, getting wins over Shahar Peer and Petra Cetkovska en route to the semifinals. It's the best result put up by a LL since Angela Haynes reached the semis in Quebec City in 2008.
=============================
VETERAN: Laura Pous-Tio/ESP
...the 27-year old Spaniard is coming back from a knee injury, so she went to Fes last week having only won one match all season. But the world #110 found her rhythm in Morocco, advancing to her first career final after notching victories over Olga Govortsova, Arantxa Rus, Irina-Camelia Begu and Mathilde Johansson.
=============================
COMEBACK: Melanie Oudin/USA
...well, lookie here, Oudin came to play last week. Little MO, now 20 and barely holding onto a Top 400 ranking, won the $50K challenger in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend, taking the final in three sets over Irina Falconi. After getting a spot in the draw via a wild card, she'd already knocked off the likes of Alla Kudryavtseva, Camila Giorgi, Channel Simmonds and Julia Cohen. This is Oudin's first challenger title since May '09, BEFORE her great Round of 16 run at Wimbledon, and her even-more-spectacular QF result at the U.S. Open later that summer.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Kiki Bertens/NED & Mona Barthel/GER
...as last week began, 20-year old Bertens was the #149-ranked player in the world. She'd won six career ITF titles, including two this season, but had yet to make a mark of any kind on the WTA level. She'd only played in one main draw tour match, and didn't win it. But then she made it through Fes qualifying with wins over Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino (a first-time tour champ earlier this season) and Kristyna Pliskova. Then, with three wins in hand, she strung together five more over Urszula Radwanska, Channel Scheepers, Garbine Muguruza-Blanco, Simona Halep and Laura Pous-Tio in a match-up of first-time WTA finalists. Now Bertens is a tour singles champ (the second to win crowns on both the ITF and WTA levels in '12), the first Dutch woman to be able to say as much since Michaella Krajicek in 2006 (in 's-Hertogenbosch), and the new world #92. Ain't that a (Kiki) kick in the head? Meanwhile, in Stuttgart, Barthel was impressive once again although she left Germany disappointed. The German got a swift win over Marion Bartoli, and then faced off with Azarenka for the fourth time this year. Once again, she more than held her own. After a three-hour tussle, she lost to the Belarusian, but continued to garner the experience that puts her at the top of the WTA's current "To Watch (if you know what's good for you)" list.
=============================
DOWN: Andrea Petkovic/GER
...Petkorazzi has been hit with the unlucky stick, and she hasn't even fallen below the #13 ranking yet. After just returning the other week in Fed Cup play following a three-month absence due to issues with her knee, just three matches in, Petkovic rolled her ankle in her 2nd Round match in Stuttgart against Victoria Azarenka. Torn ankle ligaments. Out three more months. We're THIS CLOSE to seeing the world #12's 2012 season being pretty much judged a washout. And here we thought Sabine Lisicki was unquestionably the most "unlucky" German player on tour. But the Tennis Gods have their reasons, I suppose.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Sandra Zaniewska/POL
...A-Rad didn't emerge victorious in Stuttgart (wrecking a certain caveman's plans for world domination, I'm sure), but another Pole did in Tunis, Tunisia. Sandra Zaniewska claimed her third challenger event of the season in the $25K event, defeating Ioana-Raluca Olaru, Bibiane Schoofs and Tunisia's own Ons Jabeur in the final.
=============================
JUNIOR STAR: Sabina Sharipova/UZB
...wouldn't you know it that the same week that a Sharapova wins a WTA title, a Sharipova wins one on the ITF level, too. The 17-year old Uzbeki, the #17-ranked junior and a Girls quarterfinalist at the AO in January, claimed the $10K in Andijan, Uzbekistan, winning in the final over Korea's Jang Su Jeong.
=============================

1. Stutt SF - Sharapova d. Kvitova
...6-4/7-6(3). In a semi-fitting semifinal follow-up to their fabulous Australian Open SF clash, the margin between the #2 and #3 players in the world was still razor thin. But, once again, the Russian had the advantage when it counted most. In Melbourne, Kvitova lost the tight three-setter while going just 3-for-14 on break point opportunities. Just one more break might have put the Czech in her second slam final. In Stuttgart, she was 0-for-10 in BP chances until, after saving a match point, she finally converted to break on her 11th attempt, forcing the 2nd set tie-break. Once there, Sharapova jumped on top again at 3-0 and eased into the final. Kvitova has been super-clutch in team competition this season, but has had difficulty winning the highly-pressurized big points in tight matches on the regular tour. As a result, she's 0-3 in semifinals and is no longer "untouchable" in indoor matches.
=============================
2. Stutt Final - Sharapova d. Azarenka
...6-1/6-4. Sharapova had twice as many winners as unforced errors, and only had to face one Azarenka break point opportunity the entire day. Even without Vika's problems with her wrist, the way Sharapova was going, it might not have mattered. As Maria confirmed afterward, she was "very motivated" to win.
=============================
3. Stutt SF - Azarenka d. A.Radwanska
...6-1/6-3. It's still a mind-bending stat, so I'll go there again. In 2012, Radwanska is 0-5 against Azarenka, but 32-0 against everyone else. Vika has pretty much bought a fully furnished apartment inside A-Rad's head.
=============================
4. Fes Final - Bertens d. Pous-Tio
...7-5/6-0. #149 defeats #110, as Bertens becomes the third 2012 tour singles champion -- after Mona Barthel and Hsieh Su-Wei -- to go through qualifying before lifting the trophy. And how can you not like a player named Kiki?
=============================
5. Stutt 2nd Rd - Kerber d. Wozniacki
...6-1/6-2. (Clears Throat.)
=============================
6. Stutt 1st Rd - Barthel d. Ivanovic 7-5/7-6
Stutt 1st Rd - Wozniacki d. Jankovic 6-3/1-0 ret.
Estoril Q1 - Foretz-Gacon d. Krunic 7-5/7-5
Budapest Q1 - Tabak d. Jovanovski 6-2/2-6/6-4
...ah, the victorious Serbian Fed Cup team. Still basking in the glow of their semifinal triumph, they went a combined 0-4 in singles matches "the week after." At least BoJo salvaged a lone set over the weekend to prevent it from being a complete shutout.
=============================
7. Stutt QF - Azarenka d. Barthel
...6-4/6-7/7-5. Azarenka is 4-0 in matches against the German this season, but this was the second of those matches to be a three-hour battle. One of these days, Barthel is going to figure this out.
=============================
8. Estoril Q1 - Heather Watson d. Caroline Garcia 6-1/6-1
Estoril Q3 - Heather Watson d. Sloane Stephens 4-6/6-4/6-2
...the Brit gets some very nice wins against fellow youngsters en route to the Estoril main draw.
=============================
9. $25K Tunis TUN QF - Bibiane Schoofs/NED d. Ana Savic/CRO
...6-1/6-3. The Croat had been 26-0 in qualifying and main draw matches in 2012 after returning following a three-year "vacation" from the sport.
=============================
10. $10K Vic ESP Final - Ksenia Milevskaya/BLR d. Anastasiya Yakimova/BLR
...6-4/6-2. For the second consecutive week, in two different nations, the Belarusian defeats her fellow Belarusian in a challenger final.
=============================
11. Estoril Q3 - Kristina Barrois d. Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino
...6-43/2-6/6-2. What a difference a year almost makes. Barrois was the runner-up in Estoril in 2011, but had to make it through qualifying to get back into the main draw this time around. What, no wild cards were available?
=============================
12. $10K Chosica-Lima PER Final - Ana Sofia Sanchez/MEX d. Anastasia Kharchenko/UKR
...7-5/6-1. Olé!!! Yet another Mexican woman is putting up notable results. The 18-year old won her second career challenger title this weekend.
=============================

1. Fes Doub 1st Rd - Pliskova/Pliskova d. Rodionova/Rodionova
...2-0 ret. There were just so many sisters that the Rodionovas didn't know what else to do.
=============================
2. Fes Q2 - Bertens d. Kr.Pliskova 6-1/4-6/6-4
Fes 1st Rd - Bertens d. U.Radwanska 6-4/7-5
...apparently, the way to a title is through a sister. Or two.
=============================
3. Fes Doub QF - Pliskova/Pliskova d. U.Radwanska/Tatishvili
...6-4/6-3. All the sisters had magnets in their pockets in Fes.
=============================

**ALL-TIME CONSECUTIVE SEASONS WITH WTA TITLE**
21...Martina Navratilova, 1974-94
18...Chris Evert, 1971-88
14...Steffi Graf, 1986-99
11...Evonne Goolagong, 1970-80
11...Virginia Wade, 1968-78
10...MARIA SHARAPOVA, 2003-12 (current)
-
NEXT LONGEST ACTIVE STREAK: 6-S.Williams

**MOST WTA FINALS, 2009-12**
25...Caroline Wozniacki (8/8/8/1 - 15-10)
17...VICTORIA AZARENKA (3/4/5/5 - 12-5)
15...MARIA SHARAPOVA (2/5/4/4 - 6-9)

**2012 WTA SF**
5...VICTORIA AZARENKA, BLR (5-0)
5...AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA, POL (2-3)
5...Angelique Kerber, GER (2-3)
4...MARIA SHARAPOVA, RUS (4-0)

**2012 WINS OVER #1**
JAN- Sydney QF - #8 Agnieszka Radwanska d. #1 Caroline Wozniacki
JAN- Australian Open 4th Rd - #11 Kim Clijsters d. #1 Caroline Wozniacki
MAR- Miami Final - #7 Marion Bartoli d. #1 Victoria Azarenka
APR- Stuttgart Final - #2 Maria Sharapova d. #1 Victoria Azarenka

**2012 FIRST-TIME CHAMPIONS**
Hobart - Mona Barthel, GER (age 21, #64)
Paris - Angelique Kerber, GER (age 24, #27)
Bogota - Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino, ESP (age 19, #174)
Monterrey - Timea Babos, HUN (age 18, #107)
Kuala Lumpur - Hsieh Su-Wei, TPE (age 26, #124)
Fes - KIKI BERTENS, NED (age 20, #149)

**DEFEATED TOP SEED & DEFENDING CHAMPION, DIDN'T WIN TITLE**
Marion Bartoli, FRA - Miami [QF: Azarenka, reached SF]
SIMONA HALEP, ROU - Fes [QF: Medina-Garrigues, reached SF]

**DEFEATED TOP SEED, WON TITLE**
Hobart - Mona Barthel, GER (def. Wickmayer in Final)
Paris - Angelique Kerber, GER (def. Sharapova in QF)
Acapulco - Sara Errani, ITA (def. Vinci in SF)
Charleston - Serena Williams, USA (def. #2-seed Stosur in SF)
Copenhagen - Angelique Kerber, GER (def. Wozniacki in Final)
Stuttgart - MARIA SHARAPOVA, RUS (def. Azarenka in Final)

**YOUNGEST 2012 WTA CHAMPIONS**
18 - Timea Babos, HUN (Monterrey)
19 - Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino, ESP (Bogota)
20 - KIKI BERTENS, NED (Fes)
21 - Mona Barthel, GER (Hobart)

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (Intl' $220K/red clay outdoor)
11 Final: Vinci def. Begu
11 Doubles Champions: Medina-Garrigues/Rosolska
12 Top Seeds: Errani/Pervak
=============================
=SF=
#1 Errani def. Cadantu
Babos d. Zahlavova-Strycova
=FINAL=
#1 Errani d. Babos

...Errani has put up some great results in '12 in both singles AND doubles. She's the #1 seed in Budapest, so I'll go with her to win season singles crown #3, which would make Azarenka the only woman with more this year. Maybe she'll even get her third s/d sweep of the season.

ESTORIL, PORTUGAL (Intl' $220K/red clay outdoor)
11 Final: Medina-Garrigues def. Barrois
11 Doubles Champions: Kleybanova/Voskoboeva
12 Top Seeds: Vinci/Kirilenko
=============================
=SF=
#1 Vinci d. Hradecka
#3 Medina-Garrigues d. #2 Kirilenko
=FINAL=
#3 Medina-Garrigues d. #1 Vinci

...poor, AMG. With the tour's re-arranged schedule, she sees two events held this week where she's a reigning champion -- in singles in Estoril, and in doubles in Budapest. Naturally, she's defending her singles crown in Portugal. By the way, Medina-Garrigues is one singles title away from tying Anna Smashnova for the most career titles won (12) without reaching a slam quarterfinal.

Hello. Carla here again. Where's Carl, you ask? Well, darlings, your guess is as good as mine. He tends to disappear for long stretches without a word.

Such is the life of a caveman and the cavewoman who loves him.

Thankfully, he usually returns with enough bounty to fill the meat locker for months, though. So, while he hunts (I'm assuming), I'll gather the picks in this segment for a bit. Now, as Carl noted, I wasn't able to defeat Todd when I filled in for Indian Wells and Miami... then Carl came back and got two wins in two weeks. I know Todd hates that, but so do I. It makes Carl a tad insufferable for a few days. Secretly, I think that he failed to get another win this weekend (he didn't go with Azarenka, and let The Radwanska get him by picking A-Rad to win in the final over Sharapova) made him feel embarrassed... though he'd surely never admit it.

Of course, now I'm left to pick two smallish clay court events. I'll do my best, darlings.

BUDAPEST
=SF=
(8)Begu d. Cadantu
(6)Martic d. Krajicek
=FINAL=
(6)Martic d. (8)Begu

ESTORIL
=SF=
(7)Petrova d. (4)Cetkovska
(2)Kirilenko d. (3)Medina-Garrigues
=FINAL=
(2)Kirilenko d. (7)Petrova

...sorry, Nadia.

All for now.

Wk.16- Turning Rivers Into Applesauce

2012-04-23T17:29:00.005-04:00

You just can't keep a good Queen Chaos down.

As far as this space's lore goes, Jelena Jankovic isn't Justine Henin. Or probably even Petra Kvitova. But there is rarely more joy expressed around Backspin HQ than when JJ is winning. At any moment, a smile seems ready to be cracked on even the most steadfast drone's face... and not just because "cracked" and "Jankovic" can both so naturally find their way into the same sentence, either. You see, when the a-little-bit-crazy-but-we-love-her-for-it Serb is in "high gear," banging off the walls and leaving a trail of tears (from laughing so hard) behind her it's akin to flowing rivers turning into applesauce and trees suddenly transforming into pretzel sticks. And if that makes absolutely no sense -- and why would it? -- then that's all right. When JJ is in top form, nothing ever really does.

When it comes to Queen Chaos, the prospect of winning something BIG is so wrong that it just HAS to be right.

A year ago, when Serbia continued on its unexpected Fed Cup trek, it was Indefatigable Serb Jankovic's 6:04 FC odyssey that proved to be the spark. JJ was clearly in her element against the Russians in Moscow, as well. After a leg injury had limited her participation to a single match (which she won) in Serbia's February tie, Jankovic came into this weekend back in her customary #1 position on the team's depth chart. But, as is often the case when it comes to the Jankobot-5200, things didn't always go smoothly. Versus Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, against whom she had a 0-3 record, the J-bot went down a break twice in the 1st set. She still won 6-4/6-3. On Day 2, with the Serbs one win away from the Final after Ana Ivanovic's own win over the young Russian, Jankovic was tasked with handling the Hordettes' best-ever Fed Cup stalwart, Svetlana Kuznetsova, who was ready to add another chapter to a FC legacy that has seen the Russian team win four titles and play if five of the last eight finals.

Jankovic won the 1st set, but was forced to weather another Moscow storm in the 2nd. After falling behind 3-0, she "out-Sveta'ed" Sveta, shifting momentum back in her direction with a five game winning streak of her own. She won 6-1/6-4 to send the Serbs to their first-ever FC Final.

"I have goosebumps right now because it’s so exciting for us. At the end I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, we’re going to get in the Final.’ I was like, ‘Just get the serve in, just play the point!’ I was so happy to win in the end, it wasn’t easy." - Jelena Jankovic, on serving for the FC Final against Svetlana Kuznetsova

Really, it's hard to believe that anyone saw this recent Serbian Fed Cup surge coming. Not just because the best days of the nation's best players seemed behind them -- it's been years since AnaIvo and JJ reached #1, and nearly four since either was in a slam final -- but because the Serbs' path to the Final could have gone (and nearly did go) so horribly off course at any stop along the way. The trek began in February of last year in World Group II, the first of three consecutive FC appearances in which the Serbs went to the deciding doubles match with the ultimate winner still in question. The first time, JJ and AnaIvo were out, so Bojana "Wrong-Way" Jovanovski had to shoulder the load of the entire team. She did it, winning the clincher with 17-year old Alexandra Krunic. Last April's WG Playoffs involved Jankovic's 6:04 marathon day, including another clinching doubles win with Krunic. In February, with Ivanovic absent again, and then JJ injured after winning the opening match, BoJo once again had to pick up the pieces from a 2-1 deficit and drag the team over the finish line, wrapping things up once more with a doubles victory alongside a now-18 year old Krunic. After this year's earlier FC action, I rightfully wondered whether some of Jelena's "Jankovician-ness" had managed -- in a good way -- to rub off on her teammates.

Maybe it did. Because in Moscow, Krunic wasn't called upon to play for the Serbian team's life for a fourth straight time. Ah, progress.

Ivanovic might be the most talented of the Serbs, but it's no fluke that she's the only member of the team that hasn't been involved in any of these death-defying Fed Cup matches where a loss would have prevented this thrilling road to the Final from moving along in its own odd little way. JJ is this team's leader, and her other teammates have been very Jelena-like when its come to seeing those rivers transform into applesauce and simply shrugging it off with a "yeah, what's so strange about that?" attitude. AnaIvo might have see such a sight, and fretted herself into a hole in the ground wondering how someone had managed to grind down so many apples.

Remember, like I said, it's not supposed to make sense. It's better just to shake it off and go on.

As it is, Jankovic is simply the Serb who refuses to stop spinning. At least not yet. She was the second Serb to become the women's #1. She was the second Serbian woman to reach a slam final. And now, she has the chance to become the second Serb, following in Novak Djokovic's Davis Cup footsteps, to lead a national team to an unprecedented tennis title. Jankovic hasn't had many reasons to smile lately, but there was that uncontrollable grin was once again this weekend... right where it'd always been. Her slam window is likely closed. She'll probably never reach another major singles final. Recently, she's had even a hard time finding a coach. But now she's in the Fed Cup Final, with one more (and maybe her final?) shot at a career-defining moment that would complete the cycle of her career-long, oddball quest to become an honest-to-goodness tennis folk hero.

Sure, the Serbs won't be favored on the road against the Czechs. But what good are odds when immortality is at stake? After all, Kvitova can only win TWO matches. The champion will need three. Who's to say that JJ & the Serbs can't shake things up one more time?

Chaos, indeed.

*WEEK 16*

=Semifinals=
Czech Republic(H) def. Italy 4-1
Serbia def. Russia(H) 3-2
=World Group Playoffs=
United States def. Ukraine(H) 5-0
Japan(H) def. Belgium 4-1
Slovak Republic def. Spain(H) 3-2
Australia def. Germany(H) 3-2
=World Group II Playoffs=
France(H) def. Slovenia 5-0
Switzerland(H) def. Belarus 4-1
Sweden(H) def. Great Britain 4-1
Argentina(H) def. China 3-1
=Zone Promotion Finals=
[Europe/Africa II]: Turkey def. South Africa 3-0
[Europe/Africa II]: Georgia def. Montenegro 3-0
[Europe/Africa III]: Lithuania def. Morocco 2-1
[Europe/Africa III]: Tunisia def. Ireland 2-1
[America's II]: Mexico def. Trinidad & Tobago 2-0
[America's II]: Chile def. Guatemala 2-0

[Semifinal MVPs]
Jelena Jankovic/SRB (overall P.O.W.)
...she's not The Radwanska, but you shouldn't turn your back on Queen Chaos, either. At least not when she's got the collective support of the Serbian people, and a team of fellow players -- even AnaIvo -- behind her. No one should get too ahead of themselves, but one has to wonder if the happenings in Moscow might prove to be a boost to JJ's ENTIRE season. With the pot of gold of a Fed Cup final awaiting her in November, the whirling-dervish-may-care attitude that used to fuel her success might just return, at least for a while. Of course, the high of being THIS CLOSE to becoming a Fed Cup folk hero might cause her to be a bit unfocused this week in Stuttgart, too. If not, though, Germany surely could provide JJ with something to continue to build upon. She'll face Caroline Wozniacki in the 1st Round, and could get Kvitova in the quarterfinals. But those are potential headaches for later. As for right now, all is well in the Land of Jankovic. Until it isn't. Which could be soon. Or maybe not. Oh, well. Even if things go haywire along the way, there's still November took look forward to. Hmmm, if she weaves her Queen Chaos magic once again, would the Hall of Fame suddenly begin to seep into her career's conversation? Other than a few nice passing shots one afternoon in London, what's the big difference between JJ's career and that of HOFer Conchita Martinez?
=============================
Petra Kvitova/CZE
...kudos to JJ, for you know it takes something special for Kvitova to NOT be named the overall POW after once again leading the Czechs to the Fed Cup final, extending her FC winning streak to eight matches (she's 15-4 for her career) and her indoor string to twenty-five (29 counting January's Hopman Cup play). Playing just thirty minutes from her hometown of Fulnek, Kvitova's two wins over Sara Errani and Francesca Schiavone came in straight sets. She handled adversity well on Sunday against Schiavone, coming back from a break down in both sets, winning all the big points and jumping to a commanding 6-0 lead in the 2nd set tie-break. Finally away from the American weather, and with a boost of confidence, Kvitova now gets the chance to settle down in Europe for a few months and try to get her 2012 WTA results more in line with the outrageous success (8-0) she's so far had in team competition this season. First stop, indoors (again) in Stuttgart, where she could face the likes of Schiavone, Wozniacki or Jankovic (in a FC Final preview), and Sharapova or Stosur just in the bottom half of the draw. The top half includes Azarenka, Radwanska, Bartoli and Li. Should be a good test to see if she might be able to pick up momentum heading into slam season.
=============================

[WG Playoff MVPs]
Serena Williams/USA
...still in good form, and making everyone wonder if it can hold until she arrives in Paris, Serena managed to make her career 7th and 8th FC singles wins against Ukraine something other than the "ugly" ones her 5th and 6th were against Belarus back in February.
=============================
Ayumi Morita/JPN
...Morita, named the Japanese FC MVP in this space for the fourth consecutive time, has unquestionably emerged as her nation's Fed Cup leader. Her 2-0 mark against the Belgian kids helped send Japan into 2013's World Group. Morita has now won nine straight FC singles matches, and is a combined 12-0 in singles/doubles action over the last few seasons.
=============================
Dominika Cibulkova/SVK
...Cibulkova's post-"26 the Hard Way" rebirth got a bit of a shot in the arm in Spain. After Daniela Hantuchova dropped her singles match on Saturday, Cibulkova followed up her own Day 1 win over Lourdes Dominguez-Lino with one over Hantuchova's conqueror, Silvia Soler-Espinosa, on Sunday to push the Slovaks into the lead on foreign clay. Hantuchova's three-set win over LDL clinched the tie victory. Of note, if they both stay in the field, teammates Cibulkova and Hantuchova are slated to meet in the 1st Round in Stuttgart.
=============================
Samantha Stosur/AUS
...safely a long way from Down Under, Stosur's confidence was able to soar on the clay in Germany. Straight set wins over Angelique Kerber and a returning Andrea Petkovic powered the Aussies to victory, and quite possibly set the stage for a big spring in Europe for Stosur.
=============================

[WG II Playoff MVPs]
Pauline Parmentier/FRA
...the Pastries' roster included little real "star power," but it didn't matter against the Slovenes. After Virginie Razzano struggled to defeat Petra Rampre in Match #1, Parmentier entered the fray and added the back-to-back singles wins that put France over the top and into the 2013 World Group Playoffs next February.
=============================
Stefanie Voegele/SUI
...after Timea Bacsinszky lost the opening match to Olga Govortsova, the host Swiss found their backs against the wall against the same Belarusian team (well, at least Govortsova was there) that put up a bit of a fight against the Americans in February. Voegele calmed the waters, though, with back-to-back singles wins (including one over Govortsova) that set up Bacsinszky's tie-clinching win over teenager Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
=============================
Sofia Arvidsson/SWE
...the leader of the Swedish FC Avengers, Arvidsson was once again hard at work in her 46th career Fed Cup appearance. She notched career FC wins #32 and #33 over Anne Keothavong and Laura Robson. I wonder if, when they grow up, Robson and Heather Watson could ever become for Britain what the battling, dependable FC duo of Arvidsson and Johanna Larsson -- who've combined for 57 Fed Cup singles wins -- have been for Sweden for so many years?
=============================
Paula Ormaechea/ARG
...against the Chinese "C" team, Ormaechea's 2-0 mark led the way in Argentina's easy victory. I also named Ormaechea as Argentina's FC MVP back in February.
=============================

[Zone Play MVPs]
Cagla Buyukakcay/TUR
...the world #233 won three of four singles matches as Turkey advanced out of the Europe/Africa II zone playoffs.
=============================
Anna Tatishvili/GEO
...the Boca Raton native, ranked #85, went 4-0 in singles, including a pool play win over Buyukakcay, as Georgia was the second nation to advance in E/A II.
=============================
Lina Stanciute/LTU
...the 26-year old world #222 was 5-1 in singles, as Lithuania advanced out of the Europe/Africa III zone playoffs.
=============================
Ons Jabeur/TUN
...the 17-year old, the '11 Roland Garros Girls champ, went 6-0 in singles pool and promotional playoff action for Tunisia, including a straight sets E/A III Promotional Playoff win over Ireland's Amy Bowtell (1-1 in ITF finals in '12).
=============================
Marcela Zacarius/MEX
...the 18-year old has been inching into this space on occasion in '12, and here she is again. Her 4-0 singles mark for the Americas II Zone host nation led the way for Mexico, which defeated Trinidad & Tabago in the Promotional Playoff.
=============================
Cecilia Costa-Melgar/CHI
...19-year old Costa-Melgar, the world #532, had an undefeated week in zone play, going 5-0 in singles, and 4-0 in doubles as Chile defeated Guatemala in the second Americas II Promotional Playoff.
=============================

[RISERS]
Lucie Safarova/CZE
...I said last week that the Czechs might really need a singles win from Safarova in order to get back to the FC final. According to the final 4-1 score, maybe it didn't turn out to be the case. But if Safarova hadn't avoided collapsing against Francesca Schiavone in Match #1, who knows what might have happened had the veteran Italian team gotten a whiff of victory on Saturday. Her 7-6/6-1 win, in which she saved three set points in the 1st (after being broken after coming within two points of the set herself) and raced to a big tie-break lead (5-1) in the stanza, was hardly a given considering Safarova's history. She came into the weekend with just a 5-10 career FC record, after all (something that'll be worth remembering come FC Final weekend in November). In recent ties, Day 1 losses by Schiavone have been erased by either Francesca or Flavia Pennetta saving the Italian's pancetta on Day 2. With neither Schiavone nor the injury-nursing Pennetta able to right an early wrong this time, one might say that Safarova's win was the most important of the weekend.
=============================
Johanna Larsson/SWE
...the other half of the Swedish FC Avengers added two more singles wins to her career total (for 24) in her 32nd Fed Cup appearance in the WG II Playoffs. Of note, even with the score at 3-0 and the tie officially decided, Larsson was still fighting to win her last singles match of the weekend. She did, too, taking out Anne Keothavong 7-6/3-6/6-4 in the most competitive contest of the entire SWE/GBR matchup, which ended up being a far easier win for the Swedes than might have been expected at the outset.
=============================

[FRESH FACE]
Christina McHale/USA
...well, I guess McHale is a Fed Cup "vet" now, right? She entered the year with no FC experience, but her two wins against Ukraine in the WG Playoffs give her a sterling 4-0 career mark.

[SURPRISE]
Silvia Soler-Espinosa/ESP
...SSE's upset of Daniela Hantuchova on Day 1 gave the host Spaniards life on Day 1 in the WG Playoffs. It was short-lived, though.

[VETERAN]
Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN
...a nice portion of Japan's FC resurgence can be attributed to the return of Date-Krumm a few years back. Now 41, she's still contributing. In the team's WG Playoff win over Belgium, she won singles and doubles matches over the Kid Waffles -- Tamaryn Hendler, Alison Van Uytvanck & Ysaline Bonaventure -- whose COMBINED age is just thirteen years fewer than her own.

[COMEBACK]
Japanese Fed Cup Team
...a year ago, Japan was rescheduling a Fed Cup zone tie in the aftermath of the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown tri-disaster. Now, with the team's win over the underwomaned/overgirled Belgian team in the World Group Playoffs, come February 2013, the Japanese woman will find themselves in the World Group 1st Round for the first time since 2007.

[DOWN]
Francesca Schiavone/ITA
...Schiavone complained of a nagging injury bothering her over the last two weeks, but her play in the SF against the Czechs sort of went along the lines of her entire season. The want is there, but the results just aren't coming. She broke Safarova when the Czech was serving for the set in Match #1, but then blew three set points of her own and lost in straights. On Day 2, she was up a break on both sets against Kvitova, but lost the lead, and quickly fell down 6-0 in the 2nd set tie-break of her second straight sets loss of the weekend. She's now 7-11 in singles on the season. Today, to twist the knife just a little bit more, Schiavone joined with Roberta Vinci in one of the two main draw matches (doubles, with no singles) scheduled for Monday in Stuttgart... and lost once again, this time to the all-German team of Barrois/Woehr.
=============================
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS
...few players have had more disappointing seasons than Pavlyuchenkova. The former junior #1 has been on the waiting list for "next big thing" for a couple of seasons now, but she's failed to adapt her game and fitness to seize upon the opportunity her talent should present her. Thus, you had to know the Russian team was in a bad spot when it was depending on her to get the Hordettes through the storm that Serbia kicked up over the weekend. In her opening match loss to Jankovic, Pavlyuchenkova twice was up a break in the 1st, but had eleven double-faults in a straight sets loss. With the tie knotted at 1-1 after Day 1, Pavlyuchenkova took the first set off Ana Ivanovic in Match #3, then everyone held their breath to see which player would fold first. It turned out to be the Russian. She lost the 2nd set at love, then the match. When Russia has failed on the Fed Cup stage in the past, there have been questions about whether the "correct" players were chosen to bear the burden of the pressure. This has to be looked at as another of those cases. But, then again, with the likes of Sharapova, Zvonareva and Kirilenko off in parts unknown, there weren't all that many other places (or faces) to turn to, either.
=============================
German & Chinese Fed Cup Teams
...the Germans have been flying high on the WTA ciruit in 2012, but the hosts proved no match for the stress-free band of traveling Aussies. No worries, though, as most of the entire contingent of post-Grafites will be on hand this week in Stuttgart. Meanwhile, after finally breaking their four year long Fed Cup losing streak in February, the Chinese once again went into battle without their big weapons -- Li, Peng & Zheng -- in the World Group II Playoffs. Naturally, they lost 3-1 to Argentina, only getting a match win after they'd fallen behind 3-0, and then seeing fit to cancel the doubles rubber. Back to Zone play.
=============================

ITF PLAYER: Camila Giorgi/ITA
...well, at least one Italian had a good weekend. The 20-year old Giorgi, probably best known of late for her early takedown of #1-seeded Nadia Petrova in Memphis a few weeks back, claimed the $50K challenger in Dothan, Alabama. She notched wins over Alison Riske, Jill Craybas, Lauren Davis and Edina Gallovits-Hall in the final. Giorgi has a long history of success in North American events. Aside from Memphis and Dothan, she's won three challengers on the continent, too, taking crowns in Toronto ($50K), Rock Hill, South Carolina ($25K) and Carson, California ($50K) over the previous three seasons.

JUNIOR STAR: Victoria Bosio/ARG
...the #30-ranked junior, the 17-year old Argentine didn't win anything this weekend, but she's managed to put together a string of consistently successful results. A few weeks ago, she won a junior level B1 title in La Paz, Bolivia. She followed that up with a SF result in a challenger, then reached her first professional singles final in the $10K Villa del Dique event this weekend. She lost to Daniela Sequel (it's the Chilean's third circuit crown of '12), but she certainly has momentum on her side.

VETERAN: Lisa Raymond/USA
...the 38-year old American joined partner Liezel Huber as the co-#1 in the doubles rankings today. It's her first time in the top spot since 2007. Fuel for a possible Olympic berth?

DOWN: Kim Clijsters/BEL
...the rapidly de-evolving entity that is KC 2.0 continued to slip back into the primordial ooze last week, as Clijsters announced that she was (once again) going to skip the entire clay court season, including Roland Garros. Essentially, she's sort of taking the "advice" I suggested a few weeks ago of wrapping herself in bubble wrap and putting her body away for safekeeping in order to better (well, as best she can) ensure that she'll actually be healthy enough to play in the Olympics this summer.

1. FC WG PO (AUS/GER) - Stosur d. Petkovic 6-4/6-1
Stuttgart Q1 - Meusburger d. Szavay 7-6/6-3
...in what turned out to be losing efforts, Petkovic (January) and Szavay (May '11) nevertheless returned from longer and longer injury-related absences, respectively. Petkovic found herself in a very sticky situation, charged with keeping Germany's hopes alive in the first match of Day 2 after both Kerber and Goerges had lost opening day matches in front of the home crowd. While Szavay, who climbed as high as #13 in 2008, came into her first comeback match ranked #431, and has quite a long road ahead of her if she's to become relevant again.
=============================
2. Stuttgart Q1 - Chakvetadze d. Cirstea 6-1/6-0
Stuttgart Q3 - Chakvetadze d. K.Bondarenko 6-3/7-6
...after qualifying in Copenhagen, Chakvetadze won three matches in a row once again to do so in Stuttgart, as well. Her work included the big hurt she put on Cirstea in the first round of qualifying.
=============================
3. Stuttgart Q2 - Ivanova d. Rezai
...6-4/4-6/6-4. Unfortunately for Rezai, her recent "qualifying fever" wasn't carried over to Stuttgart.
=============================
4. $10K Les Franqueses del Valles Final - Ksenia Milevskaya/BLR d. Anastasiya Yakimova/BLR
...7-5/6-7/6-4. Coming in from the proverbial cold, 21-year old Milevskaya claimed her first ITF title since 2008 in this Spanish challenger. At one time, Milevskaya was part of the conversation when it came to the best junior players of a few years ago. In 2005, countrywoman Victoria Azarenka was the Girls #1-ranked player, while Milevskaya finished at #3 one season later, just behind top-ranked Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and #2 Caroline Wozniacki that year.
=============================
5. Stuttgart Q1 - Witthoeft d. Pironkova
...7-5/3-6/7-5. Hmmm, when does Wimbledon begin? And, on a side note, I wonder how much of a threat Bulgaria's Pironkova will be at the Olympics? Considering she won't have to win seven matches to walk away with a medal at SW19 come late summer, her All-England Club prowess might come in handy when it comes to getting a chance to play for hardware.
=============================
HM- $10K Caracas Final - Jennifer Elie/USA d. Marina Giral Lorres/VEN
...6-4/2-6/6-4. The 25-year old American won her second challenger event in two weeks, sweeping both the singles and doubles in Venezuela.
=============================

1. Fes Q2 - Arina Rodionova d. Karolina Pliskova 6-3/0-6/6-1
Fes Q3 - Kiki Bertens d. Kristyna Pliskova 6-1/4-6/6-4
...there is no joy in (non-FC) Czechville, the Pliskovas have both been knocked out.
=============================
2. FC WG PO - Huber/Stephens (USA) d. Kichenok/Kichenok (UKR)
...6-4/6-1.Liezel & Sloane take out Lyudmyla & Nadiya, the only sisters who participated in weekend Fed Cup action, in the "meaningless" doubles match of the USA/Ukraine tie.
=============================
3. Stuttgart Q1 - Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova d. Sandra Zahlavova
...6-4/6-2. All right, so this isn't really a SISTERS match-up. But it IS a SISTERS-IN-LAW one. And that's enough to be included here... since I didn't want to make up a whole different section logo that would get very little use over the course of time.
=============================

*FED CUP FINALS - since 2000*
2000 United States def. Spain
2001 Belgium def. Russia
2002 Slovak Republic def. Spain
2003 France def. United States
2004 Russia def. France
2005 Russia def. France
2006 Italy def. Belgium
2007 Russia def. Italy
2008 Russia def. Spain
2009 Italy def. United States
2010 Italy def. United States
2011 Czech Republic def. Russia
2012 Czech Republic vs. Serbia (in November, at CZE)

*FED CUP FIELD - for February 2013 ties*
=World Group=
Australia
Czech Republic
Italy
Japan
Russia
Serbia
Slovak Republic
United States
=World Group II=
Argentina
Belgium
France
Germany
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Ukraine

*WTA WEEKS AT DOUBLES #1*
237...Martina Navratilova
181...LIEZEL HUBER*
163...Cara Black*
124...Natasha Zvereva
118...LISA RAYMOND*

STUTTGART, GERMANY (Premier $740K/red clay indoors)
11 Final: Goerges d. Wozniacki
11 Doubles Champions: Lisicki/Stosur
12 Top Seeds: Azarenka/Sharapova
=============================
=SF=
#1 Azarenka d. #4 A.Radwanska
#3 Kvitova d. #5 Stosur
=FINAL=
#3 Kvitova d. #1 Azarenka

...so many interesting matchups are possible in Stuttgart. Azarenka/Petkovic. A Wozniacki/Kerber Copenhagen rematch, if the Dane survives a 1st Round clash with Jankovic, probably still in the clouds after her time in Moscow, put maybe still able to find her focus against the player who stole away her former coach, then threw him aside a month later. A potential "do-over" of the only '12 loss Vika has had -- against Bartoli -- in the QF. Vika/A-Rad, Part V in the SF. Kvitova/Sharapova. Azarenka vs. either Kvitova or Sharapova in the final. And there's the prospect of a confident Stosur coming off her FC heroics, and not even having to leave Germany to keep her momentum going (she could face defending champ Goerges, who she missed playing in FC this weekend, in the 2nd Round). Ah, but while this is a red clay event, it's INDOORS. So, of course, Kvitova's under-a-roof streak will truly be put to a test this week. I'll go with her, but if her indoors run is going to end in 2012, it probably goes without saying that Stuttgart might be the most likely place where it will happen.

FES, MOROCCO (Int'l $220K/red clay outdoors)
11 Final: Brianti d. Halep
11 Doubles Champions: Hlavackova/Voracova
12 Top Seeds: Medina-Garrigues/Kuznetsova
=============================
=SF=
(Q) Muguruza-Blanco d. #5 Halep
Begu d. (LL) Johansson
=FINAL=
(Q) Muguruza-Blanco d. Begu

...Brianti and Halep, the '11 finalists, were set to possibly meet in the 2nd Round this time out, then defending champ Brianti lost in the 1st Round to Alexandra Cadantu. And with #2 seed Kuznetsova probably having a case of FC hangover, this one might be up for grabs and a first-time champion a likely outcome. Well, unless AMG wins and I get to pull out the old "Smashnova Notes" again.

So, Carl finally back after being forced to miss Fed Cup pick week. Don't ask -- Carl had things to do!! Sure, Todd get nine of ten of his picks right while away, but Carl know that Carl would have gone TEN-for-ten. Todd know, too. And if think Carl forget that Carl pick Barcelona champion correct last time here, Todd mistaken. Carl been back picking only two weeks, and Carl already got two picks right. Todd get ZERO over that time. Carl not surprised.

STUTTGART
=SF=
4 a.radwanska def. 7 bartoli
2 sharapova d. 3 kvitova
=FINAL=
4 a.radwanska d. 2 sharapova

FES
=SF=
1 medina-garrigues d. 6 scheepers
7 zakopalova d. 3 cetkovska
=FINAL=
1 medina-garrigues d. 7 zakopalova

...obviously, Carl not afraid of The Radwanska. Carl not afraid of ANYBODY.

(pause)

Carl hope Carla no hear that.

All for now.

Wk.15- To Want, or Not to Want

2012-04-16T15:23:00.003-04:00

Well, a certain Dane continues to drag a certain Backspinner from pillar to post.

It's always fun to try to flag big moments when players "get it," or turn the corner toward something greater. And ever since the inevitable happened and Caroline Wozniacki finally fell from the #1 ranking, there's been an intense temptation to try to point out the moment when Wozniacki might begin to answer her critics with a series of on-court occurrences and/or a change in attitude when it comes to realizing that all the things said about her game and approach over the past year should have been listened to rather than resisted.

There have been many such instances since last summer, starting with the rise of so many other players from her generation, two of which have raised slam trophies in the past year. But nothing notable, on any major scale, really changed with Wozniacki. The whole Ricardo Sanchez coaching thing never really had much chance to work, but the willingness to have a new set of eyes look over things seemed a first step. But what are the chances another such situation is going to develop in the future, after the Sanchez fiasco essentially only served to allow Piotr Wozniacki to tighten his grip on his daughter's tennis future? Losing the #1 ranking, which most thought might finally do the trick, didn't really kick her in the butt, either. Instead, she chose to criticize the likes of Martina Navratilova for criticizing her.

But then a player like Agnieszka Radwanska, with a game not that far off from Wozniacki's, continues to tweak her approach, and sees her results highlight the work she's done. So, a player with Polish heritage starts to do the right things -- and a friend of the Dane's, no less -- and it makes one think that Wozniacki will finally step out of her bubble and think, "Gee, if she can do that, why can't I?"

Hope springs eternal once more.

The win over Serena in Miami seemed like a good start, even if Williams' professing to have played at "20%" of her normal level turned out to ring fairly true when the American showed up ready to wrestle bears in Charleston. But Wozniacki did seem to have a bit more "want to" in the match, so it seemed like a forward step, as much for the hint of the hungry player INSIDE that she appeared to be as for anything she did with her racket. Thus, one take on her childish blow-up and unsportswomanlike actions toward chair umpire Kader Nouni one match later against Maria Sharapova was that she FINALLY realized how much she wanted to win and was frustrated that she didn't. You know, sort of like how Azarenka used to be.

Then she goes and puts out the "Oxygen" single for charity. On one level, it's a altruistic act and it's hard to attack it, but on another it also puts the spotlight back on her for non-winning tennis reasons and speaks to something of a lack of focus and real concern about a series of happenings that led her to fall from #1 to #6 in the rankings (with still more players breathing down her neck in the Top 10) in the blink of an eye. I mean, it's not as if she's practically begging to be loved by giving all the fans at one of her matches bottles of champagne. But still.

But maybe the "spark" of the Williams win was still there. Surely, heading back home to Copenhagen for her home tournament (her likeness is even in the event's logo) would provide a nice next step. Surely she'd finally put another notch in her title belt and... umm, no. Wozniacki lost in the final in straight sets to Angelique Kerber, squandering a break lead in the 2nd set and then practically daring anyone who didn't know the result to determine the winner by looking at the two as they met at the net.

Then, after the win, there was Wozniacki still holding onto the I've-got-time, I've-got-tournaments, it's-no-biggie frame of mind that makes it easy to question her. "You always want to win," she said. "Yes, it's a disappointment to lose, but it's not a disaster. You lose matches sometimes, and today was one of those times. There's a new match and new tournament coming, so you go on." It's a notion, on one level, that puts things into perspective, but it's also irksome for such blasé comments to come from a former #1, hounded by critics who take every opportunity to turns her words against her (the recent overblown reaction to her "tennis players are underpaid" comment being just the latest example), who just lost in a tournament that wouldn't even exist if not for her. If that doesn't stir her to be angry with herself, then what will?

Maybe I'm pulling off a version of unfair over-analysis, as well, by constantly reading between the lines of her comments, looking for more "want" and less "whine," for more "I'll show you" and less "I've got time, it's no biggie" sentiment. But nitpicky examination of words and actions only seem to serve to back up what often is seen with the naked eye when it comes to Wozniacki: sure, she cares about winning, but she doesn't REALLLLLY care (she pulled out the "it's not a disaster" line after getting rolled by AnaIvo in Indian Wells, too). At least not in any sort of Azarenkian sort of way. Not enough to fully devote herself to it, anyway. And as long as that's the case, she won't win, either. Again, at least not in any sort of Azarenkian sort of way.

Sounds a little (or a lot) like a certain non-LPT Belgian from a few years ago. You know, the same one who didn't really begin to live up to her potential until she left the sport and then returned with a more mature viewpoint about not taking things for granted.

Maybe Wozniacki's competitiveness will fully kick in one day without having to retire from the sport. If not, no biggie. It won't be a disaster if we've already seen the best she'll ever have to offer. There are more than enough truly competitive players who WANT to be the best, and do everything they can to at least TRY to make it so, to compensate for one player who might not. Ever.

*WEEK 15 CHAMPIONS*
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (Int'l $220K/HCI)
S: Angelique Kerber/GER def. Caroline Wozniacki/DEN 6-4/6-4
D: Date-Krumm/Fujiwara (JPN/JPN) d. Arvidsson/Kanepi (SWE/EST)
BARCELONA, SPAIN (Int'l $220K/RCO)
S: Sara Errani/ITA def. Dominika Cibulkova/SVK 6-2/6-2
D: Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) d. Pennetta/Schiavone (ITA/ITA)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Angelique Kerber/GER
...look out, Petra. Kerber now has TWO 2012 indoor titles. After busting out in February in Paris, where she followed up the aforementioned Czech's '11 title with her very own, the German slipped into Copenhagen last week and caused all sorts of troubles for everyone but herself. Namely, she outlasted Mona Barthel in an all-German QF match that rightly determined which was going to be officially declared the German Player of the Year (so far), stopped Jelena Jankovic's resurgent week cold with a straight sets SF win, then took down Wozniacki in her home tournament in another straight sets win, coming back from a 4-2 2nd set deficit to win the final four games of the match. Kerber's win over the top-seeded Wozniacki marks the third time (no other player has done it more than once) in eight events that she's defeated a tournament's #1 seed.
=============================
RISERS: Sara Errani/ITA & Dominika Cibulkova/SVK
...much like Kerber's SF run at the U.S. Open last summer, Errani's QF result at the Australian Open in January has proven to be a prelude to great things for the Italian's career. She was at it again in Barcelona, sweeping the singles and doubles titles there just as she did in Acapulco earlier this season. Errani has won four career tour singles titles, and this is the THIRD time she's won the doubles at the event on those four weekends (she did it once back in '08, too). She reeled off impressive wins over the likes of Irina-Camelia Begu, Julia Goerges, Carla Suarez-Navarro and Dominika Cibulkova last week, and her doubles crown with Roberta Vinci ties the duo with Huber/Raymond for the '12 tour lead with three. They've won eight overall titles as pair. Cibulkova, for her part, is continuing to right her season's ship. Heading into Miami, she'd had a very disappointing year, then very nearly ended Victoria Azarenka's season-opening winning streak. In her first event since then, she reached the Barcelona final (the fifth of her career) after knocking off Iryna Bremond, Klara Zakopalova, Yuliya Beygelzimer and Sorana Cirstea. She's now managed to even her '12 record at 10-10.
=============================
SURPRISE: Yuliya Beygelzimer/UKR
...Beygelzimer has seemingly been around forever, but only rarely does she spring up with something to grab your attention. Usually, it takes place on the ITF circuit, where she's won 9 titles, the most recent coming back in Week 7. But last week, the 28-year old was creating a bit of havoc on the big tour. In Barcelona, the Ukrainian made it through qualifying, then reached the quarterfinals, getting wins over Alexandra Cadantu and (a little shockingly) Flavia Pennetta.
=============================
VETERANS: Jelena Jankovic/SRB & Hsieh Su-Wei/TPE
...right on cue, JJ surged back just when all hope seemed about to be lost. Last week, I noted how the Serb had dropped down to #20 in the rankings and was in danger of seeing her tour-best streak of 295 weeks in the Top 20 end in the near future. So, she went to Copenhagen, sweated out a tight three-setter against Laura Robson in the 1st Round, quickly handled youngster Yulia Putintseva and then put down Kaia Kanepi in another three-set contest. Sure, she got blitzed by Kerber in the SF, but her work bumped her back up to #18 in the rankings today, giving her 296 consecutive weeks in the Top 20 (and a little breathing room). Now, it's off to Russia to try to get Serbia into its very first Fed Cup final. Meanwhile, in Wenshan, China, Hsieh Su-Wei matched her surprise success in the tour level Kuala Lumpur event (her first ever WTA title) by taking the crown at a $50K challenger event (her 21st career ITF title) with a win in the final over Zheng Saisai. She also won the doubles with her sister. The Taiwanese vet, 26, is the first player this season to win both WTA and ITF singles titles, and she's now at a career-high rank of #69.
=============================
COMEBACKS: Kaia Kanepi/EST & Evgenia Linetskaya/ISR
...since her Week 1 title in Brisbane, Kanepi had pretty much been an afterthought before last week in Copenhagen. But wins over Anastasia Rodionova and Timea Babos (in a 3rd set tie-break) got her into the QF, and her doubles RU result only served to back up some belief that she might be ready to have a nice spring/summer, after all. Elsewhere, in a challenger event in Hvar, Croatia, Evgenia Linetskaya emerged from some pretty long shadows to garner her first main draw victories -- on any level -- since 2007. At one time, the Russian-born Israeli sported a Backspin nickname of "Doc" (the teenager had plans to become a doctor) and looked to have a promising tennis career lined up, as well. She reached the Australian Open 4th Round and climbed into the Top 40 back in 2005, only to end up at the center of one the nastiest stories in the sport in this or any other year, with charges ranging from a physical assault on her by the father, and a possible sexual assault by her coach. Needless to say, Linetskaya's career essentially dissolved after that. She sat out most of the '06 season, came back in '07 and had some ITF success, then missed half of that season, as well. She was last seen in action early in the '08 season. Just recently, though, the now-25 year old showed up in qualifying in a small event in Turkey, then managed to qualify in the Croatian event. She then won two main draw matches, reaching the quarterfinals. At this point, tennis success is sort of secondary, I guess. It's the perseverance, and continued attempts to reclaim her life, that should be commended.
=============================
FRESH FACE: Fatma Al Nabhani/OMA
...the 20-year old from Oman grabbed the $10K challenger in Fujairah, UAE over the weekend, defeating India's Ankita Raina in the final. It's Al Nabhani's first ITF title since she won the same event back in 2010.
=============================
DOWN: Francesca Schiavone/ITA
...we're coming up on the two-year anniversary of Schiavone's dreamland Roland Garros title run, and even the Italian veteran looks to be possibly showing the signs of wear and tear. Well, at least her results are. That shockingly comprehensive Fed Cup loss to Lesia Tsurenko in February has sort of set the tone for her '12 season. After dropping her 1st Round match (on clay) in Barcelona to Olga Govortsova last week, the 31-year old's season record dropped to 7-9. Since reaching a semifinal in Week 1, she's suffered two 1st Round exits, along with four in the 2nd Round and a 3rd Round retirement. Now, we're once again entering a Fed Cup weekend. The Italian team is showing a little age, but its experience still makes it dangerous. Just like long-time member Schiavone.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Heidi El Tabakh/CAN
...for the second consecutive weekend, El Tabakh was a winner on the ITF circuit. The Canadian took the $25K challenger in Pelham, Alabama by notching wins over Misaki Doi, Madison Brengle, Coco Vandeweghe, Mariana Duque-Marino and Edina Gallovits-Hall in the final. She also reached the doubles final.
=============================
JUNIOR STAR: Taylor Townsend/USA
...the 15-year old (Sweet 16 today, though!) swept the Girls titles at the Australian Open in January, and the American was busy heavy lifting once again in the Easter Bowl in Rancho Mirage, California. Of course, much of that had to do with the Friday Cali rain that backed Townsend into a corner on the weekend. She had to play both her singles SF and Final on Saturday. Townsend won them both, taking out Brooke Austin in three sets in the deciding match. She had to play both her doubles SF and Final, too, running her on-court time to over five hours on the day. She and Gabby Andrews, her partner in Melbourne, reached the final, but Townsend retired with a foot injury, giving the crown to Samantha Crawford and Allie Kiick. Colette Lewis tells us all about it over at Zoo Tennis.
=============================

1. Cop Final - Kerber d. Wozniacki
...6-4/6-4. Last year, it was Goerges and Petkovic who were the Germans handing the Dane hurtful (or, at least, one would like to think they were) losses. This year, it's been Goerges and Kerber.
=============================
2. Barc Final - Errani d. Cibulkova
...6-2/6-2. The Slovak is now 1-4 in career tour singles finals.
=============================
3. Cop QF - Kerber d. Barthel
...6-2/0-6/7-5. Kerber wins the battle of the two highest-ranked Germans who can actually manage to stay on the court.
=============================
4. Barc 1st Rd - Govortsova d. Schiavone
...6-4/6-3. Not exactly the best form with which to head into a very important Fed Cup tie, but Francesca will have to find a way to make due next weekend.
=============================
5. Barc 1st Rd - Goerges d. Rezai 6-4/6-0
Cop 1st Rd - Parmentier d. Chakvetadze 7-5/6-1
...they can lead themselves through qualifying, but they can't make themselves drink the main draw water.
=============================
HM- $10K Antalya Final - Nicole Melichar/USA d. Hulya Esen/TUR
...6-4/6-3. The 18-year old American wins her first career ITF title.
=============================

1. Cop 1st Rd - Wozniacki d. U.Radwanska
...7-6/6-2. Hopefully, The Radwanska won't hold it against Caroline. Of course, even if It did, the Dane wouldn't consider it a "disaster."
=============================
2. Cop Doub SF - Date-Krumm/Fujiwara d. Rodionova/Rodionova
...6-3/6-0. Two unrelated Japanese vets > a pair of sisters representing Russia and Australia. Go figure.
=============================
3. $10K Antalya 1st Rd - Hulya Esen/TUR d. Lutifiya Esen/TUR
...6-2/6-2. An all-sister match-up that garners far less attention than most others would.
=============================
4. $50K Wenshan Doub Final - Hsieh Su-Wei/Hsieh Shu-Ying (TPE/TPE) d. Liu Wanting/Xu Yifan (CHN/CHN)
...6-3/6-2. Hey, Su-Wei was kind enough to spread a bit of her Week 15 wealth to her little sis. How nice of her.
=============================
5. $10K Caracas Doub Final - Lauren Albanese/Zuzana Zlochova (USA/SVK) d. Marcela Guimaraes Bueno/Flavia Guimaraes Bueno (BRA/BRA)
...6-2/6-3. Apparently, they grow tennis siblings in South America, too.
=============================

**2012 WTA TITLES**
4...Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2...Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
2...ANGELIQUE KERBER, GER
2...SARA ERRANI, ITA

**2012 WIN LEADERS**
26 - Victoria Azarenka (26-1)
26 - Agnieszka Radwanska (26-4)
23 - ANGELIQUE KERBER (23-6)
21 - SARA ERRANI (21-7)
-
NOTE: Radwanksa also w/ 4 wins in Fed Cup Zone play

**RECENT SINGLES/DOUBLES WTA SWEEPS**
[2006]
Anna-Lena Groenefeld, GER (Acapulco)
Vania King, USA (Bangkok)
Shahar Peer, ISR (Prague)
[2007]
Dinara Safina, RUS (Gold Coast)
[2008]
Alize Cornet, FRA (Budapest)
Lindsay Davenport, USA (Memphis)
SARA ERRANI, ITA (Palermo)
Maria Kirilenko, RUS (Estoril)
Nadia Petrova, RUS (Cincinnati)
Venus Williams (Wimbledon)
[2009]
Victoria Azarenka, BLR (Memphis)
Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, ESP (Bogota)
Serena Williams, USA (Australian Open)
Serena Williams, USA (Wimbledon)
Vera Zvonareva, RUS (Indian Wells)
[2010]
Iveta Benesova, CZE (Fes)
Serena Williams, USA (Australian Open)
[2011]
none
[2012]
SARA ERRANI, ITA (Acapulco)
SARA ERRANI, ITA (Barcelona)

**2012 TITLE DEFENSE ATTEMPTS - REACHED FINAL**
Sydney - Li Na, CHN (lost to Azarenka)
Pattaya - Daniela Hantuchova, SVK (def. Kirilenko)
Copenhagen - Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (lost to Kerber)

**2012 WTA SF**
[players]
5...ANGELIQUE KERBER, GER (2-3)
4...Victoria Azarenka, BLR (4-0)
4...Agnieszka Radwanska, POL (2-2)
3...Maria Sharapova, RUS (3-0)
3...SARA ERRANI, ITA (2-1)
3...Marion Bartoli, FRA (1-2)
3...JELENA JANKOVIC, SRB (1-2)
3...CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, DEN (1-2)
[nations]
8 - Italy
7 - Germany
7 - Russia
5 - Romania

**DEFEATED TOP SEED, WON TITLE**
Hobart - Mona Barthel, GER (Wickmayer in Final)
Paris - Angelique Kerber, GER (Sharapova in QF)
Acapulco - Sara Errani, ITA (Vinci in SF)
Charleston - Serena Williams, USA (#2 Stosur in SF)
Copenhagen - Angelique Kerber, GER (Wozniacki in Final)

**DEFEATED DEFENDING CHAMPION, WON TITLE**
Sydney - Victoria Azarenka, BLR (Li in Final)
Hobart - Mona Barthel, GER (Gajdosova in QF)
Copenhagen - Angelique Kerber, GER (Wozniacki in Final)

**OLDEST 2012 DOUBLES CHAMPIONS**
41...KIMIKO DATE-KRUMM, JPN (Copenhagen)
38...Lisa Raymond, USA (Paris, Doha, Dubai & Indian Wells)
36...Kveta Peschke, CZE (Sydney)
35...Liezel Huber, USA (Paris, Doha, Dubai & Indian Wells)

**RECENT WTA & ITF SINGLES TITLES IN A SEASON**
[2003]
Henrieta Nagyova, SVK
Maria Sharapova, RUS
[2004]
Iveta Benesova, CZE
Li Na, CHN
Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP
Flavia Pennetta, ITA
Nicole Vaidisova, CZE
[2005]
Amy Frazier, USA
Lucie Safarova, CZE
[2006]
Alona Bondarenko, UKR
Anna Smashnova, ISR
[2007]
Maria Kirilenko, RUS
Akiko Morigami, JPN
Pauline Parmentier, FRA
Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
Agnes Szavay, HUN
[2008]
Nuria Llagostera-Vives, ESP
Tamarine Tanasugarn, THA
Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
[2009]
Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN
Alexandra Dulgheru, ROU
Andrea Petkovic, GER
Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
[2010]
Anna Chakvetadze, RUS
Jarmila Groth, AUS (Gajdosova)
Kaia Kanepi, EST
Tamira Paszek, AUT
Tamarine Tanasugarn, THA
Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
[2011]
Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK
[2012]
Hsieh Su-Wei, TPE

FED CUP SF & WG PLAYOFFS
=============================
=SF=
Russia (H) def. Serbia (A) 3-2
Czech Republic (H) def. Italy (A) 3-2

...the Serbs, in their first-ever FC semifinal, have a full contingent of players with AnaIvo, JJ, BoJo and Krunic on the roster. But the Hordettes have FC workhorse Kuznetsova and home-court advantage. Meanwhile, after winning four straight road ties, the Czechs are actually playing at home. The pressure of the home crowd could prove to be a hindrance, especially to a player like Lucie Safarova, who might have to contribute at least one singles win if the defending champs are going to reach another final, even if Petra Kvitova can add two more victories to her monster indoor match win streak.

=World Group Playoffs=
United States (A) d. Ukraine (H) 4-1 -- Serena, but no Venus
Japan (H) d. Belgium (A) 5-0 -- no Kim, Yanina or Kirsten
Slovak Republic (A) d. Spain (H) 3-2 -- I'll probably regret this one
Australia (A) d. Germany (H) 3-2 -- Aussies on the road = a good chance
=World Group II Playoffs=
France (H) d. Slovenia (A) 4-1 -- FRA lacking starpower, but persevering
Switzerland (H) d. Belarus (A) 3-2 -- don't count out BLR, even without Vika
Sweden (H) d. Great Britain (A) 3-2 -- SWE's Dyanamic Duo -- Arvidsson & Larsson -- lead the way
Argentina (H) d. China (A) 5-0 -- here we go again

All for now.

Wk.14- Uh-oh?

2012-04-09T16:52:00.001-04:00

Luckily for the rest of the WTA field, there's not a grand slam on the schedule for a few months.

We've seen in the past how Serena Williams can transform herself from an in-questionable-shape, in-questionable-form, with-questionable-desire-and-focus player over the course of a two-week period. Usually, it happens at a slam, which she invariably wins, ultimately showing the very best of the oh-so-many versions of herself that we've born witness to over the years. In Miami against Caroline Wozniacki, and in various stages earlier this season, Serena didn't look anything like the superior player she's sometimes been known to be. Well, her straight sets loss against the Dane took place about two weeks before Williams took flight over the weekend in Charleston... and the player who was lifting the trophy at the end of the tournament was in no way the same player who didn't come close to doing the same in Miami, and then talked about having played at about "20%" of herself.

But, then again, it WAS. Such is the enigma that is Williams.

In her final two matches in South Carolina, against Samantha Stosur and Lucie Safarova, Williams won 24 of 27 games, and sometimes seemed as if she was once again the unstoppable force that has roared the loudest, served the hardest, and stomped on an opponent with the least mercy of anyone on the planet. To put it bluntly, she kicked ass and took names. She called her performance against Stosur, the same player she imploded against in NYC last summer but has defeated handily twice in her last two events, to be in "the Top 5" of her entire career. Against Safarova one day later, she lost FEWER games, and sported a 27-8 winner-to-unforced error ratio, ending the match with an ace just moments after her previous serve had avoided ending the proceedings in the same manner, but just nicked the net tape.

Naturally, as is the case with Tiger Woods and future majors whenever he occasionally flashes great form, talk of Serena and future slam championships is now suddenly back on the table. As if it ever really was taken off the menu. Since she's always been able to go from zombie to Zombie Queen in the blink of an eye at slam time, there has ALWAYS been, and will continue to be, a chance that she'll do it again when her name appears in a slam draw. She could reach such heights again this summer.

Or maybe she won't.

Of course, we -- and Serena -- have no idea if THIS Williams will show up in Paris, or London, or for a full seven matches in New York City this season, or in any other future one. If she does, she'll surely add to her career total of thirteen slam titles. If not, she'll continue to be the most talented, maybe best-ever, player who will forever leave behind many questions about how many major titles she might have won had everything gone perfectly well every time out, while at the same time battling against the lingering residue of the bad taste she often leaves in people's mouths when things DON'T go as planned. It's probably why she wasn't ranked as high as she likely should have been on that "Greatest Players" list put out by Tennis Channel a few weeks ago, and surely is behind that "Love Her, Hate Her" Sports Illustrated cover of a few years back.

Sometimes Serena is simply "amazing," as Safarova called her on Sunday. At other times, she seems simply "elsewhere." Sometimes her behavior is charming, sometimes it's deplorable, even if the criticism of it is often overblown and unbalanced. But she sort of sets herself up for such situations. Saying you're going to shove a ball down a linesperson's throat, and very rarely ever giving full credit to an opponent who bests her doesn't exactly make everyone want to give her the benefit of the doubt, even when it's warranted. But that's Serena. For good, and bad. We saw the good... great, really... last week. Who's know what we'll see next. But, rest assured, it will be interesting, maybe controversial, and will add yet another chapter to her tennis life story.

Man, the tour is going to be a different place when she's not around to give it a jolt every once in a while.

*WEEK 14 CHAMPIONS*
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA (Premier $740K/GCO)
S: Serena Williams/USA def. Lucie Safarova/CZE 6-0/6-1
D: Pavlyuchenkova/Safarova (RUS/CZE) d. Medina-Garrigues/Shvedova (ESP/KAZ)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Serena Williams/USA

...Serena's Charleston title is her first on clay since she won the same event back in 2008, and she's now 40-15 in career singles finals. She's now just one behind Kim Clijsters, and three behind Venus, on the active title-winners list.
=============================
RISERS: Lucie Safarova/CZE & Polona Hercog/SLO
...Safarova, ever the star-crossed and perplexing Czech, had SUCH a, well, Safarovian week in Charleston. She got wins over Mirjana Lucic, Aleksandra Wozniak and Vera Zvonareva, then double-bageled Polona Hercog in the semis. But then she faced the buzzsaw that was Serena in the final. She didn't have a chance, and very nearly got double-bageled herself. Safarova has played in at least one tour singles final every year since 2005, but after going 4-2 in her first six career finals, she's now lost five straight. The only other player with a more vexing record in finals over the last four seasons is Elena Vesnina (also 0-5). Oddly enough, Vesnina reached (and lost) both the singles and doubles finals in Charleston last year. Safarova reached them both this time. Unlike the Russian, though, she at least grabbed the doubles crown with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The pair defeated defending champs Mirza/Vesnina (sheesh!) and the world's top-ranked team, Huber/Raymond, en route to the title. Hercog had unexpected success in Charleston. Following in the footsteps of Dominika Cibulkova in Miami, where the Slovak turned around a very poor season record, the 21-year old Slovenian won four matches -- over veterans Date-Krumm, Lepchenko, Bartoli & Petrova -- after having arrived lugging along the baggage of a 5-13 season mark. At #36, she's now just one spot off the career-high ranking she attained in September of last season.
=============================
SURPRISES: Heidi El Tabakh/CAN & Elena Bovina/RUS
...there have been a lot of Canadians in the tennis news of late, and here's another one. El Tabakh, 25, won the Jackson, Mississippi $25K challenger over the weekend, notching wins over Roxane Vaisemberg, Chanel Simmonds, and #1-seeded Misaki Doi, but it's the player she defeated in the final that is the reason they're both being honored in tandem this week. Yep, it's ol' Elena Bovina, STILL pluggin' away. The Russian's big game used to be so much fun to watch, and she seemed destined for great success before injuries (starting with a shoulder in '05) sidetracked her career. She reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals all the way back in 2002, and climbed as high as #14 in 2005. She's won three tour singles titles, but none since her last in 2004 (a big one, in New Haven). Bovina hasn't even won a slam main draw match since 2005. She last won an ITF singles title in 2010, when she picked up two $25K titles. She's come close to adding to her total this season. She lost to El Tabakh in straights, but this is the world #269 Bovina's second ITF final in '12. The Russian didn't leave Mississippi empty-handed, though. She claimed the doubles championship with Tereza Mrdeza.
=============================
VETERANS: Samantha Stosur/AUS & Nadia Petrova/RUS
...Stosur managed to get past one Williams in Charleston, but couldn't pull off a two-fer. A win over Jamie Hampton, and then some evening rain, caused the Aussie to have to complete her next match against Galina Voskoboeva on the same day that she had to also face Venus in the next round. She won there, too, but her time on court for the day stood at 4:20. As a result, she probably wasn't in the best condition to have to stare down Serena in the SF. Not that it would have likely mattered. After Serena played such a great match against her U.S. Open final conqueror in Miami, she was positively spectacular in the rematch of the rematch. Petrova had one of those weeks in Charleston that bring her entire career into focus. First, she showed why she was once considered to be in the running for the title of the "best" of the Russians, as she defeated Mariana Duque-Marino, staged a huge comeback to take out Jill Craybas, then handled her much younger countrywoman (for now, at least), Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Then, just when it seemed possible to believe that she might have one of those, Dokic-in-Kuala-Lumpur, "dream" weeks, she couldn't crack an egg against Hercog in the QF. Oh, Na- ... well, you know.
=============================
COMEBACK: Venus Williams/USA
...Venus took it a little easier on herself in Charleston than she did in Miami, as she didn't have to play a string of three-setters this time around. Instead, she took down Iveta Benesova, Jelena Jankovic and Anastasia Rodionova in straights before falling to Stosur in three in the quarterfinals. If she can stay healthy for a couple more months, she might arrive in Wimbledon ready to wrap up an Olympic berth... and maybe cause some trouble in the SW19 draw, too.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Anna Schmiedlova/SVK & Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA
...Schmiedlova, 17, won her second of back-to-back ITF titles in another $10K in Antalya, Turkey. The Slovak, for the second straight week, took out Anna-Lena Friedsam in the final, too. Last week, the score was 7-6/6-4. This time it was 7-5/6-2. Anna-Lena probably does not want to once again play her on the court, nor does she want to play her in a fort. She does like her, or fried ham. She does not like her. Sam I am. Elsewhere, 15-year old Brazilian Haddad Maia (the #18-ranked junior) managed to do what Friedsam couldn't -- avoid her recent nemesis. After losing back-to-back junior event finals to Chalena Scholl, Haddad Maia was entered in a $10K challenger in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil. Scholl was nowhere to be seen. BHM won the title, handling South African Natasha Fourouclas 6-0/6-1 in the final. Although one might think that, being so young, this was surely Haddad Maia's first ITF title, but it's not. She actually won another late season (October) challenger last year, also in her home nation.
=============================
DOWN: Sabine Lisicki/GER & Jelena Jankovic/SRB
...poor, Sabine. She just can't even maintain good memories of Charleston, where she won her first career tour title back in 2009. Later that year, she had the horrible ankle injury at the U.S. Open that she faced such a struggle to come back from. Back in South Carolina last week, Lisicki turned her ankle again against Serena in the QF and eventually had to retire. Once more, she left in tears. But at least this time she didn't have to be wheeled off the court. With Lisicki, you look for encouragement wherever you can find it sometimes. Meanwhile, JJ was sent packing in straights in her first match in Charleston by Venus Williams. She dropped the 2nd set at love, and is lamenting her difficulty in finding a new coach. The loss dropped her all the way down to #20, putting her in danger of soon falling out of the Top 20 for the first time since August 2006. She's been in the Top 20 for the last 295 weeks, the longest current streak on tour. To get some idea of how much has changed since JJ wasn't a Top 20er, it's interesting to note the season-ending '06 rankings. Of the final Top 10 that season, six of them are now retired (and that's not counting Kim Clijsters, who's left and come back, and will soon exit again). Also in the Top 20 that season: #13 Anna Chakvetadze, #16 Anastasia Myskina and #19 Anna-Lena Groenefeld. Yep. Six seasons is EASILY a tennis lifetime.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Maryna Zanevska/UKR
...the 18-year old Ukrainian has been burning up the ITF circuit this season. She reached her fourth final of the season this weekend in the $25K in Tessenderlo, Belgium and walked off with her fourth '12 season. She's now tied with Croatia's Ana Savic for the circuit lead. Zanevska notched wins over Anastasia Pivovarova, Kirsten Flipkens, Vesna Dolonts and Tatjana Malek in the final. She also claimed the doubles crown, winning it with partner Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands. You may remember that Schuurs reached the doubles finals at all four junior slams in 2011 (winning twice) with four different partners. Zanevska wasn't one of them.
=============================
JUNIOR STAR: Allie Kiick/USA
...the 16-year old Floridian won the International Spring Championships (G1) in Carlsbad, California, taking out another sweet 16er from "The Sunshine State," Chalena Scholl, 6-0/6-2 in the final. Hmmm, so that's how Haddad Maia avoided her this weekend.
=============================

1. Chas SF - S.Williams d. Stosur 6-1/6-1
Chas Final - S.Williams d. Safarova 6-0/6-1
...as soon as Serena ran off the first eight points of the match against Stosur, I could already hear Carl laughing about how right he was going to be one day later. Apparently, Serena had her own personal Squish List in hand, and she systematically checked off the names as she went. Sammy probably should have been expecting this, but I think Lucie just sort of found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. At least she only had to endure the beating for fifty-eight minutes.
=============================
2. Chas 2nd Rd - Petrova d. Craybas
...2-6/6-7/6-2. After 2:49 of work, Petrova had finally erased the 6-2/6-5 and serving lead that Craybas had once held.
=============================
3. Chas 2nd Rd - Bartoli d. Dushevina 6-2/6-7/6-4
Chas 3rd Rd - Hercog d. Bartoli 6-4/1-6/6-4
...against Dushevina, Bartoli played a 21-minute first game, then survived a 3:04 battle. Against Hercog, though, she squandered a 4-2 3rd set lead. After the way she pushed herself so hard and far in Miami, then characteristically found herself spending so much time on the court yet again in Charleston, this is the sort of result that makes you wonder, no matter how good she CAN be and how much fight she ALWAYS has, whether or not she'll ever be able to successfully physically roll the dice enough times in a row to get herself into position to be able to have a real shot to win a slam.
=============================
4. Chas QF - Stosur d. V.Williams
...6-3/4-6/6-3. Cutting down BOTH Williamses, even at this stage of their careers and Venus' comeback, wasn't likely, so Stosur can at least head to Europe knowing she got one of the wins. Paris is starting to peek up over the horizon... it's time for her to get herself in a good "head space."
=============================
5. Barc Q1 - Rezai d. Garcia-Vidagany 2-6/6-3/6-4
Barc Q2 - Rezai d. Torro-Flor 3-6/7-6/7-6
Barc Q3 - Rezai d. Camerin 7-6/6-1
...for more than a year, Rezai has had a hard time stringing together TWO wins in a row, let alone three. But that's what she had to go to get into the Barcelona draw. After picking up two wins on the weekend, she actually ended up having the easiest time in Match #3 on Monday.
=============================
HM- Cop Q3 - Chakvetadze d. Tsurenko
...5-7/6-4/6-2. Whoa! What's going on here? Aravane AND Anna won three matches to qualify? Wow. Pretty good win over Tsurenko for the office-seeker, too.
=============================

1. Chas 1st Rd - Hradecka d. U.Radwanska
...6-1/6-4. At first, Hradecka swallowed hard when she heard that she'd drawn The Radwanska in the 1st Round. Then, after she'd walked around in circles for a few minutes, mumbling to herself in some sort of Czech/English/evil possession language, someone told her that it wasn't THE Radwanska. It was just Urszula. She felt better after that.
=============================
2. Chas Doubles 1st Rd - Medina-Garrigues/Shvedova d. King/Rodionova
...7-5/6-3. Payback. One week after usual partner King took down Shvedova in doubles in Miami, she got her back in Charleston.
=============================

**CAREER WTA TITLES - active**
43...Venus Williams, USA
41...Kim Clijsters, BEL
40...SERENA WILLIAMS, USA
24...Maria Sharapova, RUS
18...Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
13...Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
12...Victoria Azarenka, BLR
12...Jelena Jankovic, SRB
12...Dinara Safina, RUS
12...Vera Zvonareva, RUS
11...Ana Ivanovic, SRB
11...Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP
10...Nadia Petrova, RUS

**MOST WTA FINALS - since 2009**
24...Caroline Wozniacki (15-9)
16...Victoria Azarenka (12-4)
14...Maria Sharapova (5-9)
12...Vera Zvonareva (5-7)
11...SERENA WILLIAMS (7-4)
10...Samantha Stosur (3-7)

**WTA FINALS SINCE 2009 - WORST RECORDS**
0-5...LUCIE SAFAROVA, CZE
0-5...Elena Vesnina, RUS
0-3...Lucie Hradecka, CZE
0-3...Maria Kirilenko, RUS

**CAREER WEEKS AT #1 - active**
[singles]
122...Serena Williams
67...Caroline Wozniacki
26...Dinara Safina
20...Kim Clijsters
18...Jelena Jankovic
17...Maria Sharapova
12...Ana Ivanovic
11...VICTORIA AZARENKA
11...Venus Williams
[doubles]
179...LIEZEL HUBER
163...Cara Black
117...Lisa Raymond
87...Paola Suarez
61...Samantha Stosur
24...Gisela Dulko
18...Flavia Pennetta
10...Kveta Peschke
10...Katarina Srebotnik
8...Serena Williams
8...Venus Williams
4...Kim Clijsters

**2012 SINGLES/DOUBLES FINAL IN SAME EVENT**
Auckland - Flavia Pennetta, ITA (L / L)
Bogota - Alexandra Panova, RUS (L / W)
Acapulco - Sara Errani, ITA (W / W)
Charleston - LUCIE SAFAROVA (L / W)

**OLDEST 2012 SINGLES CHAMPIONS**
30y,6m,2w - SERENA WILLIAMS, USA (Charleston)
28y,9m,3w - Daniela Hantuchova, SVK (Pattaya)
28y,6m - Zheng Jie, CHN (Auckland)
28y,1w - Sofia Arvidsson, SWE (Memphis)

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (Intl' $220K/hard indoor)
11 Final: Wozniacki d. Safarova (Wozniacki 2010-11 champion)
11 Doubles Champions: Larsson/Woehr
12 Top Seeds: Wozniacki/Kerber
=============================
=SF=
#1 Wozniacki d. Martic
#2 Kerber d. Babos
=FINAL=
#1 Wozniacki d. #2 Kerber

...her name is Caroline. Now, Wozniacki might face a stumbling block in a potential QF match-up with Arvidsson, who's beaten and given the Dane trouble in the past. A potential final with Kerber or Barthel could be a challenge, too. But, come on, she's playing in Denmark, plus she's about due to win her first title of the season before she takes on (but doesn't likely conquer) the clay season.

BARCELONA, SPAIN (Intl' $220K/red clay outdoor)
11 Final: Vinci d. Hradecka
11 Doubles Champions: Benesova/Zahlavova-Strycova
12 Top Seeds: Schiavone/Goerges
=============================
=SF=
#5 Pennetta d. #1 Schiavone
#4 Vinci d. #7 Errani
=FINAL=
#5 Pennetta d. #4 Vinci

...I was going to pick Goerges into the SF, but I couldn't resist the all-Italian Final Four.

You're my OX-OX-OXYGEN... I'm breathing you, I'm breathing you, breathing you, I'm breathing you in.

Oh. Hello. Carl just singing along to new favorite song. Can't get out of head. Todd expect Carl to gloat for picking Serena to win Charleston. Carl no have to gloat. Everyone already know Carl better picker than EITHER Todd or Carla. Carl take month off and get pick right FIRST TIME BACK. Because Carl better. Simple.

COPENHAGEN
=SF=
8 arvidsson d. jovanovski
6 barthel d. 3 jankovic
=FINAL=
6 barthel d. 8 arvidsson

BARCELONA
=SF=
1 schiavone d. 3 cibulkova
7 errani d. 6 cetkovska
=FINAL=
7 errani d. 1 schiavone

...Carl guess Carl all right with Todd taking Wozniacki. Todd need all help can get against Carl in Picks. Carl just flip stone for Errani. Picking red clay events make Carl head hurt. May be only thing Carl and Todd have in common.

All for now.

1Q BSA's: A-Whacking-She-Did-Go

2012-04-07T19:35:00.003-04:00

"I am a year older and I behave more like a lady than a crazy kid."
-- Victoria Azarenka

*2012 1Q Awards - Wks.1-13*
**TOP PLAYERS**
1. Victoria Azarenka, BLR

...finally bringing all her talent together along with a more mature attitude (without losing her fighting spirit), Azarenka blazed a bloody trail through the beating heart of the tour throughout the 1st Quarter, rarely ever being legitimately challenged by her usually overmatched opponents. Going back to her on-the-verge ending to the '11 season, she put together a string of six consecutive appearances in finals, including a four-event title streak this season that included a 26-match season opening run (the best in the WTA since 1997). Her Australian Open title leapfrogged her from #3 into the #1 position and, not only that, she's been the only woman on tour who's managed to solve The Riddle of The Radwanska.
=============================
2. Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
...speaking of It... err, I mean her. A-Rad's ascent up the WTA mountain, which began last summer, has continued (mostly) unabated in 2012. The Dubai and Miami champ's 26 match wins are tied with Azarenka for the tour lead, and her four additional "unofficial" Fed Cup zone play victories means she's been on the winning side of the ledger MORE than any player in '12. Thing is, though, she's been openly critical of the on-court noise made by the world #1, and all four of her losses this season have come against the same Belarusian. Has Azarenka's bolder game and take-no-prisoners style made her immune to the Pole's crafty-and-cunning style... or is The Radwanska is simply lulling her budding rival into a false sense of security that will come back to blow up in her face later this season? To be continued.
=============================
3. Liezel Huber & Lisa Raymond, USA/USA
...Azarenka's singles streak overshadowed the 16-match run of Huber and Raymond, whose four titles lead the tour. The late-forming American pair have been the WTA's most dominant team since becoming regular partners last summer. During a brief tryout on the clay last spring, they went 1-4 before putting together a SF run at Roland Garros. After that, from the '11 grass court season until the end of the '12 1Q, they compiled a 53-10 record and won eight titles, while Huber reclaimed the #1 ranking and entered the 2Q with the same number of computer points (10,040) as world #2 Raymond, whose last stint in the top spot was back in 2007.
=============================
4. Maria Sharapova, RUS
...Sharapova has arguably had the worst/best 1st Quarter by any player -- male or female -- in the last twenty-five years. Before she did it this year, NO PLAYER had ever reached the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami finals (the three biggest prizes of the 1Q) in the same season, but gone 0-3 in those matches. She's still solidly positioned at #2 in the rankings, but since she broke back through into the upper echelon of the sport last summer in Paris (SF) and London (RU), she's gone 0-4 in finals against the current #1, #3 and #4-ranked players in the world. Whew! It's a good thing her name isn't Caroline, or she'd be getting all sorts of things shoveled onto her head right about now.
=============================
5. Petra Kvitova, CZE
...I was actually considering having Kvitova atop the 1Q's "Down" list, but then I refreshed my memory of what happened at the start of 2012. It's only April, but it's easy to forget that Kvitova went 4-0 to help the Czech team win the Hopman Cup. She reached the SF in Sydney and the Australian Open, losing a lead to Li Na in the former, and a very well-played match to Sharapova in the latter, narrowly missing two final battles against Vika (she defeated Azarenka in the Tour Championships decider at the end of last season). After that, she led the defending champion Czech Fed Cup team back to the FC semis while continuing her indoor mastery. Her month-long absence, failure to rise to #1, and repeat of her career-long troubles on U.S. soil in Indian Wells and Miami sort of put a damper on her quarter, but the overwhelming feeling that she's had a BAD '12 season thus far, I suppose, is mostly because of the stunning expectations she carried over from 2011.
=============================
6. Angelique Kerber, GER
...I guess that "shocking" semifinal run at Flushing Meadows last September wasn't a fluke, after all. Leading the next wave of the German assault on the WTA rankings, Kerber climbed into the Top 20 and won her first tour title at the Paris Indoors, becoming the first woman from her country to win the crown since someone named Steffi back in 1995. With Andrea Petkovic and (once again) Sabine Lisicki facing injury layoffs and/or issues, Kerber looks to be an ongoing part of the season-long race to be 2012's top-ranked German.
=============================
7. Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci, ITA
...together, and individually, the pair of Italians have made their marks on tour this season. Errani had a dream run to the Australian Open QF in January, then pulled off a title sweep of the singles and doubles crowns in Acapulco. Her partner for half of those titles in Mexico, of course, was Vinci. They combined to win in Monterrey and reached the AO Doubles final, as well. Vinci, for her part, climbed back into the singles Top 20 after having spent eight weeks there in '11.
=============================
8. Czech Fed Cup Team
...for the fourth consecutive tie, the 2011 champion Czech Republic Fed Cup team went on the road. For the fourth consecutive tie, this time against Germany, the Czechs emerged with the weekend victory after both Kvitova and Lucie Safarova came back from a set down to secure the three winning points. The team will soon play for a shot to have a second straight Czech-strewn FC final, something which hasn't happened since the four-year run from 1983-86.
=============================
9. Mona Barthel, GER
...a year ago, Barthel's name would have mostly elicited a big, "Who?" In 2012, though, the young German has often proven to be a tough opponent for even the tour's best players to eliminate. Before Marion Bartoli finally did the honors in Miami, it was Barthel who nearly ended Azarenka's long winning streak in Indian Wells (staging a huge comeback, she twice served for the match). In Hobart, she made it through qualifying and ended up claiming her first tour singles title, defeating both the defending champion and tournament #1 seed en route.
=============================
10. Daniela Hantuchova, SVK
...the former Wonder Girl has been around for a long time now, and occasionally she pops up to remind everyone of all that she was once expected to be. The 1Q was one of those times. Sort of. Her title in Brisbane, and runner-up result in Pattaya, spearheaded her very good, just under the top tier, start to 2012. Hey, it was enough to help her climb back into the Top 20 for the first time since 2008.
=============================

"I think it's just too loud. I don't think it's very necessary to scream that loud. So if they (WTA) want to do something, why not?" - Agnieszka Radwanska, on Azarenka's on-court noise

"About Maria, I mean, what can I say? For sure that is pretty annoying and just too loud." - Agnieszka Radwanska, on Sharapova's on-court noise

**RISERS**
1. Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
2. Angelique Kerber, GER
3. Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci, ITA
4. Marion Bartoli, FRA
5. Julia Goerges, GER
6. Maria Kirilenko, RUS
7. Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
8. Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
9. Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka, CZE
10. Vania King, USA
11. Kaia Kanepi, EST
12. Sania Mirza/Elena Vesnina, IND/RUS
13. Sofia Arvidsson, SWE
14. Lucie Safarova, CZE
15. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
HM- Elena Baltacha, GBR

**FRESH FACES**
1. Mona Barthel, GER
2. Christina McHale, USA
3. Sloane Stephens, USA
4. Bojana Jovanovski, SRB
5. Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino, ESP
6. Timea Babos, HUN
7. Lesia Tsurenko, UKR
8. Garbine Muguruza-Blanco, ESP
9. Monica Niculescu, ROU
10. Alexandra Dulgheru, ROU
11. Irina-Camelia Begu, ROU
12. Heather Watson, GBR
13. Alexandra Cadantu, ROU
14. Valeria Savinykh, RUS
15. Alexandra Krunic, SRB
HM- Ayumi Morita, JPN & Ons Jabeur, TUN

**JUNIORS**
1. Taylor Townsend, USA
2. Ashleigh Barty, AUS
3. Yulia Putintseva, RUS
4. Eugenie Bouchard, CAN
5. Madison Keys, USA
6. Krista Hardebeck, USA
7. Chalena Scholl, USA
8. Sabina Sharipova, UZB
9. Irina Khromacheva, RUS
10. Anett Kontaveit, EST
11. Kyle McPhillips, USA
12. Anna Schmiedlova, SVK
13. Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA
14. Sachia Vickery, USA
15. Barbora Krejcikova, CZE
HM- Daria Salnikova, RUS

**SURPRISES**
1. Sara Errani, ITA
2. Alexandra Panova, RUS
3. Jamie Hampton, USA
4. Marina Erakovic, NZL
5. Nina Bratchikova, RUS
6. Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears, USA
7. Svetlana Kuznetsova/Vera Zvonareva, RUS
8. Stefanie Voegele, SUI
9. Olga Govortsova, BLR
10. Romina Oprandi, ITA
11. Paula Ormaechea, ARG
12. Florencia Molinero, ARG
13. Carla Giorgi, ITA
14. Varvara Lepchenko, USA
15. Eva Birnerova, CZE
HM- Chan Yung-Jan/Chan Hao-Ching, TPE

**VETERANS**
1. Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond, USA
2. Maria Sharapova, RUS
3. Daniela Hantuchova, SVK
4. Flavia Pennetta, ITA
5. Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka, CZE
6. Roberta Vinci, ITA
7. Kveta Peschke/Katarina Srebotnik, CZE/SLO
8. Zheng Jie, CHN
9. Li Na, CHN
10. Nadia Petrova, RUS
11. Kim Clijsters, BEL
12. Samantha Stosur, AUS
13. Serena Williams, USA
14. Iveta Benesova, CZE
15. Greta Arn, HUN
HM- Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN

"I'm just happy that I'm here and that I'm able to play again. And, I'm feeling healthy and having fun again. It's not the most important thing in my life anymore. So I'm just going to try and enjoy every day that I'm on the court." - Alisa Kleybanova

**COMEBACKS**
1. Alisa Kleybanova, RUS
2. Hsieh Su-Wei, TPE
3. Chinese Fed Cup Team
4. Australian Fed Cup Team
5. Ana Savic, CRO
6. Ana Ivanovic, SRB
7. Sorana Cirstea, ROU
8. Paola Suarez, ARG
9. Venus Williams, USA
10. Aleksandra Wozniak, CAN
HM- Eleni Daniilidou, GRE & Michaella Kracjicek, NED

"You shouldn't repair something that's not broken." - Former #1, current #6, Caroline Wozniacki

**DOWN**
1. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
2. Vera Zvonareva, RUS
3. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
4. Jelena Dokic, AUS
5. Rebecca Marino, CAN
6. Aravane Rezai, FRA
7. Jelena Jankovic, SRB
8. Andrea Petkovic, GER
9. French Fed Cup Team
10. Sabine Lisicki, GER
11. Petra Kvitova, CZE
12. Dominika Cibulkova, SVK
13. Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
14. Kim Clijsters, BEL
15. Kaia Kanepi, EST (since Week 1)

**ITF PLAYERS**
1. Ana Savic, CRO
2. Aleksandra Wozniak, CAN
3. Sofia Kvatsabaia, GEO
4. Maryna Zanevska, UKR
5. Ashleigh Barty, AUS
6. Sandra Zaniewska, POL
7. Annika Beck, GER
8. Kristyna Pliskova & Karolina Pliskova, CZE
9. Arantxa Rus, NED
10. Alexandra Dulgheru, ROU
HM- Marta Sirotnika, RUS & Olga Govortsova, BLR

"I will always play with my heart and with my passion." - Australian Open champ Victoria Azarenka

**TOP PERFORMANCES**
[Outdoor]
Victoria Azarenka's 26-match, four-title streak that enabled her to become the twenty-first women's #1
=============================
[Indoor]
Petra Kvitova leads Czech Republic to Hopman Cup and Fed Cup 1st Round wins, extending her "unofficial" indoor match win streak to 27 matches
=============================
[Fed Cup]
With Ivanovic absent and Jankovic injured, Bojana Jovanovski loads her team onto her back, winning singles and doubles matches on the final day of the tie to send Serbia to its first Fed Cup semifinal
=============================
[Juniors]
Bannerette Taylor Townsend sweeps both the Girls singles and doubles titles at the Australian Open
=============================
[ITF]
The Pliskova Sisters -- Karolina & Kristyna -- sweep singles and doubles titles in back-to-back challenger events, as they split the $25K singles crowns in Andrezieux-Boutheon (Kristyna) and Grenoble (Karolina) while teaming to win the doubles at both
=============================

*TOP MATCHES*
Miami 4th Rd. - Azarenka d. Cibulkova
...1-6/7-6(7)/7-5. An ultra-aggressive Cibulkova dominates the early going, blasting winners and taking a 6-1/4-0 lead. She served at 5-2, but blinked just enough to allow Azarenka to begin to climb back into the match without ever having to resort to the energy-sapping, crowd-testing histrionics that often accompanied her pushbacks in the past. Cibulkova never collapsed, coming within two points of the win on five different occasions, and fighting until the match's closing moments (narrowly missing on a blazing passing shot attempt on the final point). Azarenka got win #26 in a row, the hard way... but there would be no #27.
=============================
Australian Open SF - Sharapova d. Kvitova
...6-2/3-6/6-4. For once, the hype lived up to the reality, as the Wimbledon '11 final rematch showed just how tough things are getting at the top of the WTA. In the end, Sharapova was the best on the big points, going 5-for-5 on break point attempts and surging past the Czech in the final games after an important replay reversal helped her avoid disaster when down 4-3 in the 3rd.
=============================

[Fed Cup]
1st Round - Kvitova/CZE d. Goerges/GER
...3-6/6-3/10-8. In late 2010, Goerges was one of the last players to defeat Kvitova indoors. It almost happened again, as the German went up a set and twice came within two points of winning the match. In the end, though, the Czech proved too tough.

[ITF]
$25K Grenoble Final - Ka.Pliskova d. Kr.Pliskova
...7-6(11)/7-6(6). One 19-year old twin prevails against the other in a tight final that pushed Karolina's career record against her sister to 5-3. It was their second meeting in a singles final, with Kristyna having won in Kurumie in 2010.

[Doubles]
Australian Open QF - Mirza/Vesnina d. Huber/Raymond
...6-3/5-7/7-6(6). A disputed double-bounce on match point -- the umpire didn't see it, and Huber refused to admit it happened -- set off a near-rumble as it lit a fire under the always-combustible Vesnina, leading to an "oops, did I almost bean you with that shot?" moment. Mirza and her Russian partner eventually won on their eighth match point. Somewhere, Cara Black smiled.

"We won the match, like, twice!" - an angry Elena Vesnina

==REMEMBER WHEN?==
Hopman Cup Round Robin - Kvitova d. Wozniacki 7-6/3-6/6-4
...at the time, this seemed like a world #1 vs. world-#2-and-heir-apparent match-up the would help tell the tale of the 2012 season. Things can change in a few months time. I suppose they could again, too.

"I'm probably close to crying." - U.S. Open champ Samantha Stosur, after her crushing 1st Round loss at the Australian Open

==MEANWHILE, KIRILENKO ASKS, "When do I get another shot?"==
Indian Wells 3rd Rd. - Petrova d. Stosur 6-1/6-7/7-6
Miami 4th Rd. - S.Williams d. Stosur 7-5/6-3
...last summer in NYC, Stosur's drive to her first slam title was powered by bravura performances against Petrova and Serena. Getting their chances at '12 revenge, both proved successful in March. Meanwhile, Maria Kirilenko, a loser against the Aussie in a match that included a women's slam record 32-point tie-break at the Open, is still looking for her first "season after" shot at Stosur, after having already gone 2-0 in late '11 rematches against her in Tokyo and Beijing.

"I don't love tennis... but I can't live without it yet." - Serena Williams

*UPSETS*
Fed Cup 1st Round - Tsurenko/UKR d. Schiavone/ITA
...6-1/6-2. Italy (and Francesca, too) ultimately bounced back to advance to the SF, but the young Ukrainian's tie-opening crushing of the veteran came close to kicking off a HUGE FC upset.
=============================
Australian Open 4th Rd. - Makarova d. S.Williams
...6-2/6-3. The Russian is no stranger to pulling off big upsets, but surely even she never foresaw holding Serena to five games, tying her lowest-ever total in a slam loss.
=============================
Indian Wells 2nd Rd. - McHale d. Kvitova
...2-6/6-2/6-3. Kvitova's U.S. fortunes continue to turn downward, as she's broken for the final time in the eighth game of the 3rd, courtesy of back-to-back double-faults.
=============================
Miami 2nd Rd. - Muguruza-Blanco d. Zvonareva 6-4/6-3
Miami 3rd Rd. - Muguruza-Blanco d. Pennetta 6-2/1-6/7-6
...a wild card well utilized, both by the Miami tournament AND the young Spaniard.
=============================
Miami QF - Wozniacki d. S.Williams
...6-4/6-4. Sure, Serena, being Serena, said afterward that she only gave about "20%" of her normal self, but even such a post-match putdown won't erase from the books the Dane's first career win over a Williams Sister.
=============================

"For everyone else it's just the 1st round, but for me it's very emotional. I'll always remember it -- it will always be the first match of my comeback." - Alisa Kleybanova

*COMEBACKS*
Miami 1st Rd. - Kleybanova d. Larsson
...2-6/6-3/6-2. After ten months away and treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma, the Russian returns. Everyone is happy for her. Probably even Larsson.
=============================
Fed Cup 1st Round - Schiavone/ITA d. K.Bondarenko/UKR
...6-7/7-5/6-4. Cleaning up a bit of the mess she'd previously created, Schiavone wins this 3:00 contest after seeing K-Bond serve with a 7-6/5-1 lead. From that moment in the match, the Italian won twelve of the next thirteen points. The rest was history.
=============================
Indian Wells 4th Rd. - Kerber d. McHale
...6-3/3-6/7-6. After having saved two match points in an earlier I.W. match against Sloane Stephens, Kerber saved three more against another Bannerette.
=============================
Sydney QF - A.Radwanska d. Wozniacki
...3-6/7-5/6-2. Maybe only one player with Polish heritage at a time is allowed to claim a suite on the WTA's top floor. If so, maybe this is where C-Woz and A-Rad -- C-Woz 2.0? -- performed the "key exchange." In the 2nd, after coming back from 4-1, Wozniacki served for a straight sets win. She couldn't put the match away. Then, battling an injured wrist, she saw Radwanska come back to get her first career win over a world #1.
=============================
Paris QF - Bartoli d. Vinci
...4-6/6-4/7-6. La Trufflette never gives up or gives in. Just ask Vinci. The Italian led this match 6-1/4-1 then, after Bartoli surged to take the 2nd, led 5-2 in the 3rd, as well. Bartoli still found a way to win.
=============================

"I gave it some milk, and it just spit it all over me. I was like, is this the thank you I get for just being nice and petting the kangaroo? I got milk all over myself. I guess I deserved that for the story last year." - Caroline Wozniacki at the Australian Open, recalling her REAL encounter with a 'roo one year after her tale of more violent run-in with an IMAGINARY one had created a bit of a controversy

*CHOKES*
Australian Open 4th Rd. - Clijsters d. Li
...4-6/7-6/6-4 For a bit, it seemed like Clijsters might be destined to defend her AO title. After coming back to win after falling behind Li 6-4/3-1, then being down quadruple match point (at 6-2) in the 2nd set tie-break, it was an easy assumption. Of course, had Li gone down the line with a drop shot retrieval up 6-5 in the TB rather than right to Clijsters, who promptly lobbed over the Chinese vet to save her fourth straight MP, her storyline in Melbourne might have played out very differently.
=============================
Miami 1st Rd. - Watson d. Cirstea
...6-3/3-6/7-6. Down 5-0 in the 3rd, the Brit saved two match points and went on to victory.
=============================
Sydney SF - Li d. Kvitova
...1-6/7-5/6-2. Dredging up memories of her blown lead to Li at Roland Garros (a loss that essentially prevented the Czech from finishing '11 at #1), world #2 Kvitova goes off the rails after taking a 6-1/3-1 lead, then sees Li take control again. If Kvitova had won the title in Sydney, she'd moved into the #1 spot. After coming up short of grabbing #1 again in the AO, then seeing Azarenka put quite a bit of distance between herself and the field, now world #3 Kvitova's wait seems as if it might last quite a while longer than previously anticipated.
=============================

"I would never say Martina was #1 when there was no one playing or that she was the best when no one way playing." - Caroline Wozniacki, on tennis great Martina Navratilova, who she also accused of trying to "stir everything up" by being "overly critical" of her game while she was the #1-ranked player

==WHAT DID MARTINA DO TO DESERVE THIS?==
It's seemingly been "Martina Hunting Season" in 2012. First, Caroline Wozniacki injudiciously chooses to publicly criticize Navratilova for being publicly critical of HER. Later, the "Dancing with the Stars" wardrobe department decides to dress Martina in the most wildly inappropriate clothes they could find (especially for a 55-year old former, but still athletic, athlete who would have been better served to be made as comfortable on the unfamiliar dance floor as possible), then paint up her face as if they were grade-schoolers having just broken into their mother's make-up kit. Maybe she would have been the first celebrity voted off under ideal circumstances, but even Martina had a hard time coming back from the love/40 deficit she faced before she'd even attempted her first heel lead in front of a camera. Additionally, to add insult to injury, Tennis Channel's "100 Greatest Players of All Time" series ranked Martina behind Steffi Graf in the best-ever female player rankings. I'm not sure which is the worse offense, but I'm leaning toward the latter one.

==PROOF THAT EVEN THE RADWANSKA ISN'T ALL BAD... maybe==
Thus far in 2012, unless your nickname is Vika, you haven't had a chance when you've gone into battle against The Radwanska. Thirty times It has taken up arms against non-Vika foes, and thirty times It has emerged victorious. Somehow, though, Hsieh Su-Wei managed to avoid It's wrath. In Kuala Lumpur, with a meeting with the entity looming in the quarterfinals, the Taiwanese veteran was granted a walkover. Apparently, The Radwanska was worn out after having been forced to complete two separate battles in the same day the day before. Qualifier Hsieh, who hadn't reached a tour SF since 2001 before she did so in Pattaya a few weeks earlier, was immediately advanced into yet another semi. She ended up winning the title, the first of her career. Poor, Su-Wei. I'm sure The Radwanska will come calling one day, looking for Hsieh to pay back It's kindness, with interest. Sure, it feels good at the moment... but never make a deal with the devil, or The Radwanska. Never.

**By the Numbers...**
0... number of matches Marion Bartoli will be playing in the Olympics this summer, as La Trufflette will fall "victim" to rules which would not allow her father Walter to serve as her coach
=============================
3... number of singles semifinalists from last year's Wimbledon who also reached the SF of the 2012 Australian Open
=============================
4... with Azarenka's maiden AO title, the current number of consecutive women's first-time slam champs
=============================
4th... year in a row that Russia, Italy and the Czech Republic have all reached the Fed Cup semifinals
=============================
5... first-time tour singles champions in 2012's 1st Quarter, after there were six first-timers during the entire 2011 season
=============================
6... number of players who began the Australian Open with a shot to end it as the world #1, which Azarenka eventually did
=============================
6th... consecutive years in which the Russians have reached the Fed Cup semis
=============================
500... career singles wins total surpassed by Serena Williams at the Australian Open
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600... career singles wins total surpassed by Venus Williams at Miami
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10-21... Peta Kvitova's career record in matches played on U.S. soil
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2004... the last time a woman won a title the week before a slam, then won a slam title immediately afterward, before Azarenka did so in Sydney (then Melbourne) in January
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2006... before Auckland, the last time Zheng Jie had won a tour singles title
=============================

=THE GOOD=
Kaia Kanepi opens the season by winning the title in Brisbane
=============================
Victoria Azarenka is the first player to ever jump from #3 directly to #1, skipping over that pesky, "who-needs-the-headache?" #2 slot
=============================
Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino, ranked #174, is the lowest-ranked first-time tour singles champion since an unranked Kim Clijsters won the U.S. Open in September 2009 (and, as far as players with rankings, since Alexandra Dulgheru in Warsaw in May '09)
=============================

"Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper 'I love you'
Birds singing in the sycamore trees
Dream a little dream of me."
- Vania King, singing a verse from "Dream a Little Dream of Me," fulfilling Pam Shriver's request, after her Australian Open 2nd Round win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

=THE BAD=
Kanepi going 1-3 since winning the Brisbane title
=============================
Azarenka often being met with catcalls from the stands and "Whack-a-Vika" comments from other players throughout her Australian Open title run
=============================

"You're in the air so I can keep on breathing, breathing
You know exactly how to keep my world spinning, spinning
Won't let you go, boy don't you know you are the air I breathe, the air I need
When you're around me I can feel my heart is beating, beating
I wanna show you, wanna tell you how I'm feeling, feeling
So come with me, so I can touch your body
Don't make me wait, don't hesitate."
- Caroline Wozniacki, singing in her for-charity debut single "Oxygen"

=THE UGLY=
The whole Caroline Wozniacki/Piotr Wozniacki/Ricardo Sanchez coaching fiasco
=============================
Maria Sharapova vs. The Radwanska in Miami
=============================
Heather Watson vs Victoria Azarenka... in Melbourne AND Miami
=============================

=THE TASTY... even (or maybe especially?) if you're The Radwanska=

=THE EXPECTED=
Francesca Schiavone and Jelena Jankovic met in Brisbane and produced a wild, nearly three-hour match that saw the Italian save two match points before eventually downing the Serb
=============================
A pair of Fed Cup stalwarts, Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci, who hadn't played doubles together since 2003, teamed together to save Team Italia's bacon (pancetta?), winning the deciding doubles match to send Italy back to the semifinals
=============================

=THE UNEXPECTED=
After winning Miami, the biggest title of her career, Agnieszka Radwanska fired coach Borna Vikic, who'd been coaching her and her sister Urszula on a trial basis since January. A-Rad said, with typical bluntness, "He did not pass."

=THE LONG-OVERDUE=
In Fed Cup action, with the likes of Li, Peng and Zheng in action, China won the Australia/Oceania zone playoffs to advance to the 2012 World Group II Playoffs. It's Team China's first FC advancement since 2008, when the team notched a 1st Round tie victory to reach the semifinals.

=THE OVERLY-FAMILIAR=
In Sydney, Sofia Arvidsson and Alexandra Dulgheru met not once, not twice, but THREE times on the court. In qualifying, Arvidsson defeated Dulgheru. After Dulgheru got into the draw as a Lucky Loser, she got some payback by defeating Arvidsson. Then, in doubles, the two met on opposite sides of the net once again. There, Arvidsson and Jelena Dokic defeated Dulgheru and Michaella Krajicek to give the Swede a final 2-1 advantage over the Romanian for the tournament.

=and... THE "NOT THE NEXT CONTESTANT ON 'THE AMAZING RACE'"=
Bojana Jovanovski -- transportation-impaired last summer when she flew to her next tournament in Carlsbad, California, only to land in Carlsbad, New Mexico... 983 miles from the event grounds -- was at it again in January. On the trip from her hotel to the courts in Sydney, another driver ran a red light, getting into an accident with the Serb's courtesy car.

Hmmm, you don't think that maybe JJ is contagious and she's somehow infected her countrywoman with some of her "Jankovician-ness," do you? Anyway...

All for now.

Wk.13- Watch Out... The Radwanska Might Get You

2012-04-02T18:11:00.007-04:00

Thanks to a certain Polish go-getter, Maria Sharapova won't have any problems coming up with a scary story to impart to her future children if she wants to keep them in line.

Some day, when the kids won't listen, and Sasha is off bouncing a ball somewhere, Sharapova might find herself needing to come up with something that will make them be quiet and allow her some time to decompress after a long day of business meetings and marketing presentations revolving around one of her many new product lines.

When the kids, at first, don't listen, Maria will sit them down in the side room in which she sometimes goes to be alone, locking the door behind her. It usually happens when she's reminded of a particularly bad memory from her past. "You know how mama comes in here and closes the door?," she'll ask. When the two blonde tots shake their heads, she'll impart her first bit of wisdom. "Well, I come in here to be alone. I think about how I managed to survive a few truly horrible days, five years apart." As they stare at her and silently blink, she'll lower her voice and utter, "And you should listen to what I have to say. Because, one day, The Radwanska might come to get you, too."

She'll tell them of having gone to New York City when she was just a teenager. Her experience there had been exquisite. Clad in a little black dress, her smile lit up the night sky. One year later, though, she faced off against The Radwanska there. At first glance, It seemed to be just a normal being you might pass on the street. But The Radwanska was very smart. And, back then, while It was still young and not yet as skilled in the art of deception and battle, The Radwanska liked to be demonstrative when It distracted and psyched out Its opponents. "Well," Maria will say, "at least that's the tactics It decided to use against me." She'll tell the kids about how right as she was about to attack The Radwanska, It'd hop around and make like It was going to charge her. It played with her mind, and caused her to make mistakes. Then, once the battle began, The Radwanska didn't really flash any big weapons. "Certainly not as big as mine," Maria will remember. "But it didn't matter. It expertly moved me around our agreed-upon place of battle, and tired me out. I didn't know what to do. I'd try too hard, and make a mistake. The Radwanska would counter my big punches with lighter ones from weird angles, and I'd have a hard time fighting back. It frustrated me, and I become a little unglued, to be honest. Oh, I didn't show it... but I made so many mistakes, it was sort of obvious. Especially to The Radwanska. It just emboldened It."

After leaving that battle battered and bruised, Maria will tell her offspring, she met up with The Radwanska many times over the years that followed. She always bested her adversary, making her wonder what had happened that time in New York that had rattled her so. After a while, she sort of forgot about that one bad fight, thinking that it was only an aberration. "The Radwanska had me right where It wanted me."

Almost five years after that first horrifying encounter, Maria will tell of how she and The Radwanska met again in Miami. It didn't take long for her to realize that some things had changed, while some had remained the same. Scarily so. Having forgotten about the frustrating tactics often employed by The Radwanska against her, Maria will recount how she'd gone into THIS contest without being as leery as she should have been. "I had no answers when The Radwanska started to cast It's spell on me all over again. Even worse, It had changed. It was stronger now. It had a few bigger weapons at Its disposal, and a willingness to use them whenever the mood struck. I could never tell when it was going to happen, though. The Radwanska's face never let on what was going on inside It's head. The craftiness. The mathematical equations and tables studied -- at least I'm guessing -- to determine what tactic to use and when, all timed out and selected to use right when I'd least expect it. Then, when you finally give in and admit defeat, The Radwanska smiles. It sends a shiver down your back. Was it all an illusion. Suddenly, The Radwanska didn't look as imposing as It had a few moments before. How could that be? What just happened? Was it me!? I didn't know what to do!"

The kids cautiously exchange glances as their mother puts a hand over her eyes and tries to contain herself. As usual, it only takes a moment. Probably less than a second. So quick that, unless someone knows her as well as they do, they wouldn't even have noticed the crack that developed behind her eyes before she shielded them from view.

"Well, let's just say that it was a horrifying experience. It was like I was living out the day from five years before all over again, only this time The Radwanska was more self-assured and confident in It's approach. More efficient, too. It didn't need to trick me to beat me. Or psych me out with idle threats. It was just better than me. Pardon my French, but it scared the crap out of me. It really did. Apparently, I hadn't learned anything, wasn't quite as good a fighter as I used to be... AND The Radwanska had become a more lethal opponent Itself. I tell you, if I wasn't who I was I'd probably been REALLY depressed. After all, I'd gotten through such a beating at The Radwanska's hands before, and climbed to the top of the pyramid to become declared the best fighter in the land. Well, at least I was ONE of them. No one ever said that about The Radwanska."

"What happened to The Radwanska, Mommy?," one wide-eyed munchkin will ask.

"I'm not sure, honey," Maria will whisper.

Then, with a hint of fear, one child queries, "Will The Radwanska ever come after me?"

"Oh, I'm sure The Radwanska doesn't have any interest in that," Maria will say, then begin to wonder. "But then I thought It was through coming after me, too. Sure, I'd heard rumblings that the Radwanska had been saying things about me behind my back for a while. I even made a crack about It losing a recent battle one time. Hmmm, maybe that was what got The Radwanska mad, and made It come after me again. Why did I make It mad?"

Maria gets a far off look in her eyes. "I'd faced such a foe before, but SHE didn't scare me like The Radwanska did. The Serena was The Best of Them All. I beat her at her own game. You'd think it would make you feel better about everything else. But it doesn't. Maybe it's because you can always see The Serena coming. You can prepare yourself and, if you lose, you're prepared for the pain. With The Radwanska, it's like It's not there and then -- poof! -- there It is. You don't see It coming until It's already got you. You know, I've stopped looking behind every tree, and around every corner. Maybe I'm doing it again. Maybe The Radwanska is still out there. Waiting for the perfect moment to pounce."

The kids are worried now. "How do we know when the Radwanska is coming, Mama?!"

"You can't. Not really.," Maria will haltingly say. "You probably should sleep with one eye open, a night light on, and a heavy racket right next to the bed. Just in case. The Radwanska COULD come calling in the middle of the night, and you'll be prepared when It shows up." She chuckles to herself. "That's what you tell youself. 'Next time, you'll be prepared.' You won't let The Radwanska scare you. You'll be prepared... you'll be prepared... you'll be prepared..."

After about ten minutes of hearing their mother repeat the line as if some sort of mantra, little Yuri and Yelena grab each other's hands and maneuver their way down the hall and back to bed. They pull the covers up over their heads, and try to block out the sound of their mother's voice as it drones on into the dead of night.

"You'll be prepared... you'll be prepared..."

Anyway, I just figure that Sharapova, one day, will have all sorts of stories to tell about encounters such as the one she had on Saturday afternoon. Oh, such a story might scare the kids, you say? They'll never get to sleep after hearing a tale such as that, you surmise. Well, yeah. Maybe. But that's something that Maria will have to deal with later, like it or not. You know, just like how she'll have to one day deal with the fact that the spells cooked up by The Radwanska, after all these years, still have the ability to perplex and befuddle her, leaving her without any more answers now than she had in NYC back in 2007.

Scary, indeed.

*WEEK 13 CHAMPIONS*
MIAMI, FLORIDA (Premier $4.828/HCO)
S: Agnieszka Radwanska/POL def. Maria Sharapova/RUS 7-5/6-4
D: Kirilenko/Petrova (RUS/RUS) d. Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Agnieszka Radwanska/POL

...while the players ranked above her have made much more noise -- literally, and figuratively -- Radwanska continues to sneak up behind them. Her latest "biggest title ever" in Miami puts her within striking distance of #3 Petra Kvitova, and if she could ever figure out a way to not have her second serve come back to bite her against an aggressive, hard-hitting and "on" player in a slam (she's lost to eventual champs Azarenka and Clijsters at the last two Australian Opens, a resurgent Sharapova in Paris and revelation Angelique Kerber in NYC last season), she might just eventually be more than a footnote in the "has a chance to be #1" storylines that she surprisingly found herself involved in during last year's WTA Championships. As it is, after her late-event wins over Venus Williams, Marion Bartoli and Sharapova in Miami got her her ninth career singles title (her fifth since last summer, after having gone three years without grabbing a crown), A-Rad doesn't have much room left to grow when it comes to bigger and better prizes for her trophy case. Unless she'd savor a Gold Medal as much as Elena Dementieva did, the only more prestigious hardware Radwanska has left to grab are the WTA Championships or a slam. Winning an event as big as Miami IS something to pay attention to. No other non-slam event approximates the feel of a major like this event, from the weather conditions, packed field, six-matches-over-two-weeks (for seeds, as it's seven for everyone else) format and combined men's and women's competitions, if a player can come through this and win a title (and A-Rad did it without dropping a set) then she's got a chance at one of the four biggest events on the schedule, as well. The past lineup of champions says it's so. As things stand right now, Radwanska is the ONLY women's Miami titlist who doesn't also own a slam singles championship. Before Azarenka won in Melbourne in January, the two-time Miami queen had been the only slam-less past champ. So, either A-Rad's run will turn out to be an aberration, or she just foreshadowed the next big step in her career. Speaking of Azarenka, Radwanska's six wins in Miami has pushed her into a tie with the Belarusian for most match wins on tour in 2012 (actually, if you count A-Rad's "not-worthy-of-being-counted-by-the-WTA" four Fed Cup zone play victories, she's got the most). But while Azarenka's 26-1 mark is spectacular, it's even more impressive when you consider that Radwanska's 26-4 mark is weighed down only by her 0-4 season mark against Vika. Forget about winning a slam -- I'd say that dealing with THAT is Radwanska's next order of business.
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RISER: Dominika Cibulkova/SVK
...Cibulkova ended her '11 season by finally claiming her first WTA singles title in Moscow. The thought was that it would give her the dose of closing confidence that has so often eluded her in big matches during her career. Well, she came to Miami sporting a head-shaking 4-8 season record. Still, the hard-hitting, jitterbugging Slovak is always a potential upset waiting to happen when she faces the game's top stars, as the world #1 would soon find out. After crushing Zheng Jie 2 & 0, Cibulkova met up with Azarenka in a 4th Round match-up. The Slovak jumped on Azarenka's serve from the start and took it to her like no other player has in ages. She nearly bageled her in the 1st set, and led 6-1/4-0. She served for the match, but never quite got to match point. Azarenka ended up winning a tight three-setter filled with great strings of Cibulkova winners, though, and the Slovak displayed regret afterward that she wasn't as aggressive in some of the match's biggest moments as she'd been while grabbing her lead and during some of her more awesome displays during the contest. So, will this match get the current #18 back on the path to challenging for the Top 10? Will she remember only the loss, or how the way she played had made the loss so disappointing? Once again, it'll be a matter of which Cibulkova wins out.
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SURPRISE: Sandra Zaniewska/POL
...it was a good week for Polish players. While A-Rad was winning in Miami, on the other side of the world, 20-year old Zaniewska was claiming her second ITF crown in the last two weeks Down Under. This one came in the $25K event in Bundaberg, where the Pole got victories over Sally Peers, Isabella Holland, Junri Namigata and Japan's Shuko Aoyama in the final.
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VETERANS: Maria Sharapova/RUS & Marion Bartoli/FRA
...essentially, Sharapova has had the best worst (or worst best) 1st Quarter by any player in the history of tennis 1st Quarters... or at least in the last quarter-century or so. With her loss in the Miami final, she's now reached -- and lost -- the final at all three of the 1Q's biggest events, after having already lost the Australian Open and Indian Wells deciding matches. Since all three events have been held on both tours since the mid-1980's, NO OTHER PLAYER HAS EVER DONE THAT. Male OR female. It'd been twelve years since any woman had played in all three finals, so she's to be commended for her consistency. But of the four other women who've reached all three finals in a single season, only Martina Hingis (in 2000) even managed to lose two of the matches. The rest won at least two, while Steffi Graf (1994) swept the trio of titles. Worse yet for Sharapova, she's now 0-4 in Miami finals in her career. Her recent run of big match defeats, and her perplexed and rattled reaction to Radwanska's gameplan in the final, will test her well-known ability to compartmentalize the lingering memories of her low points, put them behind her and move forward without looking back as we head into the clay court season. Thankfully, for her, that's really where her comeback began to take shape last spring. Bartoli, too, leaves Miami with bittersweet memories. She ended Azarenka's 26-match winning streak, jumping on the world #1 4-0 in the 1st set, then coming back from a 3-1 deficit in the 2nd in claiming the straight sets victory. But then, in the semifinals, she played through a thigh injury that hampered her during her own straight sets loss to Radwanska. At times, Bartoli looks capable of anything, including adding her name to the recent list of first-time slam champs, but then her history of nagging injuries comes back to pull the rug out from under her before she can accomplish something truly great. Still, I can't erase the belief that if she can ever get everything in working order, she could produce one of those Schiavonian moments that we'll remember forever. How long before everyone goes to Paris?
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COMEBACK: Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
...were those the first signs of a "new" Caroline, or just a false alarm? Miami wins over Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova, Petra Cetkovska and Yanina Wickmayer were nice, but it was her first career victory over a Williams (Serena) in the QF that gets her this award. Sure, Serena's forehand was way off during the match, and her movement might have been even worse. But Wozniacki's serve was a bit bigger, too, and she actually took the initiative and played a little more aggressively without having to have her back pressed against the wall before it became a tactic she was willing to employ. If this was the Dane's response to dropping from #1 to #6 behind a handful of harder-hitting players (and one very smart not-as-hard-hitting one), it was a good start. Of course, what the Dane giveth, she also taketh away. In her next match against Sharapova, she showed nice fight, but when chair umpire Kader Nouni's correctly overruled a Sharapova serve on match point (it'd been called long, but hit the line), C-Woz went out looking closer to the immature star she's often been over the past year. First, she was upset that the call was made, then that she didn't have any challenges left to use (and whose fault is that?). Then, when Sharapova eventually won the point to put away the match, she petulantly refused to shake Nouni's hand and then scurried off the court sporting one of the "loudest" pouts on her face that you're ever likely to encounter from someone not in elementary school. If she was just upset because she wanted the win SO MUCH, then I'll give her a half-pass on it all. If it's the beginning of another unfounded everyone-is-out-to-get-me period, then I'll remember it as one of those straws that eventually breaks a certain Backspinning camel's back.
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FRESH FACE: Melanie Oudin/USA
...ever since her huge QF run at the U.S. Open in 2009, Oudin's progress, when there's been any, has been measured in much smaller increments than the huge chunks of ground she covered with every leap and bound over that two-week stretch in Flushing Meadows. Last week was a good example. She began it by losing in the 1st Round of a $50K challenger event in Osprey, Florida to Alize Cornet. But she rebounded quickly, heading north to Charleston, where she made it through qualifying, getting a very nice three-set win over Heather Watson along the way. After splitting the first two sets against Anabel Medina-Garrigues today in Charleston, though, she dropped the 3rd set at love. On whole... progress, or no?
=============================
DOWN: Kim Clijsters/BEL & Rebecca Marino/CAN
...after finally returning from her post-AO injury break, Clijsters lost after just a few matches in Miami, sent packing at the hands of countrywoman Yanina Wickmayer. And now she's on ANOTHER injury break. A torn hip muscle will put her out for another month. She's scheduled to return in Madrid, in time to prepare for Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the Olympics in what is slated to be the final spring/summer time European swing of her career. Of course, schedules haven't been all that reliable over the back-half of KC 2.0, have they? Meanwhile, Marino's troubles are a little harder to grasp and diagnose. A couple of season's ago, Venus Williams said she saw some of herself in the Canadian, and the hard-serving Marino looked ready to have an impact on the tour. It hasn't happened and, now, after notching just one main draw tour win since the end of last summer, she's decided to take an indefinite leave from the sport. It'll probably mean she won't be playing in her first Olympics this summer, but she's trying to look long term. Maybe a little time away will recharge her batteries, but it goes without saying that when a player who should be entering the prime of her career is instead setting her rackets DOWN (however temporarily), it's hard to see it as a 100% GOOD thing.
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ITF PLAYER: Arantxa Rus/NED
...the 21-year old Dutch player made a splash last year with her 2nd Round upset of Clijsters at Roland Garros, but her win in the $50K Osprey, Florida event last week was her first ITF title since 2009. The world #105 got wins over Misaki Doi, Irina Falconi, Florencia Molinero and Edina Gallovits-Hall before taking out Sesil Karatantcheva (hey, look who finally decided to show her face around these parts again!) 6-4/6-1 in the final.
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JUNIOR STAR: Anna Schmiedlova/SVK
...an Australian Open Girls quarterfinalist in 2011, the 17-year old Slovak is still a Top 20 junior. Ranked just outside the WTA Top 500, Schmiedlova claimed the $10K challenger in Antalya over the weekend, taking down Germany's always-a-threat-on-the-ITF-circuit Anna-Lena Friedsam (yes, I remember how to spell her name by thinking of some imaginary Seuss-like character named Fried Sam) 7-6/6-4 in the final. It's her second career ITF title.
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1. Mia 4th Rd - Azarenka d. Cibulkova
...1-6/7-6/7-5. #26, the hard way. I've already done a separate post on this match, in which Azarenka held her head (though you could almost see the steam coming out of her ears a few times) and overcame a 6-1/4-0 deficit in a match in which Cibulkova got to within two points of the win on five different occasions.
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2. Mia QF - Bartoli d. Azarenka
...6-3/6-3. Unlike many of the opponents during Azarenka's about-to-end 26-match win streak, Bartoli wasn't intimidated in the slightest. It's just not in her make-up. Once she got up on Azarenka in the 1st, you could just see Vika fighting against a "here we go again" redux right after the Cibulkova match (or maybe that was just me rolling MY eyes and thinking that). At least she finally got a chance to rest up for the long EuroClay season to come.
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3. Mia QF - Wozniacki d. S.Williams
...6-4/6-4. Finally, down 6-4/5-2 with the Dane serving, Serena started to look a little like herself. Thing is, ever since she lost the Open final last year, the not-moving-her-feet, hang-dog, misses-more-than-she-hits vision she often showed here has sort of been her norm.
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4. Mia 4th - S.Williams d. Stosur
...7-5/6-3. Serena had a personal stake in this rematch of the U.S. Open final, and the results showed it. Of course, Stosur's double-faulting issues helped.
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5. Mia SF - Sharapova d. Wozniacki
...4-6/6-3/6-4. Sharapova was barely holding things together by the time she got to this match, so maybe the final shouldn't have been unexpected in any way. She ping-ponged from pillar to post against the Dane, serving great and going up 4-1 in the 1st, only to fall apart and lose the set. Up two breaks again the 3rd, things got far closer than they should have. A Sharapova who wants to win that fourth slam title has to take out Wozniacki in short order in that situation. It didn't happen that way, though.
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6. Mia Final - A.Radwanska d. Sharapova
...7-5/6-4. Sharapova is not only the first player to ever lose Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami finals in the same season, but no other women has ever even managed to just lose both I.W. and Miami in back-to-back fashion. At least she's not alone there, though. Andre Agassi (1990) and Rafael Nadal (2011) have gone 0-2 in the events on the men's side. Not bad company to keep if you've got to keep it, I guess.
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7. Mia SF - A.Radwanska d. Bartoli
...6-4/6-2. Bartoli's thigh injury and the stadium power failure sixteen games into this semifinal get the most attention, but that there were fifteen breaks of serve in the match's eighteen games might say more about the potential for A-Rad to thrill, but also eventually disappoint, come grand slam time.
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8. Mia Doubles 2nd Rd - King/Niculescu d. Shvedova/Voskoboeva
...7-5/6-2. Oh, the upcoming Olympic competition is sometimes making for strange doubles bedfellows... and, in Miami, opponents. Usual doubles duo King/Shvedova faced off against each other in Miami, with the all-Kazakh team coming up on the short end. It made a difference, too. Because of their Miami results, King passed Shvedova in the doubles rankings and bumped her out of the Top 5. Whoops.
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9. $50K Osprey 1st Rd - Eugenie Bouchard/CAN d. Laura Robson/GBR 6-3/6-7/6-4
Charleston Q1 - Melanie Oudin/USA d. Heather Watson/GBR 6-4/1-6/6-4
...hey, two cheers for THIS side of the pond! Heehee.
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10. $25 Phuket Final - Marta Sirotkina/RUS d. Claire Feuerstein/FRA
...7-5/7-6. No Russian women won a WTA singles title during the 1st Quarter, but Sirotkina has grabbed two challenger crowns.
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HM- $10K Le Havre FRA Final - Myrtille Georges/FRA d. Ysaline Bonaventure/BEL
...5-7/7-5/6-0. For the second straight event, the 17-year old Waffle, still ranked outside the WTA Top 1000, made it through qualifying and all the way to the final. She's 0-2 in those matches, but such results surely make her someone to at least keep one eye on.
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1. Charleston Q2 - Karolina Pliskova d. Michelle Larcher de Brito 6-4/6-2
Charleston Q2 - Iveta Benesova d. Kristyna Pliskova 6-1/4-6/6-3
...here they... err... SHE comes!
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2. $25K Phuket QF - Marta Sirotkina/RUS d. #1 Erika Sema/JPN 6-2/6-0
$25 Bundaberg QF - Shuka Aoyama/JPN d. #1 Yurika Sema/JPN 6-2/4-6/7-5
...two weeks of events with the Sema sisters installed as #1 seeds in challengers = a 0-4 record in quarterfinals. Maybe they should go back to playing in the same events and give the family more of a fighting chance.
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**REACHED FINALS AT AO, INDIAN WELLS & MIAMI IN SEASON**
[WTA]
1991 Monica Seles W-L-W
1994 Steffi Graf W-W-W
2000 Lindsay Davenport W-W-L
2000 Martina Hingis L-L-W
2012 MARIA SHARAPOVA L-L-L
[ATP]
1990 Stefan Edberg L-W-L
1994 Pete Sampras W-W-W
1995 Pete Sampras L-W-L
1998 Marcelo Rios L-W-W
2001 Andre Agassi W-W-W
2006 Roger Federer W-W-W
2011 Novak Djokovic W-W-W

**WTA FINALS AT INDIAN WELLS & MIAMI IN SEASON**
1991 Monica Seles L-W
1994 Steffi Graf W-W
1996 Steffi Graf W-W
1999 Serena Williams W-L
2000 Lindsay Davenport W-L
2000 Martina Hingis L-W
2005 Kim Clijsters W-W
2006 Maria Sharapova W-L
2012 MARIA SHARAPOVA L-L

**2012 WTA FINALS**
4...Victoria Azarenka, BLR (4-0)
3...MARIA SHARAPOVA, RUS (0-3)
2...AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA, POL (2-0)
2...Daniela Hantuchova, SVK (1-1)
2...Flavia Pennetta, ITA (0-2)

**2012 WTA SF**
4...Victoria Azarenka, BLR (4-0)
4...AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA, POL (2-2)
4...Angelique Kerber, GER (1-3)
3...MARIA SHARAPOVA, RUS (3-0)
3...MARION BARTOLI, FRA (1-2)

**2012 WEEKS IN TOP 20**
[of 14 weeks, CAPS = current Top 20]
14...VICTORIA AZARENKA
14...MARIA SHARAPOVA
14...PETRA KVITOVA
14...AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA
14...SAMANTHA STOSUR
14...CAROLINE WOZNIACKI
14...MARION BARTOLI
14...LI NA
14...VERA ZVONAREVA
14...SERENA WILLIAMS
14...ANDREA PETKOVIC
14...FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE
14...SABINE LISICKI
14...JELENA JANKOVIC
14...DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA
11...Peng Shuai
11...Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
9...ANA IVANOVIC
7...JULIA GOERGES
7...ANGELIQUE KERBER
7...Svetlana Kuznetsova
5...DANIELA HANTUCHOVA
4...Kim Clijsters
4...Flavia Pennetta
3...ROBERTA VINCI

**BACKSPIN MARCH AWARDS**
TOP PLAYER: Victoria Azarenka, BLR
RISER: Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
SURPRISE: Jamie Hampton, USA
VETERAN: Maria Sharapova, RUS
COMEBACK: Alisa Kleybanova, RUS
FRESH FACE: Sloane Stephens, USA
DOWN: Petra Kvitova, CZE
ITF PLAYER: Ana Savic, CRO
JUNIOR STAR: Anna Danilina, KAZ

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA (Premier $740K/green clay outdoor)
11 Final: Wozniacki d. Vesnina
11 Doubles Champions: Mirza/Vesnina
12 Top Seeds: #2 Stosur/#3 Bartoli (#1 Radwanska w/d)
=============================
=SF=
#3 Bartoli d. Wozniak
#2 Stosur d. #6 Lisicki
=FINAL=
#3 Bartoli d. #2 Stosur

...oh, with both Sisters in this draw, it's so tempting to go with one. I suspect a certain former cave-dweller will take advantage of that. Lisicki made one of her first big splashes at this event a few years ago, but she's in the super-tough bottom half of the draw (she could have to face Wickmayer, Serena and either Venus or Stosur just to get to the final), and this isn't Wimbledon. Maybe she'll catch a wave, though. It'd be nice to see. But I'll split the difference and pick her no better than the semis. Bartoli is coming in with the leg injury she suffered in Miami, but she might have an easier go of things in the top half than whoever emerges from the bottom.

Well, darlings, it looks like Carl is late, so I guess I'll be picki-

(doors slams in background, heavy breathing gets closer)

CARL: Carl here! Carl pick now!

CARLA: Now, now. I was here first, dear.

CARL: CARL here! CARL pick now! Carla no pick good as Carl last two events. Time for change!

CARLA: (sigh) Not even a hello, huh? You just start right in how you did better than me.

CARL: HELLO! Carl just tell truth. Carl pick now!

CARLA: (sigh) Fine. Carl pick now, then. But Carla pick again soon. Oh, no. Now you've got me doing it.

CARL: Doing what?

CARLA: Nevermind. Go ahead. I'll just go read about what Diane is seeing in Charleston.

CHARLESTON
=SF=
#4 zvonareva d. #3 bartoli
#5 s.williams d. (wc) v.williams
=FINAL=
#5 s.williams d. #4 zvonareva

...Serena no like losing to Wozniacki. She erase from memory quick. Just like Carl will do to Todd once gets close enough again.

THIS WEEK: 1st Quarter Backspin Awards

All for now.

...the Worst of Times

2012-04-01T14:51:00.004-04:00

They've been part of the best of Backspin times. They've been part of the worst of Backspin times. Next up, the worst.

While there have been a whole crop of players who've managed to get on my good side over the years, there are also quite a few who've irritated me, put a crimp in my style, thwarted my -- or one of my favorite's -- best laid plans, disappointed and frustrated me... or just plain made me mad. Some players more than "earned" their demerits over time, like a certain Belgian, but at least one Czech and a Dane managed to find a way to exchange "good" money for "bad" after I'd had their backs early on. No one has ever been able to go from good to bad, then back to good, in my eyes... but I suppose there's always a first time for everything.

So, after extolling the virtues of my all-time "most favored" players, now is the time when I'll be Your Not-So-Friendly Neighborhood Backspinner. But, hey, it's April Fool's Day... so it's nothing "personal." Well, at least not most of the time.

=ALL-TIME ANTI-BACKSPIN TEAM=
**1st Team**
Kim Clijsters, BEL
...come on, now. I couldn't do an "Anti-Backspin" team without listing my "Anti-Queen," could I? I've easily had more fun at Clijsters' expense on this blog than any other player. I mean, no one will EVER surpass her in terms of nicknames. Just an abbreviated selection of a few of them: Kim C. Clijsters (the "C" standing for "choke"), Easy-Bake Kim (for her propensity to cook herself when under pressure), FilaKim (after KC skipped the Athens Olympics because the Belgian team would have to wear outfits made by a company other than her clothing sponsor), Nice Kim (dripping with insincerity), and Barbie (after Mattel made a doll in her likeness). And then, of course, there was that little tactic of dubbing her Jada's Mama, Brian's Wifey, Elke's Sister, Justine's Countrywoman or a few others as a way to describe her without ever having to actually type her name during the bulk of the '10 season. Oh, great passive-aggressive fun, I say.

As things have played out, I've mostly come to view Clijsters in two distinctly different forms -- as "Old Testament" Kim during her 1.0 career, and then "New Testament" Kim in her far-more-successful, (mostly) wound-healing, career-redefining second act in 2.0. She's here because of the hotly-debated aspects of the first phase of her career, which filled more than a month of Backspins back in the day. But it should be pointed out that one thing that has never been in question in this space is the vastness and versatility of KC's talent. Personally, I've held wildly testy opinions on Clijsters at times, but largely they've been based on what was perceived as her "underperformance" and almost "waste" of a talent that should have produced so much more in her first go-around. If Justine Henin got more than expected out of HER abilities, then KC achieved FAR less with her's. During 1.0, the comparison with her Belgian counterpart was always going to be one that she was going to lose in this space. From the moment they both arrived on the scene, Clijsters' was always going to be stacked against Henin's magnificent career, and only her spectacular summer of '05 (when she finally won a slam in NYC) prevented her first career from being a complete whiff. Fact is, there was a pre-Backspin time when I was debating whether or not Clijsters or Jelena Dokic was going to be my "most-favored" player in the wake of Jana Novotna's retirement. To say the least, Dokic won out... and, truthfully, as you'll see, had a hand in helping me construct a large portion of this "Anti-Backspin" list. For the longest time, I said that many of Kim's more admirable qualities would make her a great friend, but that for an elite athlete with all-timer possibilities, she had a very wanting profile that led her to be a career underachiever in a sport where heart and desire are sometimes as important as natural talent (especially in clutch moments in big matches, where KC so often came up short). Thing is, it was precisely the "good" side of Clijsters that often riled me up the most. "Nice Kim" almost religiously courted approval, squeegeeing courts and handing out champagne bottles to fans, giving her a Teflon-like coating and protection from most of the media when it came to criticizing all that she didn't achieve ON the court. Unlike when the likes of Mauresmo, Janokvic, Safina and Wozniacki did it later, hardly a word of protest was uttered when Clijsters became first woman to rise to #1 without ever having won a slam.

So often a bridesmaid, Clijsters retired and literally became a bride in 2007. She had a daughter, and then her father died. In the summer of '09, she returned to the sport and quickly found the success that had eluded her in her previous career. She won the U.S. Open in just her third tournament back, then won two more slams in a little more than a year. By the time she went to Melbourne in January '11, even I'd finally called a truce with her. Giving in and learning to ♥ Clijsters, I held my breath and decided to back "My Kim" for that tournament, knowing that if she won it she would officially have re-written her career legacy with a brilliant Second Act. In the AO final, after having won three slams in which her opponent wilted under the pressure, Clijsters finally showed that she could put a boot on an opponent's neck and win a 3rd set to claim a major, taking down Li Na and proving that 2.0 truly WAS different. Belatedly living up to her talent, I could no longer view her as an underachieving "pretender." After so many years, she was finally a TRUE champion. Even the Clijsters contrarian in me could no longer deny it.

Of course, right on cue, ever since winning that AO title, Clijsters has been mostly a ghost on the WTA tour due to a string of injuries, a neverending 2.0 pattern which essentially began when she injured her ankle dancing at her cousin's wedding last year. Which leads me to mention, of course, that Clijsters 2.0 has essentially fallen apart ever since I decided to give her the full Backspin hug. Immediately after Oz, nursing the first of her string of second career injuries, she was blitzed in the Paris Indoors by Petra Kvitova, and a new Backspin era seemingly began. She hasn't won a title since that AO and, after going 27-2 in SLAMS during her comeback up until winning in Melbourne, she's only been able to play in twenty-eight TOTAL tour matches ever since. You don't think I inadvertently jinxed her, do you? I wasn't trying to do that. REALLY. Anyway, as she soon heads down the stretch of what she says will be her final year on tour, it's safe to wonder if she'll even make it to the finish line, or even play in the Olympics in London this summer (I suspect, though, that she'll put herself in a full body cast for a month leading into the Games just to assure that she'll be able to make the opening ceremonies). Maybe "The Mummy" will be her final Backspin nickname?

Ahh, it's always something. No one has been a better antagonist and/or adversary than Clijsters, and I really WILL miss her when she's gone... for all the (finally) right, as well as (classically) wrong, reasons.

Petra Mandula, HUN
...if you're asking, "Who the heck is that?," then, well, you'd be right to wonder. This one's a LITTLE personal, going back nearly a dozen years, right before I began, in busy bee fashion, to churn out my old weekly "Jelena Corner" columns on Jelena-Dokic.com. You see, back then, my most favored former Aussie (hmmm... yeah, I think she was an ex-Sheila by then, having left Australia for Serbia a few months before after her father's crazy claims of Melbourne "draw rigging," only to return many years later and reclaim her past Australian citizenship without her dad... then team up with him again some time later in a tennis saga that never really seems to end) was entering into the EuroSlam season after having reached the Wimbledon QF and SF the previous two summers. At the time, even with all the AO warning signs flashing so brightly, all great things seemed possible... and then Mandula brought reality crashing down in the 3rd Round of the '01 Roland Garros. Well, not really. But, yes, REALLY. "Pulling a Mandula" quickly became Corner shorthand for a shocking Dokic loss, born with the three-set upset at the hands of the virtually unknown Hungarian. Entering the match with the RG draw having opened up with a series of big-name upsets, Jelena had grabbed an early lead in the match, then later admitted to losing her concentration because she started thinking about her golden opportunity to reach a slam final (as it turned out, a very young Clijsters ended up beating Henin in a SF match to advance to HER first slam final), setting the stage for Dokic her ultimately bow out in shocking fashion. The past turned out to be prologue, as "Great Mandula's Ghost" always seemed to linger in the air -- ready to be resurrected -- whenever Jelena was having a bad day. Mandula has long since passed into tennis history, but her memory will survive in the Land of Backspin. As nothing has every really been able to adequately replace it, I'm planning on reinstating the "Great Mandula's Ghost" phase when it comes to talking about a particularly big loss which seems to continue to haunt a player down the road, unable to be effectively exorcised. If for nothing else, it'll be a "tribute" to JD, and all that she was, as well as never really turned out to be.

Nicole Vaidisova, CZE...at one time, Vaidisova seemed like she would be the WTA's "next big thing." In 2004, she was a tour titlist at 15 (still the sixth youngest ever). A week before the start of Roland Garros in '06, she put away her sixth career title (in seven finals). She seemed THIS CLOSE to a huge breakthrough. In fact, she was arguably one SWING away from it. Specifically, in the RG semifinals that spring. After so many correct decisions and the flashing of an almost preternatural ability to ignore pressure in Paris through five matches, Vaidisova's potentially career-making slam journey was undone by a few nervous moments and one bad shot. Up 7-5/5-3, the Czech teenager served for the match, only to appear to back off her shots just enough to allow Svetlana Kuznetsova to find a backdoor through which to enter a match that was all but a handshake at the net from being over. After the steadier Russian gained the lead in the set at 6-5, Vaidisova got herself under control and forced a tie-break. There, at 5-5, she approached a less-than-mediocre Kuznetsova drop attempt that bounced at the back of the deuce court service box and prepared to hit the most important shot of the match. Rather than crushing a stinging forehand down the line, likely out of reach of Kuznetsova, who was stationed on the left side of the court, the Czech attempted a riskier crosscourt flick-of-the-wrist shot behind her opponent. The ball sailed wide and, rather than a match point for a slam final berth, Vaidisova faced a set point in Kuznetsova's favor. One point later, the match was knotted at a set apiece, but it turned out to be, once again, all but over save for a handshake at the net. She lost the 3rd set at 6-2. Her points grab pushed her into the Top 10 for the first time later that summer, and she climbed as high as #7 a season later. But after having become mentally undone in the RG semis, Vaidisova never won another title. She never even reached another final, as every tense moment seemed to call up her own "Great Mandula's Ghost," leading to ultimate disaster. Her final, last ditch run came in Melbourne in '07, where she reached another slam semi. She lost a tight 7-6/6-4 match to the eventual champion, and that was essentially all she wrote. Vaidisova hung around for a few more years, with diminishing results at every turn. In 2010, at just 20, after being unable to even win 1st Round matches in challenger events, she quit the sport, walking away as the latest example of the sport eating its young. Or maybe it was just a case of a player, rather than buckling down (ala, say, Andre Agassi at the low point of his career, or Jennifer Capriati), just throwing up her hands and giving up. Vaidisova quickly married Czech tennis player Radek Stepanek, hardly removing the sport from her life, and has often been seen in the stands at events over the last two years. Either way, any mention of "Anti-Czech" Vaidisova in Backspin these days is invariably as a jab against some player who is looking as if she might rather take her ball and go home rather than learn to fix what ails her game and live up to the potential her talent says she has. Irritating.

Lleyton Hewitt, AUS...oh, I've never really been a fan of Hewitt. Sure, he had great timing (unlike Andy Roddick, he hit his peak a bit before Roger Federer arrived on the scene) and was an admirable fighter. But I couldn't stand HIM. The scowl. The "Come on!" chants. Ugh. I wanted to punch him. And then he hooked up with and became engaged to Clijsters, and the whole thing snowballed. To me, KC went down a few notches in my book, just by association, and she never fully recovered. Their relationship helped give rise (or at least give stronger legs) to the whole "Aussie Kim" thing Down Under, even though the pair never made it to the altar and/or spawn some sort of blonde, tennis-playing antichrist (a Clijsters-Hewitt daughter wouldn't have been as "awwwwl-inducing" as Jada, I'm figuring). My antipathy toward Hewitt has dulled a bit as he's aged, undergone hip surgery, gotten married, become a father, matured and made a few slam cameos posing as the "last chance" underdog trying to carve out a few more great slam moments. Still, once he lets loose with one of his "Come on!" shouts, it all comes flooding back, as all sorts of bad thoughts once again flash before my mind's eye.

**2nd Team**
Andy Murray, GBR...this one isn't a "lost cause," by any stretch. But I've always had something of an adverse reaction to Murray. Maybe it's the woe-is-me look he used to get so often late in matches, or his old unwillingness to force the issue with more aggressive play against players -- like Federer, Nadal, etc. -- that he essentially HAD to up his game against in order to win matches against in slams (not surprisingly, he's 0-3 in slam finals), or that Brad Gilbert is still a bit of annoyance years after the end of his and Murray's coach/pupil relationship because he's ALWAYS picking the Scot to win a slam title to become the first man from Great Britain to win a slam since 1936. How about the over-coverage of Murray -- apparently as "close to an American" as the Powers That Be can find to go out of their way to show matches of in the absence of any actual Americans with slam-winning potential in recent years -- that takes place on U.S. slam tennis broadcasts? Yeah, that, too. Oh, and maybe that far too many -- led by Gilbert, again -- try to lump Murray into a "Big 4" of men's tennis (with Rafa, Roger & Novak Djokovic), even though the often #4-ranked Murray, no matter how many times he manages to upset Djokovic, has no business being included in the group considering they outnumber him 31-0 in slam titles. Until things change, and I seriously doubt that they ever will, he's "the best of the rest." No more. No less.

Rita Kuti Kis, HUN...the player behind Dokic's original Hungarian disaster. JD's stunning 1st Round loss to Kuti Kis at the 2000 Australian Open turned out to be one of the early lowlights in the string of events that led to her departure from Australia and long AO absence. Jelena, still just 16 at the time, showed her immaturity during her post-match comments when she expressed her anger at losing to RKK, someone "who's never been a player and probably never will be." I had nothing against the Hungarian, but just the sight of her name still sends a bit of a shiver down my spine, and earns her a spot on this Anti-Team all these years later. In the end, such a loss is a good learning experience, serving to provide a lesson to any player (or fan) that overlooks a "lesser" opponent. Oh, and said player probably shouldn't essentially insult that "lesser" opponent AFTER losing to them, either. It really makes EVERYONE look bad.

John McEnroe, USA...hey, I thought Bjorn Borg was "cool," and Jimmy Connors was my favorite player during my earliest tennis years. I sort of felt like I was SUPPOSED to not like SuperBrat and all his temper tantrums. Of course, he sort of made it easy back then.

James Blake, USA...blame this one on the American television networks. Rather than show better matches that I preferred to see, slam coverage often instead was focused on matches with Blake, although he always managed to underperform at the slams, and any hope that he'd make a big run were pretty much pipe dreams no matter how much the commentators talked about how it was his "big chance," or how loud the "J-block" cheering section at Arthur Ashe Stadium yelled and screamed during his matches. That said, when the super-quick Blake was in good form, he was always great fun to watch, and hardly a player one could really root against. All I wanted was a bit of equality when it came to talking about and showcasing the top-ranked players. As usual, it was often the women who were shortchanged when it came to coverage, bumped off the air in favor of the lower-ranked Blake, and then "demeaned" in later rounds on the air because no one was very familiar with them even though they'd reached the latter stages of a slam. Well, maybe if you'd shown them earlier... I always just sort of let all the overwrought Blake coverage slide for a long time, but once he literally verbally went after Pam Shriver during a match for deigning to talk on the balcony above his court during another early Wimbledon loss, then essentially tried to lay the blame on her distraction for his poor play -- even though he'd been taking care of that just fine before she ever opened her mouth) -- I sort of took the gloves off when it came to Blake. Of course, he's rarely been in any match that's really mattered since that London afternoon, so it's been kind of a too little, too late change of course. Of course, that fact is probably the leading reason why Blake was so testy that day, anyway, as he could see the end of his career, up close and personal-like, by then.

Of course, I can't end this without a short parade of other players who, while their offenses never rose to so great a height that I held legitimate antipathy towards them, did enough to raise my ire. At least temporarily. Sometimes my fits of displeasure were correct, as far as I'm concerned. Sometimes, though, they were dead wrong.

**Old Habits Die Hard**
Gael Monfils, FRA: now, let me say this, Monfils is often a spectacular shot-maker and crazy athletic player. He can be a joy to watch. Aye, but there's the rub. Rather than play up to his should-be level of play on a consistent basis (remember, he almost claimed a true Grand Slam as a junior), he has often always gone for the wildly flairfull shot -- just like so many other French athletes, such as Henri Leconte or Jean Van de Velde, to name a few -- rather than the smart one that would lead to more victories. So, he expends too much energy in matches that go longer than they should. Even with all his talent, and an ability to jump up and defeat ANYONE on any given day, he's never really been a slam threat because he can't sustain a high level of play playing as he does. Plus, he tires himself out with all his "extra" traits, so a big slam win is almost always followed by a disappointing result a round or two later. Either that, or an injury. Still, we see a lot of his matches during slams on American coverage. Really, Monfils is the sort of player better suited to being the focus of a highlight package than actual match coverage. That way, we'd always get the best of him. In a way, he's like many a slam-dunking NBA star -- he can pull off sometimes-spectacular athletic and artistic feats, but you'd never want him on your side if you absolutely, positively had to WIN something. Thus, following his career often seems like a waste of time.

Daniela Hantuchova, SVK: this one is another "Anti" team member whose placement is linked to Jelena Dokic. Just as Dokic was rising into the Top 5 in the early 2000's, so was Hantuchova. So, as a ardent JD backer, Hantuchova was looked upon as something of a rival. Couple this with the media and WTA's constant pushing of Hantuchova -- with a great serve, net play and a vocal desire to be #1 -- as that time period's "next big thing," and I came to dub Hantuchova as "Wonder Girl." At first glance, this would seem to be a laudatory nickname. But it wasn't. It was actually a sarcastic Backspin jab precipitated by the intense (and overdone) fawning over the Slovak, both before and (especially) after she won one title -- her first, at Indian Wells -- back in 2002. In the pre-Sharapova/post-Kournikova era of the time, the WTA was openly desirous for a young "hotty" to take the Russian's place as the sex symbol of the tour... but, this time, the "it" girl was to be one who actually was able to win singles titles, as well. Hantuchova seemed the perfect fit, and she tried to fill Kournikova's large shoes, both on and off court. But the tour marketers' desperate act of propping up Hantuchova as the "new and improved Anna" was a bit hasty, for she was no superhero-like "Wonder Woman." No one factored in the ability of the teenager to handle the pressure, nor avoid becoming engulfed by the myriad entrancing opportunities presented to her off the court. Hantuchova became the subject of sensational stories about her health, as she seemed to be withering away before our eyes (and she had already always been amongst the thinnest players on tour). It took her five years to grab career title #2, as she fought through the weight, fitness and emotional issues, not to mention poor play, that dogged her for many seasons. As she's become a tour veteran, the eye-rolling "Wonder Girl" moniker first softened, the went out of style as she matured. All the pressure she once felt as a young player is now a thing of the past. She's reclaimed her fitness, and overcome (well, at least sometimes) many of the on-court emotional issues that often brought her to tears in between points during tight matches. She's become a great doubles player (she won a career Mixed Grand Slam), and is still an occasional very good singles one. She finally won title #3 in 2011. In the Slovak's case, time has been on her side. Unlike a certain aforementioned Czech, Hantuchova stuck with it and found her footing in the sport after learning to deal with disappointment. Her career hasn't turned out the way she would have liked, or most might have predicted, but she's STILL HERE. And that's something for which she can be commended.

Brad Gilbert, USA: no, it's not because of his sometimes eye-rolling commentary during tennis coverage these days. It's because Gilbert literally made me sick. Way back when, when Gilbert was simply a consummately scrappy tennis player, a younger version of a certain Backspinner was present in the stands in the Washington, D.C. ATP event in the late's 1980's. Back then, the ATP often played best-of-five matches in regular tour events, and Gilbert was facing off against my all-time favorite men's player Boris Becker in the ungodly sort of heat that has always descended upon the area in the dead of summer. Becker led two sets to none, and things looked good. Then Gilbert put on one of his patented never-give-up shows, and made the match go the distance. The whole distance. Five sets. And he won, too. Worse yet, I'd stupidly come to the match without a hat, and hadn't seen fit to properly hydrate. As the 5th set wore on, and Gilbert dragged things out longer and longer, I felt sicker and sicker. Finally, sitting near the left edge of the stands, within distance of the clay courts at the Rock Creek Tennis Center, I mentally mapped out a plan of how, when the time for action came, I was going to slip between a couple of fans sitting a few feet away and try to throw up over the side of the stands without getting vomit on anyone around me. I very nearly had to follow through with the plan, too. But, thankfully, Gilbert finally put Becker -- and me -- out of our misery before it came to that. Never before or since have I ever been that close to becoming sick (or worse) due to heat illness, but I was on that afternoon. And I still blame Gilbert for it.

**Maybe I Was Onto Something at the Start?**
Agnieszka Radwanska, POL: I'd known about Radwanska since her junior days, but it wasn't until she made a big splash by upsetting Maria Sharapova at the U.S. Open in 2007 that I really began to form any real opinions about her. Lacking much power, A-Rad depended on creating angles with cunning play, and using good defense to force her opponents to hit a large number of shots until they eventually committed an error. Needless to say, the style sort of ticked me off. Her serve wasn't a weapon to speak of, and she largely depended on her opponents' inconsistency in order to win matches against top players. When she met up with defending champ Sharapova at the Open, I described what happened like this: "Weaned on the crafty play of Martina Hingis, A-Rad's main weapons in this match seemed to be her intense desire to mess with Sharapova's head. The Pole rarely actually hit a winning shot of her own volition, and instead was intent on sending back off-speed shots of various spins and such just to see if Sharapova was smart enough to figure out how to win a match when her opponent wasn't doing her a favor by trying to get into a ball-striking contest with the queen of the smash-the-hell-out-of-the-fuzzy-yellow-thing set. The teenager didn't play that game, and the defending Open champion let her get away with it during the most important parts of the match -- its beginning and end. But it wasn't Radwanska's style that got under my skin that day, it was her on-the-edge tactics. I said, "A-Rad's practice of hopping up to just behind the service box as Sharapova began her serve machinations, then hopping back as the Russian's toss went up, surely served its stated purpose to distract Sharapova into mistakes. Of course, if the likes of a certain Belgian had stepped this close to the gamesmanship line she'd have been hung out to dry for it, but the Pole's brash youth might provide her with a pass. I suppose it does from Backspin, too, for it would be sort of hypocritical to bum-rush A-Rad after defending Henin's technically-within-the-rules moves in season's past, huh? So, I'll just say this: some corners might say that Sharapova, who was noticeably bothered by the tactic during the match, though she smartly didn't make an issue of it at the time nor afterward, should have launched a quick second serve at (or over, if she'd wanted to take the "nice girl" approach) A-Rad's head before she pranced back to the baseline during Sharapova's serve toss. You know, just to give her a little warning and to see if she'd continue with her psychological warfare after receiving a virtual warning shot across the bow. After all, all's fare in love, war and U.S. Open tennis, right? Hey, this IS New York City... it's all right to play with a little "are you talkin' to me?" attitude. Ah, where's Irina Spirlea when you need her? Although I didn't hold her actions that day against her at the time, the memory of it surely lingered and kept me from embracing her as a player. Plus, for the longest time, her game remained the same, and she rarely ever won anything, reinforcing my initial rejection of her. That said, ever since Radwanska's very public run-ins with her father last summer, she's become a different player. They've since reconciled, but her immediate reaction to the situation was to back away from him, her longtime coach, and seek a new set of eyes. The result: her first serve improved greatly, she got physically fitter and stronger and was more willing to take chances during rallies and go for a winner when the opportunity presents itself. Oh, she's still defensive-minded and often wins sets with miniscule numbers in her winners column, but the improved pop on her serve allows her to play big points more on her terms, and she's utilized her supersmart tactical play in ways that allow her to wisely pick her spots during matches when she'll go for a few of those winners. Often, sets turn on just a few points, and the improvements in Radwanska's game have given her a chance to WIN matches rather than simply allow her opponents to lose them. Essentially, all the problems I used to have with her game are no longer in evidence. Recently, though, I've found issue with her vocal criticism of the loudness of players such as Azarenka and Sharapova, calling their shrieking a distraction and wishing for rules to penalize them for it. It seems a bit hypocritical on her part, to be honest, considering how her first major win five years ago was so predicated on distracting her opponent as she was about to serve. I find A-Rad's game too fascinating to watch now for her to be included on the actual "Anti-Backspin" team, but it seems as if there will always be SOMETHING about Aga that manages to get under my skin.

**On Backspinner Probation**
Caroline Wozniacki, DEN: Wozniacki is a difficult one to include on this list, because it was never supposed to turn out this way. A year ago, after watching the Dane rise to the top of the rankings, she seemed like a nice addition to the WTA landscape, and she even showed up on the fringes of possible entry onto the "All-Time Backspin" team. But, now, here she is on the fringes of "Anti-Backspin" infamy. Geez. What happened? Hmmm, well, I'm not really sure. Over the course of the 2011 season to now, I've gone from defending her against Lindsay Davenport's on-air criticism to arguing with LD as she's suddenly become the Dane's Great Apologizer now that's she fallen way off the #1-ranked pace she formerly set. Well, for one, I think it was because Wozniacki stubbornly refused to "see the light" about all the criticism she was receiving from all corners (and, eventually, even in this spot). Rather than try to improve certain aspects of her game -- namely, her serve and willingness to become more aggressive -- that would allow her to take down consecutive big-hitting players at slam time, she became defensive about the whole situation, talked about "having time," said that, since she was #1, nothing was "broken," so why fix it, and then saw fit to criticize her critics for being too harsh rather than take their constructive criticism and use it to her benefit. Meanwhile, when she should have been improving her game (which doesn't mean it's "broken," by the way), she was running around the world playing in every tournament and exhibition she could, including the week before slams, giving herself even less of a chance to be in top form at the end of one of the two-week periods of play that will ultimately define a #1-ranked player's career in this era of tennis where slam results far outweigh anything else when it comes to the top players in the game. And I won't even talk about the whole "mystery coach" debacle, or how Wozniacki belatedly became an advocate for punishing the tour's "shriekers," which includes at-least-thought-to-be-her-friend Victoria Azarenka, just as WTA head Stacey Allaster began to publicly speak out about the same subject. It reeked of a you-scratched-my-back, I'll-scratch-your's situation, for Allaster had always steadfastly defended Wozniacki's viability as the #1 player even as it was generally agreed that the Dane, while top-ranked, wasn't the BEST player on tour. I'd always felt a tinge of the sort a "too willing to please," Clijsters-like characteristic in Wozniacki from the start, which should have been a warning sign. But I chose to ignore it, called it a "breath of fresh air," and was determined that this time, with this blonde, I would take it to heart and make it work. Umm, no. It was a doomed combination from the start, I'm afraid. In many ways, just as was the case as Wozniacki rose to #1 when no one else seemed to want to take the position, I think I ascribed all the hoped-for traits of a potential post-Henin "Face of Backspin" onto Wozniacki. As soon as the likes of Kvitova and Azarenka became slam champions, I remembered what it was like when young players would strive to be the best they could be, damn their critics and work to let their on-court actions do their talking for them. Wozniacki always came up short in that area. BUT... I haven't completely sold my stock in Caro. Now that's she lost her #1 ranking, maybe even HER hard-headedness can be broken down enough to force her to realize that all the things her critics -- myself included -- have said about her game should have been taken far differently. So far in 2012, she DOES seem to have improved her serve. She even got a big win over Serena Williams (her first ever) in Miami, and showed a little aggression in winning points... even if Serena's walking-in-quicksand demeanor and sting of errors made her hardly something to be feared on that night, and that Wozniacki failed to follow up the win with another over Maria Sharapova the next round. As things stand, I no longer cut Wozniacki any slack when it comes to her game, behavior or potentialy-disingenuous comments or immature reactions. See, I never would have said that a year ago. But Wozniacki need look no further than her friend Agnieszka to see how just little improvements in a player's game can make a world of difference. Without the pressure of the #1 ranking, or the potential to lazily rest on her laurels in the top spot, maybe Wozniacki can turn this ship around yet. I don't think I could ever feel exactly the same way about her as I used to, but she could slowly climb back into my good graces and fully escape any future "Anti-Backspin" mentions. Surely, I'd LIKE to mark her off my version of Carl's "Squish List," and I'd LIKE be able to watch her matches again without having to consciously try to avoid grumbling under my breath every time the commentators talk about how nice she is while also giving her a pass on petulant on-court behavior that would be used to cut down many other players. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but I'd LIKE it to. Time will tell, I guess.

**I Should Have Disliked Her, but so help me...**
Irina Spirlea, ROU: Oh, Irina. You dastardly Romanian, you. During her career-best run to the semifinals of the '97 U.S. Open, Spirlea just didn't care what anyone thought of her. Venus Williams made her Open debut at that event, and was the center of attention from Day 1. When the two faced off in the semis, during a changeover, as both walked to their chairs, they were set to cross paths in front of the chair umpire. Usually, one player will slow just a bit as the two move past each other without contact. But not Spirlea. Spying Williams out of the corner of her eye, seeing that the American wasn't even paying attention to her and was expecting Spirlea to avoid some sort of collision, Spirlea seemed to intentionally time out her steps so that the two would clang into each other before they reached their seats. They did, too, as Venus was suddenly shocked out of her blinders-on path to her chair. Williams won the match, but the big topic of discussion after it was over was the collision. And Spirlea was anything but apologetic. In fact, it was pretty obvious that she purposely caused the run-in, the end result of two weeks of her own irritation about all the attention paid to "Venus f------ Williams," as Spirlea famously called the teenager during her post-match press conference. Sure, it would have been easy to greatly dislike Spirlea for the whole incident. But it was really her only time in the spotlight, and she seemed to take so much joy in her villain's role (not that differently from another tennis-playing, sometimes-dastardly Romanian, Ilie Nastase) that it was impossible not to laugh a little at the whole thing. Now, rather than think of her with cross feelings, I can't help but smile and think, "I can't believe she actually DID that."

**Stupidity... belatedly recognized**
Hana Mandlikova, CZE/AUS: back during the tail-end of the Martina/Chris era, Mandlikova was often the player who was on the outside looking in. Blessed with a great all-court game, she might be the one of the most underrated players of all time (her too-low ranking of #62 on Tennis Channel's "Greatest" list attests to that fact), as she managed to win three slams -- coming within a Wimbledon title, and she reached two SW19 finals, of claiming a Career Slam -- during an era dominated by Navratilova and Evert, who won a combined thirty-six slam titles. But in the early years of my career as a tennis fan, I knew her mostly as that player with the long hair seemingly matted-down to her head, and with that arrogant UnSmile on her face. I really didn't like her. Hey, I was in, like, junior high or something. Late in the game, though, as I started to play tennis more often myself, I fell in love with Mandlikova's game. I was rooting for her to finally win Wimbledon in her last final there in 1986 (she lost to Martina), but got to celebrate when she won the '87 Australian Open. Later, I was present in the stands when Mandlikova won what would be the final singles title of her career at the WTA's Washington, D.C. event. Plus, Mandlikova's game eventually lived on in the form of Jana Novotna, who I latched onto as a player before I'd even known that Mandlikova was her coach. When Novotna won Wimbledon in '98, Mandlikova "sort of" finally completed her career Grand Slam. Both are on the "All-Backspin" team. Ultimately, I was pretty lucky to realize that my initial reaction to Mandlikova was a stupid one. Without her, I would have missed out on a lot of fun.

Amelie Mauresmo, FRA: for a long time, my opinion of Mauresmo revolved around her inability to win in the clutch. Before the likes of Safina, Jankovic and Wozniacki, Mauresmo (after Clijsters had originally led the way) was the player who got to #1 without winning a slam. Blessed with a graceful game that heavily featured picture-perfect volleys and fluid groundstrokes, Mauresmo was often undone by fragile nerves that made her appear to be a head case, no matter how eloquent and thoughtful she might have been both before and after matches. If Mauresmo hadn't had her grand '06 campaign, in which she won both the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles, she would have gone down in history as an elegant chapter with an ending that left her true legacy hanging forever after. While I sort of resisted her breaking out of her pattern at first, I was wrong to feel that way. Thankfully, her title at the All-England Club finally brought me FULLY to my senses, as the graceful nature of her game was finally impossible to resist. In the end, while Mauresmo might not have won as many major titles as her fans and France would have hoped, the footsteps she left behind cannot be erased.

**It was One Bad Day, but many good ones followed**
Venus Williams, USA: though the irritation about the moment eventually wore off, I really didn't take too kindly to Venus' a-little-TOO-joyful hopping binge throughout the 2005 Wimbledon trophy ceremony. At the time, considering Lindsay Davenport had held match point late in the final and was visibly crushed by what turned out to be her last best chance to win a slam title, I felt Williams' unbridled emotional response to winning her first Wimbledon title after a four-year drought was somewhat disrespectful to her opponent. That said, as Venus and Wimbledon become so synonymous over the years, viewing the post-match images recently (during Tennis Channel's "100 Greatest Players" series) sort of made me chuckle at Williams' child-like, in-the-moment innocence. It no longer irritates me, but I DO remember how I originally felt. All is forgiven, but not necessarily forgotten.

Justine Henin, BEL: back before Henin became Backspin's beloved La Petit Taureau, one of her first impressions didn't exactly leave a good taste in the mouth. At Roland Garros in 2003, her "wave-off" (due to an apparent distraction in the crowd) of a Serena Williams serve just as she was about to begin her service motion should have resulted in the proceeding fault being judged a let and Williams getting another serve. Ah, but Henin refused to admit she'd asked her opponent to hold up. Needless to say, Serena was incensed. Not to a point where she threatened to shove a tennis ball down Justine's throat, but it needled her enough that nearly a decade later when, in Rome in 2009, Williams, who'd held up her hand just before Jelena Jankovic served, prompting a re-serve from the miffed Serb, told her opponent that she "wasn't like Justine, if you know what I mean." Of course, my uneasiness with the legality of Henin's (overly?) competitive nature was put to rest when she called up one of the great physical feats in the sport later that summer when she knocked off Jennifer Capriati and Kim Clijsters in back-to-back days, while fighting exhaustion, to claim the U.S. Open title. After that brief moment of questioning, the relationship between this space and the Belgian was more that rock solid. When she won Olympic Gold in Athens a year later, I'd already been fully converted into an Henin acolyte.

Victoria Azarenka, BLR: hmmm, could history be repeating itself? Nearly three years ago, I watched Azarenka just about suffer a total and complete meltdown while falling behind 7-5/4-1 to Carla Suarez-Navarro in a match at Roland Garros. During her near emotional breakdown during the match, as I said then, "she was putting on a show, honestly, quite unbefitting a top player. Squawking. Ranting. Muttering. Throwing her racket. Smashing signs. Azarenka was leering at the crowd. The crowd was getting on her." Ultimately, as darkness forced the match to be completed one day later, Azarenka easily put away the Spaniard down the stretch but, with her histrionics from the day before still fresh in everyone's minds, she left the court to a mixed fan reaction that was, conservatively, 60-70% anti-Azarenka. At the time, her antics made the reaction justified. Flashforward to 2012, though, and the Whack-a-Vika mood that often wafts through a crowd, now that the Belarusian has learned to better control her more self-destructive "inner Vika," is kicked up by the noise she makes during her strokes (pointed out often by commentators, Radwanska and WTA officials), and likely the athletic strut (which looks a little like Navratilova's, really) and somewhat demonstrative intensity she sometimes displays during particularly fierce battles on the court. THAT I like, though. It reminds me a little of Henin's games(wo)manship and unapologetic desire to win, and my defenses of Vika during recent situations is reminiscent of my past words while backing LPT, too. In the cases of Henin and Azarenka, whether it's the fondness for the player that leads to the defensive posture, or whether my propensity to defend a player more vociferously whenever they're "attacked" by the most people leads to the fondness is unknown. But with these two, it's sort of gone hand-in-hand. Maybe being on the other side of the argument at the start with both players allowed me to feel more justified once I got behind them. Either way, as closing ranks around Justine served Backspin well for a long time, maybe this whole recent embrace of Azarenka is just the beginning stages of another beautiful friendship. We'll see.

Well, that's about it for the "Anti-Backspin" team as it stands now. Of course, things can change. It's all up the players. Well, and whether or not I'm in a forgiving mood, I guess.

All for now.

Miami Special Edition: 26 the Hard Way

2012-03-26T23:47:00.000-04:00

Occasionally, one of the most important matches of the season just flairs up out of nowhere. Well, spontaneous combustion occurred on the Grandstand Court in Miami today.

Since the start of the 2012 season, Victoria Azarenka has been virtually unassailable. Untouchable, really. Going into Monday, she'd reeled off twenty-five straight match wins, the longest season-opening WTA streak in fifteen years. Often times, she'd been essentially unmerciful in her destruction of her opponents. So good has her play been that she'd rarely been challenged, let alone found herself being outplayed, out hit and out-aggressioned by an opponent.

But that's exactly what was happening to her in her 4th Round match today in Miami against Dominika Cibulkova.

The 22-year old Slovak, a diminutive, scrambling, hard-hitting Top 20 player, came to Florida after having suffered through a horrendous start to her season. She'd ended '11 on such a good note, too. After notching two wins over then world-#1 Caroline Wozniacki, she finally won her first career tour singles title, and the one-time slam semifinalist seemed to have maybe belatedly developed an ability to close out big matches under pressure. I even picked her to finish '12 in the Top 11... so maybe I jinxed her a little.

Today, Cibulkova played out-of-her-mind good, shoving Azarenka's back against the wall like no one else has been able to all season.

From the start, Azarenka's timing was slightly off, but Cibulkova was more than "on." With Azarenka serving under 50%, Cibulkova attacked and pulverized the Belarusian's second serve. With forehand winners flying off her racket, she went about disposing of Azarenka in a way, well, reminiscent of how Azarenka has dispensed with many of her opponents this season. Cibulkova raced to a 5-0 1st set lead before Azarenka managed to hold serve to salvage one game. The Slovak didn't let up, either. Early in the 2nd set, she led 18-2 in total winners, and soon she was up 6-1/4-0 on the world #1. During a changeover session, coach Sam Sumyk told Azarenka to take more chances. She proceeded to do so, but it seemed like it'd be a case of too little, too late. She got a break of Cibulkova's serve to get to 4-2, but gave the break back and saw the Slovak serve for the match at 5-2. If was here that Cibulkova showed a hint of the nerves of a player prone to crumble under pressure in the past. She opened the game with two double-faults, and was broken at love. Still, she got to within two points of the match on Azarenka's serve one game later, only to see her hold for 5-4.

Interestingly, just before the hold, after Azarenka had lost a point to go to deuce, she's sailed a forehand beyond the baseline after the point. The move elicited a few boos from the stands. In the past, the angry pitbull that sometimes resides within Azarenka might have acted out, then seen the match slip away. This time, though, she didn't. Instead, facing her first real challenge (well, I guess Mona Barthel's near upset in Indian Wells was one... but that was a case where Azarenka nearly lost a huge lead, so it was a bit different situation) since becoming #1, she acted like a confident world #1 should. She remained calm, and simply bore down just a little bit more. After the hold, she got a break to get to 5-5, upping her aggression just as Cibulkova's forehands began to miss their mark more often. Still, Cibulkova held to get to a tie-break... and the Slovak wasn't about to let the set slip away without a fight.

Even after Azarenka got to 6-3 in the TB, Cibulkova didn't give up. She saved three set points to get to 6-6, then saved a fourth. At 7-7, she just missed on a passing attempt that would have given her a match point. On set point #5, Azarenka finally held, taking the tie-break at 9-7 to knot the match, having won five of the final six games of the set.

In the 3rd, most opponents would have simply faded away. And after Azarenka broke her in the first game of the set, it looked as if Cibulkova might, too. But she didn't. Three times in a row, Azarenka broke the Slovak to take a lead in the 3rd, and all three times she immediately broke back to get things back on serve. Cibulkova finally held for a 5-4 lead, and once again Azarenka had to battle against letting her growing frustration over not being able to put her opponent away once and for all get the best of her. A Cibulkova DF gave Azarenka another break lead at 6-5, and the whole process very nearly started over again. Azarenka faced another break point, staring at letting a break lead slip away for a FOURTH straight time in the set. She saved it, though, and finally became the first player to get to match point in the contest. During the proceeding rally, Azarenka retrieved a drop shot by Cibulkova, then saw the Slovak blast yet another winner attempt past her at the net. For a moment it looked as if... then the call of "out" came.

Azarenka had survived, winning 1-6/7-6/7-5, overcoming a 6-1/5-2 deficit to keep her winning streak alive at 26-and-counting. But maybe more impressive was how she managed this comeback. She's staged a great rally against Carla Suarez-Navarro at Roland Garros a few years ago, but it came while expending much anger and energy. This time, she was calm, cool and collected as she went about her business. The histrionics of the former "crazy girl" were absent, and the maturity of "new Vika" served her well on this day. While you could almost see all the old wild energy trying to burst through her skin on a few occasions, she managed to keep it in check, remain patient, move forward with her game plan and eventually take advantage of the opportunities she was presented.

No one ever said things were going to be easy ALL the time.

As it is, this match should provide Azarenka with yet another boost of confidence somewhere down the road this season. One thing she hadn't yet faced in '12 was an opponent playing like Cibulkova did today, and an edge-of-her-seat, death-defying escape like the one she pulled off will now be set aside in her memory bank, able to be pulled out and called upon when needed. Maybe even in Paris, London or New York.

All real champions learn -- even after they've already become champions -- and live on because of it. You never know when they're going to come, but today was one of those learning experiences for Azarenka.

All for now.

Wk.12- Vika... the Savior?

2012-03-26T14:59:00.009-04:00

Hmmm, what's happened in Miami? Well, Venus is back. But Petra isn't. Alisa has returned. But Kim is still dealing with "wedding issues." Oh, yeah. And Vika STILL hasn't lost.

(HALF-WAY) PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT: Victoria Azarenka/BLR
...as far as headline-grabbing goes, Venus might be considered here. But when we're nearly into April and the #1 player still hasn't lost a match, she can't be passed up. The streak (it's being fitted for a capital "S," but it's not yet appropriate) is now at 25 matches heading into Azarenka's 4th Rounder today with Dominika Cibulkova. Mostly, Miami has provided more of the same of what we've seen throughout 2012 with Vika. She even wiped out Heather Watson again, just as she did in Melbourne (6-0/6-2 instead of 6-1/6-0, though... proof that Vika's dominance is "slipping"). Oh, she DID change things up a little! She was wearing blue shorts instead of white ones during the Watson match. Always keepin' us guessing.
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RISER: Yanina Wickmayer/BEL
...for once, Wickmayer wasn't overshadowed by another Belgian. In fact, she beat that particular Waffle -- Kim Clijsters -- in the 3rd Round. The finally-returning KC is still being bothered by that ankle that first became a major issue last year when she injured it dancing at her cousin's wedding.
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SURPRISE: Garbine Muguruza-Blanco/ESP
...GMB just made her first Backspin appearance last week in the Fresh Face category after winning the $25K challenger in Clearwater, Florida. Liking the weather down there, the 18-year old Spaniard decided to stick around while. With a wild card in hand to get into the Miami main draw (her first tour level event), she showed up and defeated Ayumi Morita, Vera Zvonareva and Flavia Pennetta in succession. Hello.
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VETERANS: Venus Williams/USA & the winner of Serena vs. Stosur
...after dealing with her health issues since late last summer, Venus finally played her first tour singles match since the U.S. Open in Miami. In her first set back, she bageled Kimiko Date-Krumm. In her second match, she bageled Petra Kvitova in the 3rd set. In her third (loved the shorts... I sense a WTA trend), she went three hours against Aleksandra Wozniak, winning despite seeing the Canadian serving for the match up 5-4, 30/love. Meanwhile, the U.S. Open final rematch is taking place this afternoon in Miami between Serena Williams and Samantha Stosur. Sammy came is wearing that white "potato sack dress," so things didn't look good for her before the ball was struck. As this is posted, Serena has put away the 1st set.
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COMEBACK: Alisa Kleybanova/RUS
...after ten months away getting treatment for Hodgkin's, Kleybanova returned with a 1st Round win in Miami over Johanna Larsson. "I'm just happy that I'm here and that I'm able to play again. And, I'm feeling healthy and having fun again," said Kleybanova. "It's not the most important thing in my life anymore. So I'm just going to try and enjoy every day that I'm on the court."
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FRESH FACES: Sloane Stephens/USA & Madison Keys/USA
...if the tournament is held in the U.S., look for the Bannerettes to make some noise. Stephens and Keys did so once again in Miami. Both qualified (Keys got wins over Olga Govortsova and Anastasia Rodionova, while Stephens downed Sania Mirza), then advanced with 1st Round wins over Magdalena Rybarikova (Keys) and Pauline Parmentier (Stephens). The Happy Tweeter got an addtional nice victory over Sara Errani before losing to Maria Sharapova, while Keys was taken out by Agniewska Radwanska. Hmmm, speaking of what to expect when a tournament is held in the United States...
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DOWN: Petra Kvitova/CZE
...whew, is the WTA lucky to have Victoria Azarenka right now. Otherwise, the biggest stories so far in '12 would be the absences of veteran stars like KC and the Sisters in recent months, Wozniacki's fall and Kvitova's failure to overcome illness or asthma or whatever happens to be troubling her of late. Kvitova's 2nd Round loss to Venus (getting bageled in the 3rd will just not do, no matter how well Williams might have played) drops her to 10-21 in matches played in the U.S.. Thankfully for her, and a tour hoping that this issue resolves itself right-quick, she'll be playing in Europe soon.
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ITF PLAYER: Ana Savic/CRO
...three years ago, Savic took a break from tennis to travel the world with her sister, who's a model. Now 22, the Croat is back. Four events into her comeback, she's STILL undefeated. She won her fourth straight challenger title in Week 12's $10K Almaty event, defeating Lisa Sabino in the final when the Italian retired after five games. Savic is now 20-0 on the season, and leads the ITF circuit in titles.
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JUNIOR STAR: Anna Danilina/KAZ
...the 16-year old wins this honor for the second straight week with another high-level junior event title. This time, the Top 20 junior won the Grade A Porto Alegre, Brazil tournament as the #10 seed, defeating Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-2/6-3 in the final. Haddad Maia, by the way, seems to be specializing in losing junior event finals. She recently lost back-to-back deciders to Chalena Scholl, as well.
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[Miami Week 1 - Tuesday-Monday afternoon]
1. Mia 2nd Rd - V.Williams d. Kvitova
...6-4/4-6/6-0. Venus gets her 600th career match win. Though it's hard to remember right about now, Kvitova is still 14-4 on the season, with her Hopman Cup matches thrown in.
=============================
2. Mia 1st Rd - Kleybanova d. Larsson
...2-6/6-3/6-2. "For everyone else it's just the 1st round, but for me it's very emotional. I'll always remember it. It will always be the first match of my comeback."
=============================
3. Mia 3rd Rd - V.Williams d. Wozniak
...4-6/6-4/7-6. A-Woz's resurgence continues. Coming off her string of successful qualifying runs, a close loss to Stephens in Indian Wells, and a $100K title, she qualified in Miami and then came within an eyelash of taking out Venus. Of course, the way she crumbled when she got to within two points of the win also shows that she's still got a ways to go to come close to returning to her old Stanford title-winning self.
=============================
4. Mia 3rd Rd - Wickmayer d. Clijsters
...6-4/7-6. Kim says she'll play out her final season until the end of the year. She saved six match points before finally going out here, but she's clearly not 100%. And that doesn't speak well for her prospects as the season advances. Hmmm, I wonder if KC will attend Maria Sharapova's November wedding in Istanbul? If she's invited, maybe she should take a pass for safety's sake... either that, or literally strap herself to a chair whenever the dancing music begins to play.
=============================
5. Mia 1st Rd - Watson d. Cirstea
...6-3/3-6/7-6. At least Watson had something good to remember from Miami before she was once again crushed by Vika. She came back from a 5-0 3rd set deficit, saving two match points, to defeat Cirstea.
=============================
6. Mia Doubles 1st Rd - Goerges/Stosur d. Huber/Raymond
...6-1/6-4. The duo's 16-match win streak comes to an unceremonious end. This was part of the doubles bloodbath in Miami, where the teams of Peschke/Srebotnik, Hlavackova/Hradecka and Benesova/Zahlavova-Strycova also went out shockingly early.
=============================
7. Mia 2nd Rd - Barthel d. Jankovic
...6-0/6-3. Ouch. Where's Ricardo when JJ needs him?
=============================
8. Mia 2nd Rd - Cetkovska d. McHale
...0-6/7-5/6-1. Another blown lead. Not the comeback after I.W. that Christina was hoping for.
=============================
9. $25 Ipswich Final - Sandra Zaniewska/POL d. Ashleigh Barty/AUS
...7-6/6-1. The teenaged Aussie reaches her third '12 challenger final, losing for the first time.
=============================
10. Mia 2nd - Soler-Espinosa d. Kanepi
...7-5/6-3. Under the radar, Kanepi is simply having a regrettable season so far.
=============================

1. Mia 1st Rd - K.Bondarenko d. U.Radwanska
...3-6/7-6/6-4. K-Bond wins the battle of the two qualifying halves of a pair of famous tennis siblings.
=============================
2. $25K Phuket QF - Noppawan Lertcheewakarn d. #1 Erika Sema 6-4/2-6/6-1
$25K Ipswich QF - Tina Schiechtel d. #1 Yurika Sema 0-6/6-3/6-3
...a pair of #1-seeded Semas = zero singles titles in Week 12.
=============================
3. $10K Antalya Doubles Final - Evelyn Mayr/Julia Mayr d. Giovine/Mircic
...6-2/6-3. Hmmm, the Mayr sisters didn't win a singles title, either. But at least they made up for it in doubles. Unless the Semas possess cloning technology, that wasn't possible for them.
=============================

**LONG WTA WIN STREAKS - last 10 years**
32...Justine Henin, 2007-08
25...VICTORIA AZARENKA, 2012
24...Justine Henin-Hardenne, 2005
22...Kim Clijsters, 2005
22...Lindsay Davenport, 2004
22...Justine Henin-Hardenne, 2003

**LONG WTA WIN STREAKS SINCE 2011 U.S. OPEN**
25...VICTORIA AZARENKA, BLR (January 2012-current)
14...Petra Kvitova, CZE (October 2011-January 2012)
--
NOTE #1: Kvitova also won 4 exhibition matches at Hopman Cup
NOTE #2: Agniewska Radwanska won 10 straight matches, w/ walkover loss after 7th win (Feb-Mar)

NEXT UP: The Anti-Backspin Team

All for now.

The 100 Greatest Players? (Umm, yes and no.)

2012-03-24T23:55:00.005-04:00

On Friday night, Tennis Channel completed its countdown of the "The 100 Greatest Players of All Time." While every list of this sort has arguments built into it, especially one that includes both men and women players, for the most part, the rankings have merit.

Of course, that doesn't mean there aren't some things -- a few minor, and at least one major -- that can't be debated.

Here are the lists, grouped by Tennis Channel's individual programs, with a few comments on the players involved:

green - players active in 2012

[#71-100]
70. Patrick Rafter, AUS
71. Maria Sharapova, RUS
72. Gottfried von Cramm, GER
73. Jaroslav Drobny, CZE
74. Tony Roche, AUS
75. Pauline Betz, USA
76. William Renshaw, GBR
77. Molla Mallory Bjurstedt, NOR/USA
78. Ashley Cooper, AUS
79. Gabriela Sabatini, ARG
80. Marat Safin, RUS
81. Vic Seixas, USA
82. Yevgeny Kafelnikov, RUS
83. Jan Kodes, CZE
84. Norman Brookes, AUS
85. Yannick Noah, FRA
86. Tony Wilding, NZL
87. Mary Pierce, FRA
88. Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
89. Dorothea Lambert Chambers, GBR
90. Bill Johnston, USA
91. Shirley Fry, USA
92. Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
93. Nicola Pietrangeli, ITA
94. Andy Roddick, USA
95. Thomas Muster, AUT
96. Manuel Orantes, ESP
97. Pat Cash, AUS
98. Henry "Bunny" Austin, GBR
99. Ann Haydon-Jones, GBR
100. Michael Chang, USA

...first off, while I get that someone might have thought that it'd be a "neat" idea to have players considered the best ever in other sports -- Jack Nicklaus, Jerry Rice, Carl Lewis, Lisa Leslie & Wayne Gretzky -- host Tennis Channel's "100 Greatest" programs, one has to wonder why it didn't dawn on someone else that it makes it look as if the producers of the episodes were trying to "elevate" tennis, by association, to the level of those other sports, rather than assume that anyone who was actually watching didn't need to be convinced. Really, as soon as the video came in of Lewis calling Wimbledon "Wimbleton" the whole idea should have been shelved... or at least someone should have decided that, since further insult to those associated with tennis wasn't necessary, maybe the clip where a host refers to the sport's most famous tournament by the wrong name should have been edited out of the final product. Just a thought. Unfortunately, though, one that wasn't recognized by anyone that mattered. The whole thing was just an unnecessary aggravation, I think. By the time we got to Leslie and Gretzky, I wasn't even listening anymore.

Now, about the actual list...

Any thumbnail sketch of #97 Pat Cash's career is incomplete without mentioning how injuries bedeviled his prospects. Same goes for him being the first player to climb into the stands -- an act that's now become something of a tradition -- on Centre Court after his slam title win at Wimbledon. Neither made it into his segment, though. Meanwhile, Pierce finishes ahead of countrywoman Mauresmo? They're close, but it seems to be that Mauresmo being the only one of the pair to reach #1 should have inched her ahead.

Now, of course I have to make my pitch for Jana Novotna's inclusion on this list. Before any of the list was revealed, it was mostly just a "wish" that she make the cut. But after seeing some of the players who made it over her, now I feel it's a worthy issue to gripe about. #85 Yannick Noah makes the list, but Novotna doesn't? Now, I was Noah fan. I could have easily slipped him in somewhere on the All-Backspin Team's lower echelon. He, like Novotna, only won one slam singles crown. But while Novotna reached three other slam finals (+5 SF), Noah never reached another semifinal at a major. Novotna added sixteen slams Doubles and Mixed crowns (Noah had one), and while the Frenchman reached a high ranking of #3, Novotna was #2 in singles and #1 in doubles. But even if Noah's rock star status gives him a free pass, that Michael Chang came in at #100 over Novotna is a bit absurd. The fourth-best player (at best, as Todd Martin, though he never won a slam, was arguably his equal or better) in the last great American generation of players (behind Sampras, Agassi & Courier), Chang's only real reason for consideration on this list is his '89 Roland Garros win. But that astounding run as a 17-year old was something of a fluke, to be honest, as the rest of his career attested. I saw all and can remember both of their careers, and Novotna was far more deserving of the last-over-the-finish-line #100 spot than Chang.

[#41-70]
41. Guillermo Vilas, ARG
42. Jim Courier, USA
43. Lindsay Davenport, USA
44. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, ESP
45. Kim Clijsters, BEL
46. Henri Cochet, FRA
47. Jean Borotra, FRA
48. Frank Sedgman, AUS
49. Ilie Nastase, ROU
50. Tony Trabert, USA
51. Doris Hart, USA
52. Jack Crawford, AUS
53. Tracy Austin, USA
54. Manuel Santana, ESP
55. Gustavo Kuerten, BRA
56. Stan Smith, USA
57. Jennifer Capriati, USA
58. Alice Marble, USA
59. Margaret Osbourne duPont, USA
60. Virginia Wade, GBR
61. Neale Fraser, AUS
62. Hana Mandlikova, CZE
63. Lleyton Hewitt, AUS
64. Ellsworth Vines, USA
65. Pancho Segura, ECU
66. Bobby Riggs, USA
67. Fred Stolle, AUS
68. Helen Jacobs, USA
69. Louise Brough, USA

...one wonders where #45 Clijsters would have ranked on this list had she not had such a strong 2.0 comeback. She might not even have made it onto the list at all. Hmmm, Sharapova is at #71, while Capriati is at #57? I'd say their careers are more comparable than those rankings suggest, and that Sharapova -- with wins at three different slams, and a longer, more consistent career -- maybe should come in the higher of the two. I'd put Capriati somewhere ahead of #92 Kuznetsova... maybe just behind #80 Safin.

Kuerten at #55 seems a tad high, though he WAS great fun.

Not that I'm sticking up only for All-Backspin Team members, but I think Hana Mandlikova is grossly underranked at #62. Really, Capriati comes in higher? Hardly. Remember, Mandlikova managed to carve out more slam wins (4 to 3) than Capriati -- and she was playing in the thick of the Navratilova/Evert era! She reached two Wimbledon finals, with a chance to complete a career slam, while Capriati won all three of her major titles (at two different slams) over a twelve-month span.

[#21-40]
21. Boris Becker, GER
22. Venus Williams, USA
23. Fred Perry, GBR
24. Suzanne Lenglen, FRA
25. Stefan Edberg, SWE
26. Justine Henin, BEL
27. Maureen Connolly, USA
28. Arthur Ashe, USA
29. Helen Wills Moody, USA
30. Martina Hingis, SUI
31. John Newcombe, AUS
32. Lew Hoad, AUS
33. Mats Wilander, SWE
34. Jack Kramer, USA
35. Pancho Gonzales, USA
36. Rene Lacoste, FRA
37. Evonne Goolagong, AUS
38. Maria Bueno, BRA
39. Althea Gibson, USA
40. Novak Djokovic, SRB

...Cash's many ancillary quirks were ignored, but at least fellow Aussie #37 Evonne Goolagong's penchant for an occasional "walkabout" wasn't. Neither was #24 Suzanne Lenglen's brandy-sipping during changeovers. And that's a good thing.

No mention of #28 Arthur Ashe's tragic death from AIDS after having contracted HIV through a blood transfusion during heart surgery? Before Magic Johnson's HIV announcement, Ashe was the first major athletic figure to contract the disease. His work in the latter years of his life led to ESPN's annual awards presenting the Arthur Ashe Courage Award in his honor. It seems that at least a mention of all that would have been a good idea. But I guess that Carl Lewis "Wimbleton" comment couldn't be cut to make room.

If you want any better example of good vs. bad timing of birth, look no further than the fact that Martina Hingis is #30, while Andy Roddick is #94. Roddick won his one slam before the Federer Era -- then Rafa/Roger, then Rafa/Roger/Novak ones -- began. Meanwhile, Hingis won all five of her majors before either Williams Sister won a first. Still, even with that, how the hell does Roddick finish just six slots ahead of Chang?

At first, I was a bit peeved that Henin only ranked #26. But considering the players who came in directly ahead of her, I suppose it's a legit slotting.

[#11-20]
11. Don Budge, USA
12. Andre Agassi, USA
13. John McEnroe, USA
14. Serena Williams, USA
15. Jimmy Connors, USA
16. Bill Tilden, USA
17. Roy Emerson, AUS
18. Ivan Lendl, CZE
19. Monica Seles, YUG/USA
20. Ken Rosewall, AUS

...#19 Monica Seles (stabbed) and #27 Maureen "Little Mo" Connolly (horse riding accident) prove to provide the biggest "What If?" questions on this list. With full careers, they'd probably have been impossible to keep out of the Top 10.

Some of the last of the ranked Aussies are being sprinkled in right about here in the countdown. Only the U.S. has more players in the Top 100, and it just serves to remind you once again how far Australian tennis has fallen since the 1960s-1970s.

At least Serena Williams didn't finish at #13 (she's had enough trouble with that number), though it's hard to get past the notion that she should be higher than #14. Still, she's ranked ahead of #15 Jimmy Connors, and just behind #12 Andre Agassi and #13 John McEnroe. Good company, nonetheless.

[#1-10]
1. Roger Federer, SUI
2. Rod Laver, AUS
3. Steffi Graf, GER
4. Martina Navratilova, CZE/USA
5. Pete Sampras, USA
6. Rafael Nadal, ESP
7. Bjorn Borg, SWE
8. Margaret Smith-Court, AUS
9. Chris Evert, USA
10. Billie Jean King, USA

...hmmm, five men and five women in the Top 10. Considering the vastly higher number of men in the Top 100, you don't think there was some sort of mandate to at least have equal numbers in this final segment of the countdown, do you?

Of course, with players this high up on the historical charts, it'd be easy to shake them up and not have too much of an argument. But I've still got one big one: Steffi Graf should not be ranked ahead of Martina Navratilova.

It's odd how most experts largely agree that Navratilova tops the list of female greats, but she finished behind the German here when so many of them were polled. Thing is, their careers DID overlap, and the mid-to-late 30's Martina was still able to compete with a just-becoming-great Graf in the late 1980's. Graf eventually overtook her, but Father and Mother Time played as much a part in that as the two players did. Graf won more slams -- 22 to 18 -- but never had to contend her entire career with a rival like Navratilova did with Evert, who also claimed 18 majors. Graf's biggest competition, after Navratilova's eventual decline, was Monica Seles. And Seles was beating her like a drum on the big stages before her '93 stabbing. With Seles sidelined, then changed forever, Graf won four slams in a row, then ten of the next thirteen she played -- nearly half her career total. I'm sure Navratilova's numbers would have been far higher if Evert had been stabbed in the back right in the heat of their rivalry. She'd likely have surpassed #8 Margaret Smith-Court's all-time best total of 24 slams. While Navratilova never won an in-season Grand Slam as Graf did, she DID win six straight slams over two seasons at one point, and her mastery of singles, doubles and mixed surely makes her a more well-rounded player than the powerful German.

The kicker to this little ending? Graf, the #1 ranked female on the list, didn't even participate in the interview clips that were used throughout the five-episode series (perhaps because she would have been asked about Seles' stabbing by a Graf fan, I wonder?). It was left to her husband, Andre Agassi, to throw out the fact that Graf had her Golden Slam season (all four slams, plus Olympic Gold) in '88, and that it might be used to put her at the top of the list of women's players. Oddly enough, though, that Rod Laver had two Grand Slam seasons (1962 and '69) didn't enable him to top the list over Federer, who has so far failed to pull off a true Grand Slam (and completed a career slam only when he didn't face Nadal in Paris). While, what with the wiggle room still left for Federer to add to his totals, I can understand the Swiss Mister edging out Laver, I could never say the same for Graf over Navratilova.

But, then again, everyone isn't supposed to agree with everything on lists like these, huh?

**TOP 100...**
[by nation]
38 - United States
17 - Australia
7 - France
6 - Great Britain
4 - Russia
5 - Czech Republic
4 - Spain
3 - Germany
3 - Sweden
2 - Argentina
2 - Belgium
2 - Brazil
2 - Switzerland
1 - Austria
1 - Ecuador
1 - Italy
1 - New Zealand
1 - Norway
1 - Romania
1 - Serbia
1 - Yugoslavia
-
PLAYERS LISTED HERE UNDER TWO NATIONS: Bjurstedt (NOR/USA), Seles (YUG/USA), Navratilova (CZE/USA)
[by gender]
62 - men
38 - women
[active players - 10]
Kim Clijsters
Novak Djokovic
Roger Federer
Lleyton Hewitt
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Rafael Nadal
Andy Roddick
Maria Sharapova
Serena Williams
Venus Williams
[Top 10 women]
1. Steffi Graf
2. Martina Navratilova
3. Margaret Smith-Court
4. Chris Evert
5. Billie Jean King
6. Serena Williams
7. Monica Seles
8. Venus Williams
9. Suzanne Lenglen
10. Justine Henin
[Top 10 men]
1. Roger Federer
2. Rod Laver
3. Pete Sampras
4. Rafael Nadal
5. Bjorn Borg
6. Don Budge
7. Andre Agassi
8. John McEnroe
9. Jimmy Connors
10. Bill Tilden

All for now.

In Miami, Everyone is Equal... but some are more equal than others

2012-03-20T18:12:00.001-04:00

There are no signs of Carl having taken his talents in South Beach. Not that the WTA needs much more talent to be in attendance the next two weeks.

Everybody (well, except for a certain injured dancing German) is in Miami for the Sony Ericsson Open. Vika, Petra and Maria? Yes, yes, yes. Serena and Kim? Yep, yep, yep. Geez, even Venus is there. This is about as close as we're going to get to a grand slam-style draw outside of Melbourne, Paris, London and New York. Not surprisingly, with Victoria Azarenka having picked up the Australian Open title in January, now it can be said that ALL past Miami champions also have a grand slam title on their career resume. Not only that, of the 54 finalists in the tournament's 27-year history, 47 of them have won slam crowns. 24 of the last 26 finalists have done so.

So, in other words, some big-name players won't be needing to book their hotel rooms for the full two weeks.

**RECENT MIAMI FINALS**
2005 Kim Clijsters d. Maria Sharapova
2006 Svetlana Kuznetsova d. Maria Sharapova
2007 Serena Williams d. Justine Henin
2008 Serena Williams d. Jelena Jankovic
2009 Victoria Azarenka d. Serena Williams
2010 Kim Clijsters d. Venus Williams
2011 Victoria Azarenka d. Maria Sharapova

**MOST MIAMI SINGLES TITLES**
5...Steffi Graf (1987-88, 1994-96)
5...Serena Williams (2002-04, 2007-08)
3...Venus Williams (1998-99, 2001)
2...Victoria Azarenka (2009, 2011)
2...Kim Clijsters (2005, 2010)
2...Martina Hingis (1997, 2000)
2...Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (1992-93)
2...Monica Seles (1990-91)
1...Chris Evert (1986)
1...Svetlana Kuznetsova (2006)
1...Martina Navrtilova (1985)
1...Gabriela Sabatini (1989)

**WON INDIAN WELLS & MIAMI IN SAME YEAR**
1994 - Steffi Graf
1996 - Steffi Graf
2005 - Kim Clijsters

MIAMI, FLORIDA (Premier $4.828m/hardcourt outdoor)
11 Final: Azarenka d. Sharapova
11 Doubles Champions: Hantuchova/A.Radwanska
12 Top Seeds: Azarenka/Sharapova
=============================
=Round of 16=
#1 Azarenka d. #18 Kerber
#7 Bartoli d. #22 Kirilenko
#3 Kvitova d. #20 Hantuchova
#5 A.Radwanska d. #24 Pennetta
#10 S.Williams d. #6 Stosur
Clijsters d. McHale
#8 Li d. #17 Peng
#2 Sharapova d. Barthel

...a lot of early potential in this draw. Kvitova/Venus in the 2nd Round. A US Open Final rematch of Serena & Stosur in the 4th. Some great potential upsets (McHale/Wozniacki in the 3rd, as the Bannerette comes back strong from her squandered IW match) and "second chances" (Kerber vs. Azarenka again), too. I've got Kvitova through here, but with her asthma it'd be easy to see the likes of Hantuchova slipping past (if a returning Venus doesn't pounce even earlier, that is).

=QF=
#1 Azarenka d. #7 Bartoli
#5 A.Radwanska d. #3 Kvitova
Clijsters d. #10 S.Williams
#2 Sharapova d. #8 Li

...hmmm, Clijsters vs. Serena. Who's REALLY back? A-Rad would be able to take advantage of Kvitova's mistakes, but the Czech could blow her off court, too. Either way, as long as Azarenka reaches the SF, any potential opponent there would provide an interesting contest (for very different reasons). Since I'm in the mood for another Azarenka/A-Rad beatdown, I'll go with that and hold tight for when Petra gets to the clay season and a "safer haven" in Europe.

=SF=
#1 Azarenka d. #5 A.Radwanska
#2 Sharapova d. Clijsters

...a fifth knock-out of the Pole Cat in less than three months? Why not? At this point, Vika might be wishing and hoping for another Maria rematch, since if KC gets this far she's a potentially more lethal final opponent.

=FINAL=
#1 Azarenka d. #2 Sharapova

...on hardcourt in North America, I'd give KC a good shot to win. Maria, maybe not. Azarenka has already won this title twice, while Sharapova has been runner-up in Miami three times, including in last year's decider against Vika. Three years ago, Azarenka was RU in Indian Wells, then won Miami. Last year, she won in Miami. As this season's IW champion, she can finally bring the two together two weeks from now and become just the third different woman to win both huge North American titles in the same season. That and 29 straight wins would send Azarenka off to Europe like a bat out of hell (preferably minus that weird virus that is wiping out so many bats here in North America, that is).

I'll be posting the "Anti-Backpsin Team" soon, as well as a mid-Miami look-in to bestow a few awards.

But first...

My, my. Todd is really going out on a limb this week, isn't he? So precious. But, really, darling. Vika is going to lose sometime, and don't you want to be there predicting it to happen when it does? Think of the feather in your predicting cap that would be...

(sigh)

All right. I know you're not buying that. Naturally, darling, Azarenka is the correct pick until she finally loses. That said, I'm quite happy with the myriad choices you've left me with for Miami. Petra. Maria. Kim. Serena. Even Venus, if I wanted to take a flying leap off a high cliff (ahh, memories of my crazy childhood in the hinterlands). Speaking of such wild caveperson ways, the other day I found one of the first photos ever taken of Carl and myself. It's of our first kiss, actually.

You see, Carl showed up at a Cavewoman's Rights rally. Probably to bust things up, I suspect. But I never let him get the chance. Right when he started to (literally) beat his chest and threaten to squish a few of my friends and the reporters interviewing them, I slipped in and gave him a kiss. As you can see, it had the desired effect on Carl. Rather than want to squish, he turned to jelly. We went to dinner in the park (I thought going to a busier place might set him off, which would have been dangerous in his precarious condition), and we've been together ever since.

Needless to say, Carl was angry that Todd got his pick correct last week. That my pick (Maria) was in the final, too, caused him to have a bit of a setback. So, I'm afraid I'll be around for at least a few more weeks. As you can see, this development convinced Todd to get me my own segment logo. And since I think "picks" sounds a bit nasty, I had him change it to a more lovely "selections." "Beautiful" ones, in fact. Could there be any other? If I'm going to be here for a while, I demand that the surroundings fit my style. So far, so good. I don't know why Carl finds Todd so disagreeable.

(Diane, darling... I hope you like coffee as much as I do. See you soon darling! Oh, and don't be scared if you hear TOO big a banging at your door when I drop by. Sometimes I can't control my "cavey"-ways and flashback to the days when we had to beat things with sticks. Muscle-memory and all, you know.)

Oh, and here are my picks:

=QF=
Azarenka d. Bartoli
Kvitova d. A.Radwanska
Clijsters d. Stosur
Sharapova d. Lisicki
=SF=
Kvitova d. Azarenka
Clijsters d. Sharapova
=FINAL=
Clijsters d. Sharapova

All for now.

Wk.11- Vicious Vika

2012-03-19T20:44:00.002-04:00

Like a multicolored maven of magnificence, Victoria Azarenka has taken Indian Wells by storm.

In this weekend's cold weather California final, a flush-cheeked Azarenka was winningly clad in a day-glow yellow headband, long-sleeved blue top, her (now-trademark) white shorts over black down-to-the-calf bicycle pants, and white shoes with day-glow yellow laces. It might not have been the most fashion-conscious ensemble on court, but more crisply-attired opponent Maria Sharapova won't likely be able to easily get it out of her head for all sorts of reasons that have nothing to so with whether or not any of Azarenka's many color combinations worked. After all, she saw an earlier version of the same line in Melbourne... and she's still having recurring nightmares about it more than two months later.

Sometimes, the clothes seem to make the champion (see Stosur in NYC, and Sharapova there, too), but, in Vika's case, the champion is making the clothes. In fact, so far, it seems to be a perfect marriage. Literally.

Even Azarenka's timing of her illnesses seems to be spot-on this season. In an event that saw players falling off left and right due to the virus that spread over the grounds, the Belarusian got over her own touch of the bug early in the first week. Sure, it might have played a part in her very nearly collapsing against Mona Barthel in the 2nd Round (she led 6-4/5-1, then saw the German serve for the match in the 3rd), but once she got past that iffy moment, Azarenka was simply stunning. After Barthel won twelves games off her after being one game from defeat, against the likes of multiple slam champ Svetlana Kuznetsova, rising Julia Goerges, new world #4 Agnieszka Radwanska, slam semifinalist Angelique Kerber and former #1/current #2 Maria Sharapova, Azarenka allowed 3, 4, 2, 7 and 5 games, respectively, over the course of her next five matches. With her 23-match winning streak now a thing of beauty to behold in the daylight, Azarenka has opened a virtual gulf between herself and the rest of the field in the rankings (something that won't likely change soon, even with Miami and Marbella title points next to come off her totals). She leads Sharapova by 1800 points, Petra Kvitova by 2560, and Caroline Wozniacki, who was ranked #1 just two months ago, by an obscene 4320. If anyone on tour is thinking about nipping at her heels right now, they'd better wear a mouth guard if they want to avoid getting their front teeth caved in.

Or at least is seems that way.

When a player is performing as well a Azarenka has in '12, it sometimes seems as if they'll never lose. Of course, she will. But it could be a while as, for the first time, some of those consecutive match win marks aren't looking quite as far out of reach as they did back in Melbourne. At this point, she's just waiting for a proper challenger. As Azarenka has risen to the top of the sport, would-be #1 Kvitova has lingered in something of a haze. If she's the player she's so often seemed to be, the Czech will soon be inspired to her own form of greatness in response to Azarenka's. That's how all this is SUPPOSED to work. One player spurs the next, and vice versa. That's how great rivalries -- and champions -- come about. Surely, the WTA needs Petra (or Serena?) to make the next move, because the only other "rising" Top 10 players on the '12 ledger -- Sharapova and Radwanska -- have so far been treated like pesky gnats by the racket-wielding Belarusian this season. Radwanska, especially so. A constant critic of Azarenka's on-court shrieks, the Pole just learned what the blowback is when a Vika a scorned. She was nearly double-bageled by her last week, and was forced into a mock "celebration" when she managed to finally get one game off the #1-ranked player in the world. Maybe that'll teach her to poke Azarenka with so many verbal sticks... but I hope not. As punishing as such beatdowns are for the player being beaten down, they're actually sort of fun to watch. I mean, isn't Roger Federer great fun to watch when he's being as "Federeresque" as he can be? On numerous occasions this season, Azarenka has shown to have similar no-mercy-will-be-shown abilities. Such a thing isn't always enjoyable to watch, but I've come to really enjoy watching Vika grind her opponents into dust. She just has a way about her when she does it that practically demands to be watched and respected.

It's funny. Azarenka's well-earned post-final victory dance included probably her most uncomfortable-looking moves of the past two weeks (or maybe it was just me, simply because it's hard to top Andrea Petkovic's more natural, original routine). The heaviest lifting she did? Umm, maybe trying to get that huge Indian Wells champion's trophy over her head after the match. Well, unless it was getting that million dollar check into her back pocket, that is.

As much as I'm enjoying this career-defining run, one has to keep a watchful eye on WTA reality (and not the Martina-on-DWTS kind, either). Truthfully, I hope that Azarenka slows down a bit as the season moves along. At least a little. Her winning streak is maximizing the number of matches she's playing at every turn, and for a player who has had so many "illness" and "injury" issues in the past, even for one who seems to have put all that behind her, there comes a point when winning can be too much of a good thing. She'll soon be arriving at another fork in the road for her development into a true champion -- one at which she'll have to learn how to continue her progress while also scheduling smartly in order to remain healthy and peak at the right times during the season. Traversing that potential bump in the road with skill might be the only thing keeping her from putting together one of the more remarkable WTA seasons in recent memory.

As has been the case in all twenty-three of her matches in 2012, it'll all be up to Vika.

*WEEK 11 CHAMPIONS*
INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA (Premier $4.828/HCO)
S: Victoria Azarenka/BLR def. Maria Sharapova/RUS 6-2/6-3
D: Huber/Raymond (USA/USA) d. Mirza/Vesnina (IND/RUS)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Victoria Azarenka/BLR

...Azarenka's winning streak is starting to grow some hair. At 23 matches and counting, she's already got the longest season-opening WTA streak since Martina Hingis' 37-match run in 1997. As far as more recent in-season streaks, she's closing in on matching Justine Henin' 25-match string in 2007, and could challenge LPT's 32-match winning stretch covering the 2007-08 seasons. As it is, Azarenka has now reached six straight finals going back to last season, won four straight titles, and won five of six events. After losing the first four finals of her career, she's now triumphed in twelve of the last sixteen.
=============================
RISER: Angelique Kerber/GER
...before she was ridden out of town by Azarenka in the SF, Kerber had been living under a cloud in Indian Wells. After saving two match points against Sloane Stephens in the 2nd Round, the German saved three against Christina McHale in the 3rd. A straight sets win over Li Na put her in her fourth SF of 2012, tying for the tour lead with Vika. Of course, Azarenka is 4-0 in those matches, while Kerber in 1-3. Nevertheless, Kerber's ascension continues. She's up to #14, one spot behind countrywoman Sabine Lisicki, with #10 Andrea Petkovic maybe short on holding onto the top-ranked German title.
=============================
SURPRISE: Nadia Petrova/RUS
...in one glorious Indian Wells moment, Petrova showed once again just how good she CAN be. Getting some measure of revenge for her loss in that 3rd Round nighttime doozy against eventual champion Sam Stosur at last year's U.S. Open, Petrova won a nearly three-hour rematch in the 3rd Round. Of course, the future American citizen's (Miami native Nadia has applied) good vibe didn't last too long. She lost in the next round to Maria Kirilenko. Oh, Nadia.
=============================
VETERANS: Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond (USA/USA) & Maria Sharapova/RUS
...the drumbeat of Azarenka's dominance has sort of drowned out that of Huber & Raymond. With their Indian Wells title, they, like the Belarusian, have won four straight titles (and claimed both high-level Premier events in '12, as they joined Azarenka as champions in Doha, too). In defeating '11 champs Sania Mirza & Elena Vesnina in the final, the veteran American pair wrapped up their eighth title as a duo in the approximately ten months that they've been a team. To put that into perspective, far-more-longtime pairs Peschke & Srebotnik and Benesova/Zahlavova-Strycova (both with 9 titles) are already looking over their shoulders. Meanwhile, Sharapova knows something about being overshadowed by Azarenka. The Russian has climbed back to #2, reached a slam final and the deciding match in Indian Wells, but has had the look of disappointment seemingly plastered all over her face these days whenever Azarenka's name comes up in conversation. Unfortunately for her, she even brought up the "revenge" word heading into her AO final rematch with Vika in IW. Ummm, maybe Maria should leave the "revenge" to a player more willing and able to beat an opponent over the head with it... like, say, Vika, and Serena, another player who has never let Sharapova forget about her belief that 2004 was an aberration in their series history. Other than a Rome match last season in which Azarenka retired after having won the 1st set, the recent match-ups between the current world #1 and #2 have taken a decidedly ugly turn, as far as Maria is concerned. In 2010, Azarenka took out Sharapova 6-4/6-1 in Stanford. A year ago, Sharapova lost in the Miami final to Azarenka 6-1/6-4. In Melbourne, it was 6-3/6-0. In Indian Wells, it was 6-2/6-3. That's what they call a trend, and to turn it around is going to likely take a change within Azarenka, not Sharapova.
=============================
COMEBACK: Ana Ivanovic/SRB
...AnaIvo woke up the echoes of her 2008 Paris self in Indian Wells, taking down BOTH of the events 2011 finalists -- Caroline Wozniacki and Marion Bartoli -- in back-to-back matches to reach the semis. Of course, as with everything with AnaIvo since she won in Roland Garros, things are subject to change. In fact, they may have already done so. She went out in the SF to Sharapova via retirement due to an injured hip. Two steps forward. One step back.
=============================
FRESH FACE: Garbine Muguruza-Blanco/ESP
...the 18-year old Spaniard qualified in the $25K Clearwater challenger in Florida, then knocked off Melinda Czink, Arantxa Rus and Stefanie Voegele before "putting a Vika" on fellow teenager Grace Min (6-0/6-1) in the final.
=============================
DOWN: Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
...in the end, the Dane's Indian Wells run was closed out in the 4th Round, but she was a bit lucky to even last that long. She trailed Sofia Arvidsson 6-3/5-4 in the 3rd Round, but the Swede tired out and Wozniacki outclassed the heavier hitter down stretch with her better fitness and good defense. It worked against a Top 50-ish player whose best results come in Memphis and Fed Cup zone play. Against a current Top 20er, former #1 and slam winner, though, she was tossed out rather handily by an in-form AnaIvo, 6-3/6-2. As has been the case since she stopped improving, Wozniacki had little chance against a hard-hitting shotmaker who was actually hitting her shots between the lines. With the scoreboard forcing C-Woz into breaking her own pattern of defense backed up by defense, with a little defense thrown in for good measure, she was a lost Dane. Since such a more offensively-minded gameplan isn't something she strives to be able to employ with her practices all week, there was little chance her makeshift Plan B would work against Ivanovic as long as the Serb didn't suffer some sort of Kvitova-esque continental drift on court. Ultimately, in what was a very important tournament for her, she didn't even come to defending her '11 IW title. As a result, she's dropped out of Top 5 for the first time in ages (below new #4 A-Rad, as well as #5 Sam Stosur) and is a little bit more irrelevant now than she was two weeks ago. Now far she'll slide will depend on how long it takes her to recognize the new reality of her place in the game.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Aleksandra Wozniak/CAN
...A-Woz's under-the-radar "mini-comeback" continues. At least on the ITF circuit. She claimed the $100K Nassau challenger in the Bahamas over the weekend, taking out Olga Savchuk, Riki Fujiwara, Gail Brodsky, Bojana Jovanovski and Alize Cornet (6-4/7-5 in the final) along the way. It's the second straight season in which Wozniak has won a $100K, having won in Vancouver in '11.
=============================
JUNIOR STAR: Anna Danilina/KAZ
...the tour's "throng" of notable Kazakhs is still growing. It numbers somewhere around a half dozen now (one of which makes an appearances in the "Matches of the Week," by the way). 16-year old Danilina added her name to the roster last week, winning her first Grade 1 event in Brazil's Banana Bowl. She got wins over Bannerette Chalena Scholl, who'd won back-to-back G2 and G1 events coming in, and Sweden's Ellen Allgurin in the final.
=============================

1. IW QF - Azarenka d. A.Radwanska
...6-0/6-2. Barthel aside, Azarenka is becoming pretty adept at putting a boot on an opponent's neck and driving them into the court with evil intention. Against A-Rad last week, she seemed to give the Pole Cat a little extra twist with her ankle, like she was snuffing out a match... or at least the opportunity for Radwanska to complain about all the noise it was taking to dispense of her so quickly. Actually, this one was almost worse than the final score indicates. Vika led 6-0/5-0, having come back from love/40 down on A-Rad's serve at 4-0. Speaking of 4-0, that's Azarenka's record against Radwanska, the player directly behind the Belarusian when it comes to most match wins this season, in 2012.
=============================
2. IW 3rd Rd - Petrova d. Stosur
...6-1/6-7/7-6. Oh, Nadia! She had a very Lisickian end to the 1st set -- ace, ace, ace -- and, after failing to convert match points in the 2nd set, came back to win in a deciding tie-break in the 3rd. At 2:47, this one still wasn't as long as their Flushing Meadows tussle last summer.
=============================
3. IW 4th Rd - Kerber d. McHale
...6-3/3-6/7-6. Considering how McHale reacted the last time she blew a match at Roland Garros last year, are we to expect a big result from her next time out?
=============================
4. IW 3rd Rd - Wozniacki d. Arvidsson
...3-6/7-5/6-2. Arvidsson actually got a win over then-#1 Wozniacki last year in Bastad, but it came when the Dane retired in the 2nd set, after having lost the 1st, with a shoulder injury. Remember, Bastad was the one-week-after-Wimbledon event that should never have been on her schedule to begin with.
=============================
5. IW Final - Azarenka d. Sharapova
...6-2/6-3. I guess the thoroughness of Azarenka's defeat of Sharapova is evident when the first match-up of the WTA's Top 2 players since 2010, and the first in a final since 2008, fails to even break into the top four match-ups of the week. With her twelve career titles, Azarenka is now just two crowns behind Jennifer Capriati for 32nd on the all-time WTA list. The two closest active players above her are Sharapova (tied for 21st w/ 24) and Wozniacki (26th w/ 18).
=============================
6. $25K Poza Rica MEX Final - Yaroslava Shvedova/KAZ d. Monica Puig/PUR
...6-2/6-2. Finally, Shvedova gets into the singles winner's circle, albeit on the ITF circuit. She got additional wins over Ximena Hermoso, Alexandra Krunic and Jana Cepelova. It's her first singles title of any kind since 2008.
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7. $25K Clearwater FLA 2nd Rd - Camila Giorgi/ITA d. Aravane Rezai/FRA
...6-3/6-0. It's starting to look like all hope just might be lost for the No-Reason-To-Be-As-Opionated-As-She-Used-To-Be Pastry.
=============================
8. $10K Miyazako JPN Final - Makoto Ninomiya/JPN d. Yumi Miyazaki/JPN
...6-0/6-7/6-0. Miyazaki's name didn't help her in Miyazaki. Well, maybe it did in the 2nd set.
=============================
9. $10K Amiens FRA Final - Isabella Shinikova/BUL d. Ysaline Bonaventure/BEL
...6-3/0-6/6-3. Congrats to Shinikova, but I'm here to talk about the new Waffle. A runner-up result is pretty good for a 17-year old qualifier ranked outside the Top 1000, I'd say.
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10. $10K Manavgat TUR Final - Ana Savic/CRO d. Jasmina Tinjic/BIH
...6-0/6-4. The Croat has won three straight ITF singles tournament titles.
=============================

$100K Nassau QF - Anne Keothavong d. Karolina Pliskova 7-5/6-4
$100K Nassau QF - Alize Cornet d. Kristyna Pliskova 6-1/6-1
...not this week, girls.
=============================

**2012 WTA FINALS**
4 - VICTORIA AZARENKA (4-0)
2 - Daniela Hantuchova (1-1)
2 - Flavia Pennetta (0-2)
2 - MARIA SHARAPOVA (0-2)

**RECENT #1 vs. #2 MATCH-UPS**
2001 Sydney Final - #1 Hingis def. #2 Davenport
2001 Tokyo Final - #2 Davenport def. #1 Hingis
2002 Wimbledon Final - #2 S.Williams d. #1 V.Williams
2002 US Open Final - #1 S.Williams d. #2 V.Williams
2003 Australian Open Final - #1 S.Williams d. #2 V.Williams
2003 Filderstadt Final - #1 Clijsters d. #2 Henin-Hardenne
2004 Australian Open Final - #1 Henin-Hardenne d. #2 Clijsters
2004 Filderstadt Final - #2 Davenport d. #1 Mauresmo
2004 Athens Olympic Final - #1 Henin-Hardenne d. #2 Mauresmo
2006 Antwerp Final - #2 Mauresmo d. #1 Clijsters
2008 Sydney Final - #1 Henin d. #2 Kuznetsova
2010 WTA Chsp SF - #1 Wozniacki d. #2 Zvonareva
2012 INDIAN WELLS FINAL - #1 AZARENKA d. #2 SHARAPOVA

**LONG SEASON-OPENING WIN STREAKS**
[WTA + ATP]
45...Steffi Graf, 1987
42...John McEnroe, 1984
41...Novak Djokovic, 2011
37...Martina Hingis, 1997
37...Martina Navratilova, 1978
36...Martina Navratilova, 1983
33...Chris Evert, 1981
32...Steffi Graf, 1994
32...Steffi Graf, 1995
31...Bjorn Borg, 1980
31...Steffi Graf, 1989

**RECENT WTA SEASON WIN STREAKS**
25...Justine Henin, 2007 (32-match streak w/ 7 wins in '08)
24...Justine Henin-Hardenne, 2005
23...VICTORIA AZARENKA, 2012
22...Kim Clijsters, 2005
22...Lindsay Davenport, 2004
18...Maria Sharapova, 2008
18...Nicole Vaidisova, 2005
--
NOTES: Sharapova won 19 con. in 2006 (with walkover loss after 8th win); Serena Williams won 18 con. in 2011 (with walkover loss after 12th win)

**MOST CAREER PREMIER TITLES, since 2009**
[$4.5m+ / $2.05m+ / $600K-$1m]
11...Caroline Wozniacki (2-3-6)
7...VICTORIA AZARENKA (3-1-3)
4...Maria Sharapova (0-3-1)
4...Agnieszka Radwanska (1-1-2)
4...Elena Dementieva (0-1-3) - retired

With the late draw and start of play, I'll post the Miami picks later. And, since I didn't want to crowd it so close to the updated "All-Backspin Team," I'll be posting the previously-promised "All-Time Anti-Backspin Team" during THIS tournament.

All for now.

The Best of Times...

2012-03-13T16:33:00.003-04:00

They've been part of the best of Backspin times. They've been part of the worst of Backspin times. First up, the best.

About a year ago, I made the first announcement in this space of the "All-Time All-Backspin Team," bringing together as one all the "most favored" players who have helped to shape Your Friendly Neighborhood Backspinner's tennis psyche over the years, starting back with those extremely fuzzy childhood memories of Bjorn Borg being the king of Wimbledon. Some on the list were instant favorites, while some took a bit of wearing before they finally fit like a glove.

Not much has changed with the list in twelve months. But at least one player HAS been promoted, while another that once seemed to be "on deck" for entry into the club has slipped back badly, replaced by a contemporary who, in some ways, is starting to resemble another "social climber" who eventually found her way into my very good graces. That said, here's what I said in 2011 (updated, when necessary), along with a few 2012 comments thrown in to bring things up to date.

=ALL-TIME ALL-BACKSPIN TEAM=
**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 decade. 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 metaphors. 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.

[ Since her KL win, tennis hasn't been kind to Jelena over the past year. She reached another final last summer, but hasn't advanced past the 2nd Round in any of her other nearly-twenty tournaments. Oh, and Damir is back in her life. Sigh. Well, obviously, similarly hand-wringing times have come about on Jelena Corner over the years, but they've almost always been followed by better times ahead. Eventually. If you wait long enough. I've been waiting for nearly thirteen years now. I can wait longer and, even if something better never comes around again, I'll still miss The Fair One greatly when she's really gone. ]

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.

[ Talk about passing a torch. The Dokic/Novotna link in '99 had been preceded by Novotna winning her title a year earlier with another All-Time Team member -- Hana Mandlikova -- acting as her coach. Then again, last year, when a certain new 2nd Teamer won HER first title at Wimbledon, guess who was there in the stands cheering her on as a fan and public admirer of her talents. Yep, Jana. I tell you, the Tennis Gods must have SOMETHING to do with this. Oh, and have you seen Jana in any of those "Legends" doubles matches at the slams? I tell you, she might be in better shape now than she was in her prime -- and could probably "pull a Navratilova" and play doubles on tour well into her 40's if she wanted. ]

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.

[ Boris never really totally goes away. Just like the charisma he had in such abundance at an age when he had absolutely no "right" to have it. ]

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 me 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, 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 a 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. Representing Czechoslovakia, 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.

[ We see Mecir nowadays as the Slovak Republic's Davis Cup coach. ]

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 my old Jelena Corner columns on http://www.jelena-dokic.com/, 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.

[ Hmmm, I guess that turned out to be a not-so-subtle hint about the top member of the "All-Time Anti-Backspin Team," huh? ]

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 my elementary school years. 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.

[ Borg and McEnroe's rivalry has been chronicled in both book and HBO documentary form over the past year. ]

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.

[ Well, the quest didn't last too long. Kvitova won Wimbledon last summer. She suffered another downturn after that, before roaring back to life in the season's closing weeks. More than anything, that quick snap-back, and the belief that she has her champion's head in the right atmosphere, solidified her promotion to 2nd Team from her spot on the "Hopefuls" list a year ago. Of course, there have been and are still rocky road moments in Kvitova's path to more success. She's so far failed to grab the #1 ranking, and her "Novotna-esque," error-strewn in-match drifts still pop up far too often. Throw in her asthma making her a question mark in hot (especially North American) environments, and a career of alternating high-and-low points seems a sure bet. Oh, but when she's "on," she's awesome. She's easy to root for. She's Czech. She's great on grass. She makes you want to ram your head into a tree on occasion, but you still willingly step back up to the bar the next time she hits the court. In other words, she's nearly a "perfect" All-Backspin Team member. ]

**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.

[ Well, yeah. The storyline has sort of changed here. In fact, she's off THIS list. At the very least, a member of the "Backspin Inner Circle" has to want to the best he/she can be. And Dane's rest-on-her-laurels, blame-everyone-else-for-the-criticism-of-her-slam-failures, create & hire & fire "coaches" pattern, a-little-TOO-precious Clijsters-like desire to please and apparent inability to admit that her own preferred game style stubbornness might have already put a permanent ceiling on her slam prospects makes me question her commitment. Not to being a very good, well-earning, tour-supporting tennis player... but being the sort of TRUE champion that a player who rises to #1 SHOULD be -- one that is willing to knock down every available door in order to live up to their standing, fight off criticism with their play ON the court and not "waste" any of the prime years of a finite career. The replacement for Wozniacki on the "Hopeful" list doesn't have that probem. ]

Victoria Azarenka, BLR... Vika has always existed on the peripheral of Backspin's consciousness, with a big move by her being the long-awaited next step. Until she made it, though, it was going to be hard to commit to her. But over the last year, she's finally made it. Fully committing to making the most of her career by making more intelligent decisions (as far as her "injuries" and schedule) and being less of a "crazy kid," she decided to conduct herself like a champion both on and off court. The result? An Australian Open title, the #1 ranking and one of the best starts to a WTA season in ages. Better yet, the very same anger-fueled emotion that brought her down in the past is now being channeled smartly into her drive to win, making it even more difficult to beat her as her confidence grows with every match. Much like Henin, whose overt (over?) desire to win was close to being TOO much, at least to fully embrace her, early on, Azarenka's stick-it-in-your-eye-while-I-win reaction to all the "Whack-a-Vika" criticism about her on-court shrieking has me smiling all the time now. Henin's "wave off" of Serena at Roland Garros made me dislike her, then she won me over with her U.S. Open heroics a few months later. Watching Azarenka angrily come back to defeat Carla Suarez-Navarro in a RG match in '09 wasn't a pretty sight, but with a little spit and polish she's turned her sometimes-childish reactions into those of a more seasoned player who isn't going down without a (literal?) fight. While she's not "bad," Azarenka IS often drawn that way. Just like Henin was on more than one occasion. LPT's ever-present hat might have been white, but she filled Backspin's role of lovable, black-hatted "villain" quite well. Over time, we'll see if Azarenka can wear her own version of The Hat (maybe it's the The Shorts?). If so, Petra might have some company.

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.

[ Occasionally, Nadia still produces a few, "Oh, Nadia!" moments, like her Indian Wells win this week over Sam Stosur. But the moments of resignation are still far more common. ]

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, "Lost Generation" years. To this point, at least.

[ Chelsey is still playing college tennis for Georgia, but the "Bannerette Watch List" has grown incredibly over the past year. As far as the youngsters, I'm still more intrigued -- as far as this list -- with the likes of Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens. But the likes of Christina McHale, Taylor Townsend and others are just a few "moments" away from jumping up here. ]

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.

[ Slowly but surely, del Potro is working his way back. As I'll likely never be an Andy Murray fan, dthe Argentine is still by top alternative to the Big 3 (not 4, as some like to count, since the Scot actually has to win something to earn such inclusion, in my opinion). Over the past year, I've come to like Milos Raonic and Ryan Harrison -- but not Bernard Tomic -- enough to consider them as potential future inclusions here. ]

...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.

[ Navratilova is easily my favorite post-career player. She'll make her "Dancing with the Stars" debut next week. I just hope she doesn't become the butt of jokes afterward. Last summer, Sabine Lisicki's big game and just-as-big smile nearly allowed her to leap-frog a few people and get onto the lower level of one of these lists. But she's not there yet, and one wonders if her always-iffy health and inconsistency will ever allow her to cut a wide enough swath through the tour to live up to her potential, both here as well as in her career. Hmmm, who else? Well, if either or both of the Pliskova Sisters ever had a REAL breakthrough, there's always room for another Czech -- or two -- around here. ]

ALSO THIS WEEK: The All-Time Anti-Backspin Team

All for now.

Wk.10- Of Close Calls & Czech Falls

2012-03-12T14:41:00.001-04:00

A near-miss. A big (but not exactly head-scratching) upset. And a slew of Bannerettes inserting their names into the WTA conversation. In other words, it's time for a quick mid-Indian Wells check-in.

(HALF-WAY) PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT: Victoria Azarenka/BLR
...the #1 player in the world in still in this event, and has managed to keep her 2012 resume clean of any losses through 19 matches. But it wasn't easy. Living up to the champion role she's placed herself in this season, Azarenka pulled through, then looked none the worse for wear one round later. After essentially breezing past young German Mona Barthel in their two previous meetings this season, things didn't go quite as smoothly when the Belarusian met her for Part 3 of their early-season trilogy. In fact, she barely got out of the match with her life. Barthel served for the match twice, but Azarenka's experience (and Barthel's comparable lack of it) showed down the stretch. One round later, Vika handled Svetlana Kuznetsova 1 & 2. Oh, and she gets a few extra points here for agreeing to the crowd (and tour) pleasing doubles pairing with Petra Kvitova. Oh, and speaking of...
=============================
RISERS: Christina McHale/USA & Vania King/USA
...the Czech didn't compete for POW with her doubles partner because, well, her singles participation in Indian Wells came to an abrupt end in I.W. on Sunday night thanks to Christina McHale. Well, as is usually the case, Kvitova had something to do with it, as well. But while Barthel didn't take full advantage of her shot against Azarenka, McHale did with her's against the Czech. Down a set, the American saw Kvitova's game undergo one of its error-prone "drifts," and pounced. She took the 2nd, then broke Kvitova in Game 4 of the 3rd. In Game 8, Kvitova's back-to-back double-faults put her two breaks down and that was all she wrote. Meanwhile, if King hadn't come down with the stomach virus that also took down Vera Zvonareva and Gael Monfils, McHale might have met her in an All-American Round of 16 match. As it is, King will have to be content with her earlier wins over Acapulco champ Sara Errani and the quickly-diminishing-in-status Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
=============================
SURPRISE: Jamie Hampton/USA
...no woman has made a bigger splash in I.W. than the 22-year old Hampton. An ITF star in the past, she's carried over her success to the big tour this season. Already, after being included in the draw as a wild card, she's taken out the likes of Polona Hercog, '10 champ Jelena Jankovic and Jarmila Gajdosova. Next up, A-Rad.
=============================
VETERAN: Li Na/CHN
...she's back, and in good form. Of course, that could change at any moment. But, as things stand, her wins over Galina Voskoboeva and Zheng Jie have put her into the Round of 16 -- and maybe made her the favorite to reach the SF.
=============================
COMEBACK: Francesca Schiavone/ITA
...by the time you read this, Francesca might be gone from the tournament (depending on which Lucie Safarova shows up on Monday). But, no matter, the thirtysomething has to be feeling pretty good about her straight sets defeat of Lesia Tsurenko, the same young Ukrainian who crushed her in maybe the Upset of the Year (so far) in Fed Cup play last month.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Lauren Davis/USA & Sloane Stephens/USA
...beware the American teens. They can tweet, and they can play tennis pretty well, too. Both got wild cards into the main draw. Davis opened with an upset of Kuala Lumpur runner-up Petra Martic before losing to Nadia Petrova. Meanwhile, after Azarenka had called Stephens "one of the nicest, bubbly girls out on tour," saying, "she is so much fun and free-spirited, and I absolutely love how she is always smiling," the American showed she had game, then that she still has some things to work on. She took out Aleksandra Wozniak in three sets, then led Angelique Kerber by a set and 5-2 score in the 2nd Round. She served for the match, but eventually squandered the lead. "Merry Tweeter" Stephens tweeted recently that "Big things will happen!" She might be right, but not yet.
=============================
DOWN: Petra Kvitova/CZE
...it's sometimes an "either/or" situation with Kvitova. This was one of the "or's," I guess. With precious little match play since the Australian Open, it's tempting to pin her come-from-ahead loss to McHale on the fact that she's yet to really get into any sort of groove during the '12 season. Well, that, and her obvious difficulties with her asthma, which is making the conditions in North America seem like they're going to continue to be an issue for her for quite some time. That said, if she's going to follow up her Wimbledon title with a second slam she can't always be one swing (or one breath) away from a disaster-waiting-to-happen.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Maryna Zanevska/UKR
...the 18-year old Ukrainian made it three straight ITF singles titles with her win over Diana Marcinkevica in the final of the $10K in Dijon, France.
=============================
JUNIOR STAR: Sabina Sharipova/UZB
...a Girls quarterfinalist at this year's AO (she lost to eventual champ Taylor Townsend), the 17-year old Uzbeki with the familiar-but-not-really name won the G1 event in Nondhaburi, Thailand. She defeated Canada's Carol Zhao in the final.
=============================

[I.W. Week 1 - Wednesday-Sunday]
1. IW 2nd Rd - Azarenka d. Barthel
...6-4/6-7/7-6. Mona has proven to be a Vika magnet in '12. After this 3:00 match, she might be thinking that her fourth attempt might be a charm for her.
=============================
2. IW 2nd Rd - McHale d. Kvitova
...2-6/6-2/6-3. After a win over the world #3, McHale is running out of higher-ranked players she can defeat to get her "best ever" win. Hmmm, well, she COULD meet #1 Azarenka in the semis, though.
=============================
3. IW 2nd Rd - Schiavone d. Tsurenko
...6-2/6-4. Take that, missy! "Great Mandula's Ghost" (I'll explain that in the "All-Time Backspin Team" post, which I'm pushing back a day or two) does NOT reside here.
=============================
4. IW 1st Rd - Dulko d. Dokic
...1-0 ret. Hmmm, even the mention of the entity that haunted Jelena a decade ago has managed to make another loss appear on her ledger. This was a quick one, too, as the Aussie went out with a right wrist injury. She said months ago that she wanted to get back into the Top 20. Her chances aren't looking very good.
=============================
5. IW Doubles 1st - Bacsinszky/Brianti d. Kuznetsova/Zvonareva
...6-1/6-4. The AO champs didn't last very long in their "follow-up" event.
=============================
6. IW 2nd Rd - Wozniacki d. Makarova
...6-2/6-0. Impressive. If a few more big names fall, maybe that ranking-fall-avoiding title defense isn't out of the question.
=============================
7. Ascuncion G1 Jr. Final - Chalena Scholl d. Beatriz Haddad Maia
...6-2/6-1. The American liked beating up on the Brazilian in last week's Uruguay Bowl final so much that she did it again (and even better) this weekend in Paraguay.
=============================
8. $25K Fort Walton Beach Final - Madison Brengle d. Tereza Mrdeza
...6-4/3-6/6-3. While her American counterparts were having so much fun in Indian Wells, the two-time Girls slam RU (both times in '07) was winning a challenger title.
=============================
8. IW 1st Rd - Dominguez-Lino d. Lisicki
...6-1/6-4. Speaking of best laid plans...
=============================

**BACKSPIN PLAYER-OF-WEEK WINNERS**
[WTA]
Week 1 - Petra Kvitova, CZE
Week 2 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR
Week 3/4 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR (AO)
Week 5 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (FC)
Week 6 - Angelique Kerber, GER
Week 7 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR
Week 8 - Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
Week 9 - Sara Errani, ITA
[ITF]
Week 1 - Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN
Week 2 - Grace Min, USA
Week 3 - Lauren Davis, USA
Week 4 - Kristyna Pliskova, CZE
Week 5 - Sofia Kvatsabaia, GEO
Week 6 - Alexandra Dulgheru, ROU & Olga Govortsova, BLR (co-POW)
Week 7 - Michelle Larcher de Brito, POR
Week 8 - Annika Beck, GER
Week 9 - Maryna Zanevska, UKR
Week 10 - Maryna Zanevska, UKR
[Jr.Stars]
Off-Season - Ashleigh Barty, AUS
Week 1 - Sachia Vickery, USA
Week 2 - Daria Salnikova, RUS
Week 3 - Krista Hardebeck, USA
Week 4 - Taylor Townsend, USA (AO)
Week 5 - Irina Khromacheva, RUS
Week 6 - Yulia Putintseva, RUS
Week 7 - Ashleigh Barty, AUS
Week 8 - Ashleigh Barty, AUS
Week 9 - Chalena Scholl, USA
Week 10 - Sabina Sharipova, UZB

All for now.

To Live and Be Well in Indian Wells?

2012-03-06T23:57:00.003-05:00

And, now, the most important title defense attempt of the 2012 season begins. Right?

The knives are set for sharpening over the next two weeks. I guess we'll have to wait to see whether or not I get to be the tennis blogging version of "Sweeney Todd" at that point, though.

**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. Piotr's Daughter
2011 Piotr's Daughter d. Marion Bartoli

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA (Premier $4.828m/hardcourt outdoor)
11 Final: Piotr's Daughter d. Bartoli
11 Doubles Champions: Mirza/Vesnina
12 Top Seeds: Azarenka/Sharapova
=============================
=Round of 16=
#1 Azarenka d. #14 Goerges
#5 A.Radwanska d. #12 Jankovic
#3 Kvitova d. #18 Kerber
#19 Hantuchova d. #8 Li
#7 Bartoli d. #23 Safarova
#4 The Dane d. #15 Ivanovic
#6 Stosur d. #20 Kirilenko
#2 Sharapova d. (probably a bigger surprise, but I guess I'll take #21 Vinci)
=QF=
#1 Azarenka d. #5 A.Radwanska (oh, boy... A-Rad will get to screech like a pole cat about Vika's shrieks again. Hmmm, Pole Cat... Screech. Maybe there's a nickname for A-Rad in there somewhere?)
#3 Kvitova d. #19 Hantuchova
#7 Bartoli d. #4 The Dane
#6 Stosur d. #2 Sharapova
=SF=
#1 Azarenka d. #3 Kvitova
#6 Stosur d. #7 Bartoli
=FINAL=
#1 Azarenka d. #6 Stosur

...well, I'm surely not picking a repeat champion here. Speaking of which, it was interesting that Sharapova noted yesterday that she agreed to play in Monday's exhibition at Madison Square Garden just days before the start of a high-level tour event largely because it was being held at the fabled NYC arena. Somehow, I doubt that the Dane would had the same standards when it came to potentially endangering her preparation for a big event. And if the Russian was the defending champion, as is Rory's Girlfriend, I wonder if she might have reconsidered when it came to her participation? Somehow, I think Piotr's Daughter would have jumped at the chance for a little extra showtime even if it meant flying in on a copter onto an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Pacific. Well, actually, that WOULD be kind of cool... it'd be hard to hold THAT one against her, I guess.

Anyway, as far as this event is concerned, it's difficult not to go with Azarenka, though I really think that if Kvitova is in form enough to reach the SF I'd probably think she'd have the the advantage in their potential match-up there. Azarenka is bound to lose soon, and Kvitova has had Vika's number for a few years now. But we've seen a different Azarenka in '12, so I'll go with her until the string is broken.

...my goodness, darling. Someone should change that picks logo if I'm going to fill in for Carl for very long.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Carla, otherwise known around here as Carl's "better half." I embrace the title. Honesty, have you seen him? But underneath that very rough exterior, I believe there's a better Neanderthal, darling. Sure, you may have to peel away many layers -- sort of like the rings on an ancient oak tree -- to get there, but there's at least one good layer screaming to see the light of day. Well, at least that's what my cavewoman's intuition tells me. But I've been wrong before about such things (I admit it, I've gone a few rounds with some unchanging "bad boys"... I know, I'm such a cliche sometimes), so Carl is always on probation when it comes to our relationship. And it was working pretty well, too. Did you notice how nice he was last Christmas eve? We had a very lovely stroll with everyone that night, and he didn't squish any of them.

(Oh, speaking of, hey, Diane! Call me sometime, darling. We can have coffee. We never got to speak much last December, but you seemed like a good friend to JJ, and, of course, I admire such loyalty to someone that some people just don't "get.")

Anyway, I was very proud of Carl. But this picks thing has really set him off. He's used to grabbing what he wants, and not taking turns. He doesn't like going second, even though he told Todd that he was all right with it. Truthfully, I think we all saw this little temper tantrum coming from the start. I've tried to tell him to use the experience as a chance to grow, and to make the best of a bad situation... beat Todd with one hand tied behind his back, which he's always talking about anyway. But, instead, he took off, shouting something about ripping Todd's limbs off and feeding them to him. Sigh. I'm sure he'll calm down soon. Until he comes back home, though, I guess I'll keep his seat here warm.

Oh, and here are my picks:

=QF=
Azarenka d. Radwanska
Kvitova d. Li
Wozniacki d. Kanepi (Carla can actually say her name, darling)
Sharapova d. Stosur
=SF=
Kvitova d. Azarenka
Sharapova d. Wozniacki
=FINAL=
Sharapova d. Kvitova

All for now.

Wk.9- Euthanizing the 'Roo

2012-03-05T21:30:00.001-05:00

Someone call a vet. There's a metaphorical 'roo that needs to be euthanized. Stat!

Well, a certain Increasingly-More-Irrelevant Dane has managed to inject herself into the Backspin tennis conversation again. Oh, don't worry, though. It's not because she's actually done anything grand on the court. Tennis Gods forbid. In fact, she didn't even play last week. She did manage to break an "unwritten rule" recently, though, when she actually had the audacity (or maybe immaturity, or ignorance... all would apply) to call into question a certain all-time tennis great's "overly critical" commentary designed to, in the Former-#1-in-Question's words, "stir everything up."

After Martina Navratilova's recent, though hardly unique, critiques of the game of Piotr's Daughter, and casual comments -- again, none that haven't been shouted louder and more often from other corners of the tennis world -- about her not being looked at as the "true" #1 during her time atop the rankings, surely not with Serena Williams and/or Petra Kvitova (or, as it's turned out, Victoria Azarenka) still breathing air, the Blonde Right-Hander decided that the problem to address in this whole equation wasn't her game, her coaching, or even her opponents. No, it was the 18-time grand slam champion, considered by many to be the best female player ever, whose "bonafides" should be questioned. "I would never say Martina was #1 when there was no one playing, or that she was the best when no one was playing," said the Dane, trying her darnedest to say what she was thinking -- or had heard others in her inner circle say -- without actually taking responsibility for saying it. Even as a hypothetical argument comparing Navratilova's reign over the sport in any wild-assed way to her own, Denmark's Own's comments are guffaw-inducing.

As was noted in Bruce Jenkins' SI piece, the depth in today's game is likely better than it was 20-30 years ago, but, I'll add that much of that has come because of the advances in racket technology and training. But, as for the top of the sport? Whatever Midge's aims were, her comments only served to cause her to appear immature ("I know you are, but what am I?"), ignorant of her sport's history, and make it easier to knock HER, not question Navratilova or her opinions. Hmmm, with this sort of thinking, maybe the Slam-less One should think about a career in politics -- her line of attack would fit right in with the current crop of Republican presidential candidates here in the U.S.. Maybe she and Rick Santorum could talk about what their definition of "snob" is. It would be quite entertaining, I suspect.

A defense isn't really needed, but needless to say, Navratilova had more than a little competition. Evert. Court. Goolagong. Wade. Austin. And, later, even Graf and Sanchez-Vicario and the like, players that Navratilova battled fairly successfully into her mid-to-late thirties. All those "nobodies" are Hall of Famers, and Martina stood up to (and often surpassed) them all. Oh, yeah, by the end of her career, Graf had her number. But Patrik's Sister often loses to players from Germany, too... only they're slam-less fringe Top 10ers, not 22-time major winners. Six of one. Half a dozen of another, I guess. Or not.

Yale's Tennis-Playing Mascot really should have kept her mouth shut. But, no matter the lack of progress of her endless stream of ever-more-obtuse attempts to defend herself, tall tales created to shut down lines of questioning or attempts to be "funny" in order to curry favor with potential critics has helped her achieve, she seems psychologically unable to simply sit back and let her play do her talking. The Apple of Piotr's Eye has shown an amazing ability to not allow criticism to roll harmlessly off her back, or fight back with better results and/or less-desperate critiques of her critics that would allow any inherent hypocrisy in their stances to shine true -- ala a certain Belarusian. Instead, Rory's Girlfriend has continually displayed a hard-headed stubborn streak that virtually defines the old, humorous-but-close-to-fact definition of insanity as being "the act of repeating the same action over and over again and expecting a different result." When she was #1, she said she should change nothing about the game that got her there, but came up short in grand slams and/or against the very best players. As she's been overwhelmed in the rankings (a failure to sufficiently reclaim most of her Indian Wells championship points from a year ago over the next two weeks might knock her out of the Top 5) and fired a "coach," she's come back with her "why repair something that's not broken" line of thinking from a week or so. And now this.

It's really sort of funny -- funny "haha," as well as funny "weird" -- that Anna's Daughter has chosen to single out Navratilova's criticism above the vast chorus of voices that have spoken out on her time at #1 over the past couple of seasons. Remember, this was the same Martina who, even after her comments last year, was still willing to work with the Dane to help further develop her game and a more aggressive on-court mindset. That teaming never happened, and instead The Family went with the Mystery-Coach-That-Likely-Never-Existed, then the Actual-Coach-Who-Should-Have-Known-Better (aka Ricardo Sanchez), who, after walking out on long-time charge Jelena Jankovic, got a pink slip two months later, as Family Father tried to pin his daughter's disappointing AO loss on the "confusion" of having too much coaching in too languages. Not that it really mattered who, or in what tongue or tone, the instruction came. A player has to want to improve in order to do it. Obviously, that time has not yet arrived. Resting on laurels, even after the laurels have been kicked out from underneath you, is apparently the current plan of action, with no alteration of said plan on the horizon for Denmark's First Tennis Family.

Actually, though, I guess I should "thank" the Dane. Ever since Kim Clijsters righted her career ship and I came to respect 2.0 far more than 1.0 ever would have deserved, I've missed having such a "living-in-a-bubble" player whose own words and actions -- and, usually, results -- made it so easy to rake them over the coals on occasion and not feel the slightest bit of guilt about it. Maybe that's changed for good, though. It's not a totally-sailed ship. But we are getting close to pulling up anchor and setting course for another long, acid-tongued, eyebrow-raising adventure in Backspinland.

*WEEK 9 CHAMPIONS*
ACAPULCO, MEXICO (Int'l $220KK/RCO)
S: Sara Errani/ITA def. Flavia Pennetta/ITA 5-7/7-6/6-0
D: Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) d. Dominguez-Lino/Parra-Santonja (ESP/ESP)
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA (Int'l $220K/HCO)
S: Hsieh Su-Wei/TPE def. Petra Martic/CRO 2-6/7-5/4-1 ret. (exhaustion)
D: Chang/Chuang (TPE/TPE) d. H.Chan/Fujiwara (TPE/JPN)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sara Errani/ITA

...I think I may know where Carl has gone. At least last week, he might just have been in Acapulco cheering on Errani. How do I know? Well, going into Week 8, I'd picked Errani to win the title in Monterrey, only to have her lose in the semis. This past week, I didn't repeat the pick, having the Italian going out in the SF. Over the weekend, not wanting to disappoint her sudden cavefan, Errani not only won the singles title -- the third of her career, but first since '08 -- but the doubles, as well. The 24-year old, this past Australian Open's "Ms. Opportunity" for her Francesca-esque QF run (and Doubles runner-up & Mixed SF results), notched nice wins over Irina Falconi, Edina Gallovits-Hall, Roberta Vinci and Flavia Pennetta to get career title #3, ending her string of three straight losses in singles finals over the last few seasons. I guess Carl and his unending grudge -- which I thought have maybe been put behind us after our little Christmas eve "moment" -- IS capable of some producing SOMETHING good.
=============================
RISER: Petra Martic/CRO
...one of the "other" Petras on tour, 21-year old Martic had what might have turned out to be a career-defining week in Kuala Lumpur end up making her something of a victim of circumstance. Things went well early on, as she took out a contingent of Asian woman -- Erika Sema, Kurumi Nara & Peng Shuai -- before having her SF match delayed until Sunday because of rain. Against Jelena Jankovic, the Croat saved a match point and won a three-hour three-setter, but then was forced to play the final against Hsieh Su-Wei just a few hours later. She won the 1st set, but when the Taiwanese vet pushed things into a 3rd, Martic was operating on borrowed time. Down 4-1, she finally retired due to exhaustion and heat illness. Ultimately, she walked away from Week 9 with her first-ever appearance in a tour singles final, but one has to wonder if her accomplishment might have been far bigger had things played out just a bit differently in the skies above Malaysia.
=============================
SURPRISE: Ximena Hermoso/MEX & Marcela Zacarius/MEX
...Mexico doesn't exactly have a rich tennis history, but these two ARE beginning to put their nation on the sport's map. Hermoso began to put up some good ITF results a year ago, winning two titles. As a main draw wild card in Acapulco, the world #382 showed she's capable of more. She pulled off an upset of Patricia Mayr-Achleitner, and pushed Magdalena Rybarikova to three sets in the 2nd Round. Earlier, qualifying wild card Zacarius had taken out Aravane Rezai.
=============================
VETERANS: Flavia Pennetta/ITA & Roberta Vinci/ITA
...while Sofia Arvdisson seems to be more than at home in Memphis, Pennetta appears to enjoy Acapulco quite a bit. In reaching the singles final there this weekend, her second '12 final, the Italian has now reached the deciding match in her last seven appearances in the tournament, accounting for nearly a third of her twenty-two career finals. She's won twice (2005 & '08) in Acapulco, but didn't get title #3 this time. She did put up wins over Arantxa Parra-Santonja, Arvidsson (oddly enough), Mariana Duque-Marino and Irina-Camelia Begu, though. Meanwhile, Vinci, the event's #1 seed, reached the singles SF, but made more noise by joining with Errani to win a second consecutive doubles title a week after claiming honors in Monterrey. The pair are the third multiple-title winning team in '12.
=============================
COMEBACKS: Hsieh Su-Wei/TPE & Eleni Daniilidou/GRE

...a few weeks ago, 26-year old Hsieh Su-Wei hadn't reached a tour singles SF since 2001 (when she did it as a qualifier in Bali). Then, again as a qualifier, she ended her 11-year drought by reaching the Final Four in Pattaya. Last week in Kuala Lumpur, once again as a qualifier, the world #124 had an even better (and fortunate) run. Wins over Anne Keothavong and Casey Dellacqua got her into the QF, where she received a walkover from top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, who'd been forced to play two matches the previous day due to rain delays. After outlasting Eleni Daniilidou in her second semi of '12, she advanced to her first-ever tour singles final. On the good side of karma yet again, she faced off with Petra Martic, who'd just finished playing a three-hour three-setter with JJ earlier in the day. The Croat retired in the 3rd set, handing the Taiwanese vet her first-ever title. While Greece's Daniilidou wasn't able to advance to her first final since 2008, the 29-year old didn't need to call for any "austerity" measures to get her through the week, either. Her wins over Sania Mirza, Jarmila Gajdosova and Olivia Rogowska were more than self-sustaining.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Karolina Pliskova/CZE & Kristyna Pliskova/CZE
...a week ago, Kuala Lumpur was told to be on the lookout for the Pliskovas. For the most part, everyone was prepared to fight the twin Czechs off... but they got in a few shots of their own, too. After both made it through singles qualifying, they got a pair of 1st Round wins, as well, as Kristyna knocked off Iryna Bremond, while Karolina took down Chang Kai-Chen. Their singles journeys ended a round later -- with losses to Peng Shuai and A-Rad, respectively, for Kristyna and Karolina -- but the combined forces of Pliskova/Pliskova (which has already claimed two ITF crowns in '12) rebounded by advancing all the way to the doubles semifinals.
=============================
DOWN: Piotr's Daughter/DEN
...something of a threshold has been broken: she doesn't even need to play to qualify for this award. Martina's "quality over quantity" rules apply, I suppose. Speaking of Navratilova, it should be noted that she arrived in the U.S. after her 1975 defection and became a, in her words, "junk food junkie." Her talent wasn't compromised, as she became a slam champion and reached #1 in '78. But she didn't rest on her laurels. Navratilova has credited former women's basketball star Nancy Lieberman for "turning my career around in 1981." "She sternly lectured me that I was wasting my talent, needed to work harder than ever, and give tennis total commitment," said Martina. "Thanks to her burning me, I did." Navratilova became the best-conditioned athlete in the women's game and, along with fellow Czech Ivan Lendl, helped revolutionize the way tennis players train. The very best leave no stone unturned, and Navratilova was made to realize that. As of now, the Dane hasn't yet met "her own Nancy." Speaking of Martina (again), I guess I should mention her being on the cast of the new season of "Dancing with the Stars." It's SUCH a Martina thing to do. She may never become anything close to a good ballroom dancer, but she will surely work as hard as she can to improve at it every day. It's a signature move for Martina -- it's fearless. Or, at least, while she MAY fear the whole dancing thing, she won't let it keep her from trying. It's interesting that Chris Evert -- who DWTS has been after for years, as well -- has consistantly said that SHE doesn't have the guts to attempt to do the show. Martina does, though. At the very least, I just hope she pulls it off better than Monica Seles did a few years ago. But, whatever the result, she wasn't afraid to try something just because it's out of her comfort zone. I don't think you have to look too deeply to see how that trait helped to make her the champion she was, and still is. Which leads me back to the Dane once more. I almost noted her recent Rolex print ad a few weeks ago, but held back. I'll bring it up now, though. Describing her, it reads: "Champion. Fighter. Tireless Spirit. The Next Generation of Legendary. Her Path to Extraordinary Covers Every Square Inch of the Court." It should be noted that her 2010 Rolex ad opened with the additional line, "Metoric Rise. And the Game to Rise Higher." That line is no longer included in her print ads for the watch maker. I guess Rolex knows something The Family doesn't. She may no longer be #1, but she DID get to see what a #1 looks like over the weekend. In Miami with Rory McIlroy, she saw him overcome a late charge by Tiger Woods to win a tournament and rise to the top spot in golf for the first time. If Mcllroy knows what's good for him, he won't be like his GF and decide that he should stand pat and not work to continue to become better. He surely understands that "improvement" doesn't necessarily mean "repairing something that's broken." Meanwhile, Ricardo's Short-Lived Pupil heads north to Madison Square Garden early this week (getting her $ now, since they likely won't be calling for her services as often in '13) before flying cross country to California for the start of her Indian Wells title defense attempt. Sounds like good preparation. They have courts on airplanes, right?
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Maryna Zanevska/UKR
...Zanevska, 18, has been lurking in the background for a few years now. She was never a HUGE junior star, but she did manage to grab a pair of slam Girls Doubles crowns a few years ago. She's been winning small ITF events since 2009. This weekend, she walked off with her second 2012 challenger crown in as many weeks with a win in the $10K in Bron, France. In completing her back-to-back title dance, the Ukrainian took down countrywoman Anastasiya Vasylyeva in the final.
=============================
JUNIOR STAR: Chalena Scholl/USA
...the 16-year old American claimed the title in the Grade 2 Uruguay Bowl, defeating (in a rare turn of events) an actual tennis-playing female from Brazil in the final, Beatriz Haddad Maia.
=============================

1. Acap Final - Errani d. Pennetta
...5-7/7-6/6-0. So, the tour went to Mexico and the Italian Fed Cup team had their own little party. Three of the four semifinalists -- including Roberta Vinci -- are FC teammates, leading to this all-Italian battle, the first single nation singles final on tour in '12.
=============================
2. KL 2nd Rd - Rogowska d. Dokic
...3-6/6-4/7-6. Well, make it 18-of-19 events over the past year in which Dokic has failed to advance past the 2nd Round. The defending champ, who won her first tour title in nine years at this event a season ago, saw her ranking plummet from #76 to #118 today.
=============================
3. KL QF - Hsieh walkover A.Radwanska
KL Final - Hsieh def. Martic 2-6/7-5/4-1 ret.
...because of rain delays, A-Rad was forced to play two matches the day before her scheduled match-up with Hsieh, then ended up backing out of it with an elbow injury. Martic only had a few hours of rest after her rain-rescheduled SF with Jankovic turned into a rain-delayed three-setter earlier in the day on Sunday. I hope Hsieh gave a shout-out to Mother Nature for her first career title.
=============================
4. Acap Doub SF -- Dominguez-Lino/Parra-Santonja d. Dulko/Suarez
...6-4/6-4. Dulko and Suarez haven't won anything yet, but their early pre-Olympic results as a doubles team are producing some nice results.
=============================
5. Acap SF - Pennetta d. Begu
...6-2/6-2. Begu won the tour's "Most Impressive Newcomer" award for 2011, and entered this year as seemingly the most likely first-time singles champ to be crowned in 2012. It still might happen, but five other players have beaten the Romanian into the winner's circle for their maiden title through the season's first nine weeks.
=============================
HM- KL 1st Rd - Jankovic d. Garcia 7-6/4-6/7-6
KL SF - Martic d. Jankovic 6-7/7-5/7-6
...all this work, a pair of rain-interrupted three-hour matches (more than making up for the QF walkover win she received from Ayumi Morita), and all JJ got today was a computer ranking 70 points lower than it was at this point last week. Maybe Hsieh Su-Wei will send her a thank-you note? I mean, after she sends one to Mother Nature,of course.
=============================

1. KL Doub 1st Rd - H.Chan/Fujiwara d. Hsieh/Hsieh 6-4/2-6/10-8
KL Doub SF - H.Chan/Fujiwara d. Pliskova/Pliskova 5-7/6-2/11-9
...Chan Hao-Ching, who reached the Pattaya doubles final with her sister a few weeks ago, joined with Rika Fujiwara to take out a pair of tennis-playing siblings en route to the Kuala Lumpur final last week.
=============================
2. KL 1st Rd - Craybas d. Y.Sema 6-4/1-6/6-4
KL 1st Rd - Martic d. E.Sema 4-6/6-4/7-5
...while the Pliskova twins managed to get 1st Round singles wins in KL, Yurika and Erika Sema weren't so fortunate.
=============================

**2012 FIRST-TIME SINGLES CHAMPIONS**
Hobart - Mona Barthel, GER (age 21, #64)
Paris - Angelique Kerber, GER (age 24, #27)
Bogota - Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino, ESP (age 19, #174)
Monterrey - Timea Babos, HUN (age 18, #107)
KUALA LUMPUR - HSIEH SU-WEI, TPE (age 26, #124)

**2012 TITLE-LESS FINALISTS**
Mona Barthel, GER (0-0) - Hobart (W)
Angelique Kerber, GER (0-1) - Paris (W)
Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino, ESP (0-0) - Bogota (W)
Tatiana Panova, RUS (0-0) - Bogota (L)
Marina Erakovic, NZL (0-1) - Memphis (L)
Timea Babos, HUN (0-0) - Monterrey (W)
Alexandra Candantu, ROU (0-0) - Monterrey (L)
HSIEH SU-WEI, TPE (0-0) - KUALA LUMPUR (W)
PETRA MARTIC, CRO (0-0) - KUALA LUMPUR (L)
==
OVERALL RECORD: 5-4

**QUALIFIERS IN 2012 FINALS**
Mona Barthel, GER - Hobart (W)
HSIEH SU-WEI, TPE - KUALA LUMPUR (W)

**SINGLES/DOUBLES FINALS IN SAME EVENT**
Auckland - Flavia Penneta, ITA (L / L)
Bogota - Alexandra Panova, RUS (L / W)
ACAPULCO - SARA ERRANI, ITA (W / W)

**LOW-RANKED 2012 FINALISTS**
#174 - Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino, ESP - Bogota (W)
#124 - HSIEH SU-WEI, TPE - KUALA LUMPUR (W)
#118 - Alexandra Panova, RUS - Bogota (L)
#110 - Alexandra Cadantu, ROU - Monterrey (L)
#107 - Timea Babos, HUN - Monterrey (W)

**MOST CAREER TITLES - ITALIANS (active)**
9...Flavia Pennetta
6...Roberta Vinci
4...Francesca Schiavone
3...SARA ERRANI
1...Alberta Brianti

**2012 MOST SF - BY NATION**
7 - ITALY
5 - Germany, Russia
4 - Belgium, ROMANIA
--
NOTE: 23 nations have filled 56 SF spots (31 filled 228 in 2011 season)

**MOST 2012 DOUBLES TITLES - TEAMS**
3...Liezel Huber & Lisa Raymond, USA/USA
2...SARA ERRANI & ROBERTA VINCI, ITA/ITA
2...Andrea Hlavackova & Lucie Hradecka, CZE/CZE

With the pair of two-week events coming up over the next month, the Backspin posting schedule gets a little twisted. As far as the next two weeks, there'll be a "To Live and Be Well in Indian Wells" post in a day or two with my tournament picks (and the first appearance of Carl "fill-in" Carla's a-little-less-anger-filled predictions). Next week, along with a few mid-Indian Wells and ITF/Junior awards, I'll follow up last year's "All-Time Backspin Team" listing of my personal favorites with the antithesis of adoration -- the "All-Time Anti-Backspin Team" listing the players who've grated my nerves the most over the years (or who are just starting to do so lately... hint, hint). Also, before then, I'll re-post the updated "All-Backpin" list, with a few new comments and/or retractions.

All for now.

Wk.8- A Month for the Strong

2012-02-27T18:05:00.003-05:00

The month of play that has taken place since the end of the Australian Open has consisted of a series of (mostly) cameo appearances by the game's top players, as well as a few career-altering ones by the up-and-coming set.

While February oversaw the crowning -- over a fifteen-day stretch -- of half the total number of first-time champs that were seen throughout the entire 2011 season, it also presided over some of the game's very best rising to the occasion during the small window of court time they (or their ailing bodies) allowed themselves as they continued to wind down and heal up after 2012's hectic opening weeks and recuperate for the long season ahead.

"I am a year older and I behave more like a lady than a crazy kid." - Victoria Azarenka, on the changes she sees in herself between last season and today

*February Awards - Wk.5-8*
**TOP PLAYERS**
1. Victoria Azarenka, BLR

...after her late-withdrawal from Fed Cup, she immediately resumed her dominating play in Doha, pushing through an ankle injury in the semifinals, and admitting afterward that her pre-slam winning self might have overreacted and retired from the match. Title #3 of '12 extended her winning streak to seventeen matches (the best season-opening run since Sharapova's 18 in '08), and her string of consecutive final appearances to five. Prior to the defense of her big Miami title, she's opened up a nice cushion between her #1 self and the field in the rankings and is looking more and more confident at every turn. Oh, and about those players who might try to hang blame on whatever noise she makes on the court for a loss to the AO champ? Well, Vika recently said that she considers such excuse-makers "weak people." So far this season, Azarenka hasn't been anything but strong.
2. Liezel Huber & Lisa Raymond, USA/USA
...the doubles pair have equaled Azarenka's three season titles. They may not be teaming up in the Olympics, but they've surely been dominating just about everything else since they first got together last summer.
3. Angelique Kerber, GER
...leading 2012's charge of the Germans (even without The Dancer), unlikely '11 U.S. Open semifinalist Kerber, in not-quite-as-unlikely-as-it-once-was fashion, grabbed her first title at the Paris Indoors and reached the Top 20.
4. Petra Kvitova, CZE
...with various nagging illness and injury keeping her out, Kvitova only played two Fed Cup matches in February. But her pair of on-the-road, from-a-set-down victories extended her indoor winning streak to 23 matches (27 with the Hopman Cup) and put the defending champion Czech team back into the semis.
5. Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
...only Azarenka (17-0) has a better season mark than A-Rad's 15-3 (not counting her 4-0 mark in FC zone play), and her Dubai title has pushed her into the Top 5. Looks like she didn't forget about the little tweaks in her game that turned the back-third of her '11 season into such a potentially career-changing "How To" guide.

**RISERS**
1. Angelique Kerber, GER
2. Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
3. Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
4. Julia Goerges, GER
5. Marion Bartoli, FRA
6. Lucie Safarova, CZE
7. Andrea Hlavackova & Lucie Hradecka, CZE/CZE
8. Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA
9. Ayumi Morita, JPN
10. Elena Baltacha, GBR
HM- Maria Kirilenko, RUS

**FRESH FACES**
1. Bojana Jovonovski, SRB
2. Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino, ESP
3. Lesia Tsurenko, UKR
4. Christina McHale, USA
5. Mona Barthel, GER
6. Timea Babos, HUN
7. Alexandra Cadantu, ROU
8. Simona Halep, ROU
9. Alexandra Krunic, SRB
10. Jamie Hampton, USA
HM- Valeria Savinykh, RUS

**JUNIORS**
1. Ashleigh Barty, AUS
2. Anett Kontaveit, EST
3. Irina Khromacheva, RUS
4. Yulia Putintseva, RUS
5. Kyle McPhillips, USA

**SURPRISES**
1. Alexandra Panova, RUS
2. Paula Ormaechea, ARG
3. Stefanie Voegele, SUI
4. Florencia Molinero, ARG
5. Chan Hao-Ching & Chan Yung-Jan, TPE/TPE
6. Marina Erakovic, NZL
7. Nina Bratchikova, RUS
8. Eva Birnerova, CZE
9. Olga Govortsova, UKR
10. Vera Dushevina, RUS
HM- Varvara Lepchenko, USA

**VETERANS**
1. Liezel Huber & Lisa Raymond, USA/USA
2. Daniela Hantuchova, SVK
3. Samantha Stosur, AUS
4. Iveta Benesova, CZE
5. Flavia Pennetta & Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA
6. Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
7. Sofia Arvidsson, SWE
8. Edina Gallovits-Hall, ROU
9. Sania Mirza, IND
10.Greta Arn, HUN
HM- Klara Zakopalova, CZE

**COMEBACKS**
1. Hsieh Su-Wei, TPE
2. Chinese Fed Cup Team
3. Australian Fed Cup Team
4. Jelena Jankovic, SRB
5. Serena Williams, USA
6. Michaella Krajicek, NED
7. Ana Ivanovic, SRB
8. Shahar Peer, ISR
9. Sesil Karatantcheva, KAZ
10. Aleksandra Wozniak, CAN
HM- Venus Williams, USA

**DOWN**
1. Vera Zvonareva, RUS
2. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
3. Dominika Cibulkova, SVK
4. Maria Sharapova, RUS
5. Sabine Lisicki, GER
6. Kateryna Bondarenko, UKR
7. Jelena Dokic, AUS
8. French Fed Cup Team
9. Jarmila Gajdosova, AUS
10. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
HM-Belarusian Fed Cup Team

**ITF PLAYERS**
1. Sofia Kvatsabaia, GEO
2. Karolina Pliskova, CZE
3. Kristyna Pliskova, CZE
4. Alexandra Dulgheru, ROU
5. Ashleigh Barty, AUS
6. Olga Govortsova, UKR
7. Michelle Larcher de Brito, POR
8. Annika Beck, GER
9. Cristina Dinu, ROU
10. Yuliya Beygelzimer, UKR
HM- Amy Bowtell, IRL

"I am also a more mature player. I have a better mind, a clearer mind. I know what I am doing." - Victoria Azarenka

**TOP PERFORMANCES**
[Overall]
Anyone looking for a crack in Azarenka's exterior didn't find one in Doha, as she swept through the field, overcame injury, secured her #1 ranking and showed that the mindset (and backbone) that helped her win in Melbourne wasn't just a two-week aberration
[Overlooked]
With AnaIvo nowhere to be found, and JJ out with injury after one match, Bojana Jovanovski was once again called upon to put the Serbian Fed Cup team on her shoulders. With Day 2 singles and doubles (w/ Alexandra Krunic) wins, after Serbia trailed 2-1, BoJo pushed the Serbs into the FC semifinals for the first time.

*MATCHES*
[Having It When You Need It]
FC 1st Rd. - Kvitova d. Goerges
...3-6/6-3/10-8. Twice, the Czech was two points from defeat. But she managed to close out Goerges to earn the crucial point.
[Francesca's "Slam Drama" Comes Late]
FC 1st Rd. - Schiavone d. K.Bondarenko
...6-7/7-5/6-4. Bondarenko served up 7-6/5-1, then managed to win just 1 point in the next three games. In three hours, Schiavone showed she still has some Oscar-worthy performances left in her soon-to-be 32-year old body.
[Sisterly Love... played out in hard-won tie-breaks]
$25K Grenoble Final - Karolina Pliskova d. Kristyna Pliskova
...7-6(11)/7-6(6). The 19-year old twins (seemingly more competitive against one another than most other recent racket-wielding siblings) claimed their second consecutive weekly sweep of the singles and doubles crowns on the challenger circuit. Karolina, a week after losing to her sister, reclaimed her two-match edge (5-3) over Kristyna in their career head-to-head series.
[One Final Hurdle]
Paris Final - Kerber d. Bartoli
...7-6/5-7/6-3. Kerber was well on her way to pulling the Paris title out from under crowd fave Bartoli's always-moving feet, but La Trufflette wasn't going to let her leave town without one more fight. Down 7-6/5-2, Bartoli strung together thirteen consecutive points, breaking the German three straight times, to force a 3rd set. In the end, Kerber still lifted the trophy... she was just a little more tired.

*BIGGEST UPSET (and "Almost Upset")*
Fed Cup 1st Rd. - Tsurenko d. Schiavone
...6-1/6-2. Tsurenko, who also upset Sara Errani and helped force a 3rd set in the deciding doubles match, very nearly led Ukraine to what would have been one of the bigger FC upsets in recent years over the Italians. Her dominating win over FC vet Schiavone would seem to be a sign of very good things to come for the 22-year old.

*BIGGEST COMEBACKS*
The Czechs, Down But Not Out
...beginning their FC defense with their backs against the wall, the Czechs had to come back from a set down in three singles matches in their 1st Round win over Germany.
Paris QF - Bartoli d. Vinci
...4-6/6-4/7-6. Bartoli trailed 6-4/4-1, then 5-2 in the 3rd.
Doha 2nd Rd. - Safarova d. Wozniacki
...4-6/7-6/6-4. The Czech overcame triple match point -- down love/40 on her own serve -- against the former #1.

"You shouldn't repair something that's not broken." - Caroline Wozniacki, proving that you can lead a Dane to water, but you can't make her drink it

=THE GOOD=
All right, so this is a golf-related "good" entry, but 18-year Jessica Korda's Australian Open title is worth mentioning. She's the daughter of former men's tennis slam champ Petr... and she even has her own version of her dad's famous scissors-kick.

=THE BAD=
The whole Wozniacki/Sanchez fiasco... surely "edited out" of Caroline's future autobiography.

=THE UGLY=
No, not Serena's sometimes-shocking play in her doing-it-the-hard-way 2-0 Fed Cup record in Week 5 (though it qualified at times), but her heavily-bandaged, ailing feet.

**By the Numbers...**
0... number of tour matches played by Petra Kvitova, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters in February.
=============================
1... number of Olympic medals (a Doubles Broze in '04) won by Paola Suarez, who's out of retirement and back in action in preparation for her teaming with Gisela Dulko in the London Olympics. The pair reached the semifinals this past week in Monterrey.
=============================
3... first-time WTA tour singles champions crowned in February. Their were only six first-timers during the entire 2011 season.
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3 in 7... titles/weeks-of-play ratio for Victoria Azarenka in '12. Getting her third crown of the season in Week 7, her start was the best on tour since Amelie Mauresmo won her third title of the year in Week 7 of the 2006 season.
=============================
3-0... Serbia's record in tie-deciding doubles matches in the nation's last three weekends of Fed Cup action.
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4... consecutive years in which Russia, Italy and the Czech Republic have all reached the Fed Cup semifinals.
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4 in 20... Germans present at the top of the WTA's singles rankings during February.
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4-0... the Czech Republic's mark in road Fed Cup ties since the beginning of 2011.
=============================
6... number of consecutive years Russia has reached the FC semis
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8... number of weeks Caroline Wozniacki's coaching relaltionship with Ricardo Sanchez lasted, after the Dane has signed the fiery Spaniard to a one-year contract before the season began.
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11... years since Hsieh Su-Wei's last tour singles semifinal (2001) result before her trip to the Pattaya Final Four in February.
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21... number of different nations that have been represented in the WTA's 48 semifinalist slots through the season's first eight weeks
=============================
48... months since China's last Fed Cup round advancement before the nation's win in Zone play (with an 8-0 mark in matches, thanks to a team roster that included Li Na, Peng Shuai & Zheng Jie) in February. Prior to that, the Chinese team hadn't won a Fed Cup tie since advancing to the semifinals with a World Group 1st Round win in early 2008.
=============================
138.25... average ranking of the singles semifinalists at Bogota. The unseeded, triple-digit ranked, title-less quartet was the most unlikely Final Four at a tour event since 2007 in Fes, when four other unseeded players (including two qualifiers) came in with an average ranking of 144.25.
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1995... the last time a German (Steffi Graf) won the Paris Indoors before Kerber's title there.
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*WEEK 8 CHAMPIONS*
DUBAI, UAE (Premier $2m/HO)
S: Agnieszka Radwanska/POL def. Julia Goerges/GER 7-5/6-4
D: Huber/Raymond (USA/USA) d. Mirza/Vesnina (IND/RUS)
MONTERREY, MEXICO (Int'l $220K/HCO)
S: Timea Babos/HUN def. Alexandra Cadantu/ROU 6-4/6-4
D: Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) d. Date-Krumm/Sh.Zhang (JPN/CHN)
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE USA (Int'l $220K/HCI)
S: Sofia Arvidsson/SWE def. Marina Erakovic/NZL 6-3/6-4
D: Hlavackova/Hradecka (CZE/CZE) d. Dushevina/Govortsova (RUS/UKR)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Agnieszka Radwanska/POL

...her sudden aversion to the noise her opponents make aside, there hasn't been much NOT to like about Radwanska since last summer. Her on-court intelligence has been linked with an off-court sensibility that allowed herself -- and that's what it often takes for tennis players, always known to be a stubborn lot -- to change just enough of her game to give her a better chance to win, but not lose herself in the process. Armed with a better first serve than a year ago, and a willingness to occasionally try to smack a winner when some similar, "power-lite" players would be content to simply nudge a ball back into play and restart a point, Radwanska's climb up the rankings (and in relevance) has been unending over the last seven months. Her Dubai title, the eighth of her career, didn't come easy. She actually had to work to get out of her 1st Round contest with qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak. But, after that, it was her tournament to win or lose. Wins over Shahar Peer, Sabine Lisicki (2 & 1), Jelena Jankovic (a love 3rd set) and Julia Goerges pushed her to a new career-high rank of #5, and gives her a 4-0 record in finals since her metamorphosis in the latter portion of the '11 season.
=============================
RISERS: Julia Goerges/GER & Sofia Arvidsson/SWE

...Goerges didn't add her name to the list of German tour singles champions of '12, but she did manage to clean up her sometimes iffy consistency and reach her first final since her star-making turn in Stuttgart last April. In that clay event, she defeated Caroline Wozniacki in the final, and her path to the Dubai final went through the Dane, as well. Her semifinal win over the defending champ stopped cold Wozniacki's potential question-answering week in the U.A.E., and coming on the heels of wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova and Daniela Hantuchova, stirs Goerges into the suddenly-heated mix for Top-Ranked German. Meanwhile, Halmstad, Sweden resident Arvidsson might want to start thinking about buying some property in Memphis. The 28-year old has reached four tour singles finals in her career, and three of them have come in Memphis. She won her second title there over the weekend, six years since she won her first in the same event in 2006. Wins over Heather Watson, Pauline Parmentier, Lesia Tsurenko, Alberta Brianti and Marina Erakovic provided the Swede's stepping stones. If lower-level Fed Cup prowess and abilities in small WTA events in Tennessee were the only criteria, Arvidsson would be well on her way to a Hall of Fame induction.
=============================
SURPRISES: Marina Erakovic/NZL & Nina Bratchikova/RUS
...four years ago, Erakovic had to scrape and claw to earn a place on the New Zealand Olympic team. That won't be the case for London. The 23-year old Kiwi reached her second career tour singles final ('11 Quebec City) in Memphis, getting wins over Sloane Stephens, Evgeniya Rodina, Michaella Krajicek and Vera Dushevina. Bratchikova, the Last Qualifier Standing and the conqueror of the First Seed Out (Pennetta) in Melbourne, continued to show great '12 improvement in Monterrey. She reached the singles QF, getting a win over #1 seed Roberta Vinci, and advanced to the doubles semis, as well.
=============================
VETERANS: Liezel Huber & Lisa Raymond (USA/USA) & Andrea Hlavackova & Lucie Hradecka (CZE/CZE)
...neither of these two teams left Melbourne with a Doubles crown (the sometimes-pair of Kuznetsova & Zvonareva did), but they've been the winningest duos so far in the '12 season. Huber & Raymond took the Dubai crown, their third of the young season, and their seventh as a duo since first teaming last summer. Raymond's career title #77 moved her past Hall of Famer Jana Novotna to 6th on the all-time list, just three behind 5th Place Natasha Zvereva, also a HOFer. Huber, who won in Dubai with Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez a year ago, moved to within three titles of catching Cara Black (14th) on the all-time WTA list. Meanwhile, in Memphis, the Czech team of Hlavackova & Hradecka won their second tour title of the season (they've also grabbed an ITF crown), becoming the only team other than Huber & Raymond to win multiple titles this season. It's also their seventh tour title as a duo.
=============================
COMEBACKS: Jelena Jankovic/SRB & Michaella Krajicek/NED
...JJ isn't, and likely never will be, back to her level of old. But she's not going away, either. In Dubai, where the Serb reached the second of her now twenty-six career finals back in '05 (she also lists the city as her place of residence), Jankovic notched good wins over Petra Cetkovska, Flavia Pennetta and Sam Stosur to reach the SF. She lost there in three sets to Radwanska, but could very well find her way to a weekend rematch with the Pole this coming week in Kuala Lumpur. Krajicek, for her part, was a teenage star a while ago. She reached back-to-back U.S. Open junior finals (winning in her second, in 2004, and was that season's #1-ranked junior, one year before Azarenka was the top-ranked girl). Before she'd turned 18, she'd won three career tour singles crowns. In 2007, she was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon, and a year later she climbed into the Top 30. Injuries and inconsistency have hampered her for most of the last few years, though. She hasn't reached a WTA singles final since 2006. But, occasionally, she pops up with a good result (such as last season's SF run in Kuala Lumpur, where she lost to eventual champ Jelena Dokic in the semis). Last week in Memphis, sort of, qualifies, as well. Wins over Elena Baltacha and Olga Govortsova helped her get a QF result in singles, then she did one better in doubles by reaching the SF.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Timea Babos/HUN & Alexandra Cadantu/ROU
...Babos and Cadantu, who faced off a year ago in the semifinals of a challenger event, met in the first-ever WTA finals for both this weekened in Monterrey. In the end, it was Babos, a semifinalist the previous week in Bogota, who walked away with her maiden title. The 18-year old Hungarian, the youngest tour singles champ since Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won this same title two years ago, got wins over Sorana Cirstea and Patricia Mayr-Achleitner before finishing off Cadantu in the final. The 21-year old Romanian's wins came over an array of vets, including Jelena Dokic, Lourdes Dominguez-Lino and Greta Arn.
=============================
DOWN: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS & Jelena Dokic/AUS
...speaking of Pavlyuchenkova and Dokic, neither have been lighting up the courts of late. A year ago this week, the Russian defended that '10 Monterrey title I just mentioned. She was in Dubai last week, though. But not for very long, which has sort of been her pattern in '12. After ending her '11 season with back-to-back 1st Round exits, she's failed to advance past the 2nd Round in any of her five events this season. She lost in straights sets in the 1st Round to Simona Halep in Dubai. But Pavlyuchenkova has nothing on Dokic. As we reach the one year anniversary of the Aussie's heartwarming title in Kuala Lumpur, which was her first tour crown in over nine years, Dokic hasn't exactly built upon her Malaysian success. In Monterrey, she dropped her second straight '12 match after having taken the opening set, with only conqueror Cadantu's eventual run to the final making the loss even slightly "presentable." Entering this week, she's played in eighteen events since her KL triumph. She reached the final on the grass in 's-Hertogenbosch, but has fallen before the QF in the other seventeen (twice in qualifying, eleven 1st Round, and four 2nd Round). Back in KL this week, she's opened up her title defense attempt -- her first since '03 -- with a 1st Round win over Kristina Mladenovic. With it, and the lingering good feelings from her '11 result, be enough to push her toward something better this week? One would hope so, at least.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Annika Beck/GER
...wouldn't you know it, another German. This one, an 18-year old, claimed the $25K challenger in Moscow over the weekend, becoming the fourth woman from her country to win an ITF circuit title this season. She defeated Kirsten Flipkens in the final, giving the Belgium her second challenger final loss in as many weeks.
=============================
JUNIOR STAR: Ashleigh Barty/AUS
...a week ago, the 15-year old claimed her first career ITF singles title. This weekend, she got her second. On the grass in the $25K event in Mildura, Australia, Barty took out top-seeded Chanel Simmonds, Richel Hogenkamp, Sally Peers and Arina Rodionova before defeating fellow Aussie Viktorija Rajicic in the final.
=============================

1. Dubai Final - A.Radwanska d. Goerges
...7-5/6-4. A-Rad is now an impressive 8-2 in career singles finals.
=============================
2. Mont Final - Babos d. Cadantu
...6-4/6-4. The Romanians keep getting close, but have gone 0-5 in finals since Dulgheru won in Warsaw in the spring of '10.
=============================
3. Dubai SF - Goerges d. Wozniacki
...7-6/7-5. With her ranking points melting away, and A-Rad looking over her shoulder at #5 in the world, Wozniacki fails to defend her first of the six titles she won in '11. Next up? A biggie starting next week in Indian Wells.
=============================
4. Dubai 1st Rd - A.Radwanska d. Wozniak 6-1/6-7/7-5
Dubai 1st Rd - Goerges d. Kuznetsova 2-6/7-6/6-4
...with the top two seeds -- Azarenka & Kvitova -- pulling out, the Dubai draw opened up considerably early last week. Of course, if either of these two 1st Round matches by the eventual finalists had gone the other way -- and they easily could have -- the storyline for Week 8 might have been VERY different. Rory McIlroy's missed putt late in HIS tournament final over the weekend isn't the only professional near-miss worth talking about this week by the Masters champ and you-know-who.
=============================
5. Memph Final - Arvidsson d. Erakovic
...6-3/6-4. These two emerged from yet another four-unseeded-player semifinals at a WTA event. The four players' average ranking was only 70.5 this week, though.
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6. Memph 1st Rd - Giorgi d. Petrova
...6-4/6-2. The qualifier takes out the #1 seed. Oh, Nadia.
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7. Acapulco Q1 - Zacarius d. Rezai
...6-2/3-6/6-4. Yeah, Aravane had probably never heard of Zacarius, either. Her name is Marcela, and she's a Mexican wild card, by the way.
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8. Acapulco Q1 - Camerin d. Arruabarrena-Vecino
...6-1/6-4. Answering the question about what a title in Bogota will get you in Acapulco.
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9. Mont Doubles Final - Errani/Vinci d. Date-Krumm/Sh.Zhang
...6-2/7-6. The two top-seeded singles players in Monterrey, Errani & Vinci took out their frustration on the doubles court. It's their sixth title as a duo.
=============================
10. $10K Tallinn EST Final - Anett Kontaveit/EST d. Katarzyna Piter/POL
...7-5/6-4. The 16-year old, #7-ranked junior picks up a title back home.
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Kuala Lumpur Q3 - Karolina Pliskova d. Elena Bogdan 6-1/7-5
Kuala Lumpur Q3 - Kristyna Pliskova d. Luksika Kumkhum 6-3/6-4
...KL main draw, here they come!
=============================

**2012 FIRST-TIME CHAMPS**
Hobart - Mona Barthel, GER (age 21, #64)
Paris - Angelique Kerber, GER (age 24, #27)
Bogota - Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino, ESP (age 19, #174)
Monterrey - TIMEA BABOS, HUN (age 18, #107)

**PREMIER-LEVEL TITLES - since 2009**
[$4.5m / $2.0m / $600K]
11 - Caroline Wozniacki [2/3/6]
6 - Victoria Azarenka [2/1/3]
4 - Elena Dementieva [0/1/3] - ret.
4 - AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA [1/1/2]
4 - Maria Sharapova [0/3/1]

**CAREER DOUBLES TITLES - ACTIVE DUOS**
19...Serena Williams/Venus Williams
11...Gisela Dulko/Flavia Pennetta
9...Iveta Benesova/Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova
9...Kveta Peschke/Katarina Srebotnik (1 in '12)
7...ANDREA HLAVACKOVA & LUCIE HRADECKA (2 in '12)
7...LIEZEL HUBER & LISA RAYMOND (3 in '12)
6...SARA ERRANI & ROBERTA VINCI (1 in '12)
4...Vania King & Yaroslava Shvedova
4...Hsieh Su-Wei & Peng Shuai

**WTA TITLES WHILE AGE 18-or-Under - since 2007**
5...Caroline Wozniacki, 2008-09
2...Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 2010-11
2...Agnieszka Radwanska, 2007
2...Agnes Szavay, 2007
1...TIMEA BABOS, 2012
1...Sorana Cirstea, 2008
1...Alize Cornet, 2008
1...Petra Kvitova, 2009

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA (Int'l $220K/hardcourt outdoor)
11 Final: Dokic d. Safarova
11 Doubles Champions: Safina/Voskoboeva
12 Top Seeds: A.Radwanska/Jankovic
=============================
=SF=
#1 A.Radwanska d. #7 Dokic
#2 Jankovic d. #3 Peng
=FINAL=
#1 A.Radwanska d. #2 Jankovic

...Dokic would likely have a much more difficult road to the final (though she DID upset #1-seeded Schiavone in KL a year ago) this time around. Radwanska showed she could string together titles last year in Asia, so I'll stick with her a week after I "stole" (his words) Carl's pick of A-Rad last week after Azarenka pulled out.

ACAPULCO, MEXICO (Int'l $220K/red clay outdoor)
11 Final: Dulko d. Parra-Santonja
11 Doubles Champions: Koryttseva/Olaru
12 Top Seeds: Vinci//Pennetta
=============================
=SF=
#3 Errani d. #8 Brianti
#4 Begu d. #2 Pennetta
=FINAL=
#4 Begu d. #3 Errani

...one more try for the Swarmettes, as Begu (0-2 in career finals) tries to get over the proverbial hump.

[Editor's Note: Carl is currently on strike from his position in the "Carl Picks" segment, arguing that Todd should not always get first pick for the weekly champions. "Carl sick of it," was the only comment on the terse email Backspin HQ received last week. More news on this situation will be forwarded as it is received.]

(Editor rolls eyes)

All for now.

Wk.7- It's Gotta Be the Shorts

2012-02-20T17:59:00.004-05:00

Picture, if you will, a player who at one time was saddled with a reputation for playing well in, but ultimately losing, big matches against top players, often going out with a series of physical ailments that caused them to wilt down the stretch. It led some to question the maybe-too-emotional player's intestinal fortitude when it came to ever consistently succeeding at the very top level of the sport.

It was all a big mistake, of course, as the player's results this past January in Melbourne more than proved. Of course, since this IS WTA Backspin, naturally, such a description pertains to one Victoria Azarenka. But, really, it once could have been used to describe Novak Djokovic at one point, as well.

Now, I'm not saying that Azarenka is going to evolve into the dominating player that Djokovic has over the course of the past year. But their stories aren't all that different, and I'm not even counting the easy-to-make comparison of the two players when it comes to their #1 rankings and recent season-opening winning streaks. Anyway, Azarenka's current 17-match run is still dwarfed by the Serb'a 41-0 start to '11. The feats aren't really all that comparable. At least not yet. Djokovic has a strangle-hold on the ATP tour at the moment. Azarenka can't say the same, but her '12 results are starting to make one wonder if that might not be the case for long.

In many ways, like how Djokovic's' career arc dramatically transformed about sixteen months ago, Azarenka''s surely has, too, starting with the shaky weeks she experienced precisely one year ago, when a pair of poor Middle East performances -- 3rd Round (to Pennetta) and 1st Round (Hantuchova) losses in Dubai and Doha l- led her to contemplate a Vaidisova-esque early retirement (well, at least before her grandmother set her straight). For the Serb, everything that used to be considered his weaknesses -- chiefly his stamina and "stomach" for sticking it out when times got really rough -- are now his strengths. When he's down, he's far from out. When he's up, it's time for his opponent to start thinking about his next event.

For Azarenka, also, her fitness and emotional mindset were often stumbling blocks preventing a player with obvious talent from taking the next step in her career. Azarenka's passion has never been at issue -- "I will always play with my heart and with my passion," she recently said -- but her ability to handle her intense desire to succeed, and angry frustration when she didn't, surely was. Her always-high number of retirements/withdrawals/heat illness-related exits, all without the presence of a major injury that took her off tour for an extended period, had started to raise a few skeptical eyebrows. Of course, much of what Azarenka has managed to turn in her favor can be chalked up to the 22-year old's natural maturation (or as close to "natural" and "maturation" as a big time tennis player can get), but it's also gone hand-in-hand with a more intelligent approach to her tennis career, on and off court.

"It's hard to say it's one thing. Behind (the success) is a lot of hard work, some unfortunate losses last year, and some good losses I learnt from last year," Azarenka has said. "I have a better mind, a clearer mind. I know what I am doing."

Even since she put her athletic life into a proper context last year after hitting a personal low point, she's gradually become a player who can put away an opponent without mercy, doesn't beat herself and, slowly but surely, has built her fitness level up to a point where it and her quite-possible paranoia about injuries (which made her TOO cautious, leading to unnecessary pull-outs when finding a way to muster through when she wasn't 100% would have been a crucial learning experience) are a thing of the past. If Djojokvic has his gluten-free diet to (partially) thank for kicking him in the butt, maybe Azarenka has her coach Sam Sumyk, who she credits with the training techniques that have allowed her to increase her stamina and overcome her past physical dificulties, building her confidence higher and higher with every bit of success.

Azarenka was more in control of her body, mind and game in Melbourne than she's ever been. But, after a late pull-out from Fed Cup play, it was right to be on alert to see how she handled her post-slam win's immediate aftermath, especially considering how difficult a time other first-time slam winners have had of late under similar circumstances. So, her title run in Doha last week might have been even more impressive -- and important -- than anything that happened Down Under. Of course, that might be a chicken-or-the-egg, which came first, situation.

In whatever order things have played out, Azarenka's week in Doha, especially coming on the one-year anniversary of her Middle East pause for reflection, seems to have provided proof that she's in this for the long haul. Sometimes, what solidifies a champion's grip is a seemingly small thing, like how Azarenka reacted to falling and injuring her ankle in the semis against Agnieszka Radwanska. She admitted later that, in the past, she might have retired, or pulled out of her next event. This past weekend, though, she played through, took out A-Rad in straights, then defeated Stosur in the final to win her third title of '12. Sometimes there's a fine line between overreacting (pulling out) and hurting oneself in the long run (playing on and making things worse), and learning to recognize the difference between the two can mean everything. Last week, Azarenka showed that she "gets it."

Since the end of the '11 season, there has been much talk of Petra Kvitova being "The One," the player of her generation. It's an open title that has been floating around aimlessly without any serious takers since Serena Slam settled the previous argument a decade ago. The money is still on Kvitova being that player, but... maybe it's Vika.

The one thing that separates Azarenka from Djokovic the most is the Serb's recent domination of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. While Azarenka has managed to settle scores with the like of would-be-#1's such as Kim Clijsters and Maria Sharapova (though not Serena, even while she's come close), she's still yet to prove she can handle the most obvious opponent for "Best of Gen" honors -- Kvitova. So far in '12, where Vika 2.0 has ruled the WTA roost, we haven't seen them face off. Of course, that's been because of the Czech's failings, not those of the Belarusian. But the fact remains that Kvitova has defeated Azarenka four straight times, including in last year's WTA Championships final. The last time Azarenka bested Kvitova was at the 2009 Australian Open, more than a year before either player reached their first slam semifinal.

We won't be seeing an Azarenka/Kvitova tête-à-tête in Dubai, either. After backing out of Doha with an Achilles injury, Kvitova withdrew from Dubai with an illness. Suddenly, the "injury shoe" is on the other foot. The Czech has played just two Fed Cup matches since Melbourne, and slipped to #3 in the rankings. While she's been away, Azarenka, who leap-frogged her from #3 into the #1 spot, has built up her lead over the field. She now leads #2 Sharapova by 1580 points, Kvitova by 2040 and the increasingly "irrelevant" (at least in this discussion) Caroline Wozniacki by nearly 3000.
"I am also a year older and I behave more like a lady than a crazy kid," Azarenka says of her personal transformation since last February.

So, while we will surely continue to see shades of the Whack-a-Vika mindset that nearly overtook Melbourne -- any article on the shrieking issue counts, I say -- what's happening on the court that really matters is giving reason for the rest of the players in the WTA to worry about just what sort of little monster Azarenka is developing into before their eyes. Maybe even Petra.

*WEEK 7 CHAMPIONS*
DOHA, QATAR (Premier $2.168K/HO)
S: Victoria Azarenka/BLR def. Samantha Stosur/AUS 6-1/6-2
D: Huber/Raymond (USA/USA) d. Kops-Jones/Spears (USA/USA)
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (Int'l $220K/RCO)
S: Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino/ESP def. Alexandra Panova/RUS 6-2/7-5
D: Birnerova/Panova (CZE/RUS) d. Minella/Voegele (LUX/SUI)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Victoria Azarenka/BLR

...Vika is leaving traces of her kisses on a awful lot of trophies lately. This weekend, the object of her affection looked a little like the Maltese Falcon. Lately, it's been difficult to determine what's been the most impressive aspects of Azarenka's triumphs -- the ease with which she sometimes dispatches her opponents (she allowed one game to Mona Barthel, five to Yanina Wickmayer and three to Sam Stosur), her newly-steely mindset or her improved fitness and/or champion-like view on how to handle the sort of injury paranoia that always seemed to lead her around by the nose in years past. With three titles under her belt just seven weeks into the season, she's the fastest three-time champ on tour since Amelie Mauresmo won her third in Week 7 in 2006. In recent seasons, it took quite a while for a player to reach the total -- Justine Henin (Week 18 in '07), Maria Sharapova (Week 15 in '08), Azarenka (Week 13 in '09), Kim Clijsters (Week 32 in '10) and Caroline Wozniacki (Week 14 in '11). On another note, Azarenka's 17-0 start is the best start on tour by any player since Sharapova won her first eighteen in 2008, and her's now played in five straight finals dating back to last October.
=============================
RISERS: Agnieszka Radwanska/POL & Lucie Safarova/CZE
...A-Rad just about yanked Azarenka around the court in the Doha semifinals enough to totally reset the 2012 WTA season. But when the Belarusian, after falling and hurting her ankle chasing after a drop shot, rather than exit the tournament and send up emergency flairs over her season, popped back up to defeat the Pole and take the tournament the following day, that particular potential storyline was scrapped. Still, Radwanska does seem to be setting herself up for a "big get" result soon (maybe as soon as this week in Dubai, with Kvitova removed from her half of the draw), as her great Fed Cup play was followed up with equally efficient results last week (especially that 1 & 1 win over Christina McHale after the American's nice wins over Peng Shuai and Shahar Peer). Also in Qatar, Safarova did what she often does -- flash hot, but still end up leaving a taste of slight disappointment behind. She got big wins over Caroline Wozniacki (saving 3 MP) and Svetlana Kuznetsova (who dropped all the way down to #27 today), but still couldn't advance past the quarterfinals.
=============================
SURPRISE: Alexandra Panova/RUS
...the 22-year old Hordette had a career week in Bogota. With wins over Mandy Minella, Gisela Dulko, Karin Knapp and Timea Babos, she reached her first career tour singles final, and became the second woman this season to play in both the singles and doubles finals at the same WTA event. But unlike Flavia Pennetta in Auckland, who went 0-2, Panova DID manage to take the doubles crown with Eva Birnerova.
=============================
VETERANS: Edina Gallovits-Hall/ROU & Marion Bartoli/FRA
...Gallovits-Hall came to Bogota having won the doubles title there the previous two seasons. She didn't three-peat (she reached the semis w/ Karin Knapp), but the 27-year old still had a pretty good week. In singles, her SF run came after wins over Julia Cohen, Mariana Duque-Marino (the 2010 Bogota champ) and #1-seed Marina Erakovic. Meanwhile, Bartoli continues to move along at a two steps forward, one step back pace for '12. In Doha, she put up wins over Anabel Medina-Garrigues, Tsvetana Pironkova and Lucie Safarova to reach the SF, but then was forced to retire early in the 2nd set against Sam Stosur minutes after injuring her calf. For a bit, as I watched the match, considering how she was acting and grabbing at the back of her ankle/calf, I feared she might have snapped her Achilles tendon... but, thankfully, seeing her lift up her foot while sitting in the changeover area washed away such worries. Still, one has to wonder about her seeming decision to go ahead and play in Dubai.
=============================
COMEBACK: Samantha Stosur/AUS
...it's been a too-easy overstatement to say that Stosur has been a disaster on the court since she won the U.S. Open. After all, she reached the Osaka final last October, and advanced to the WTA Championships semis. But her '12 campaign HAS been a bit troubling. Since she escaped Australia, though, she's been much better off. She led the Aussies to a Fed Cup tie victory, then last week continued her surge with a trip to the final in Doha. She won the rematch with her Australian Open conqueror Sorana Cirstea right off the bat, then notched wins over Petra Cetkovska and Monica Niculescu before outlasting Bartoli in the SF. She couldn't put up much of a threat against Azarenka in the final, but she's surely gotten her season turned around. Hmmm, AND she's finally stopped wearing on-court outfits that could pull double-duty as potato sacks. Coincidence?
=============================
FRESH FACES: Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino/ESP & Timea Babos/HUN

...geez, the Bogota trophy is sort of dinky compared to that majestic one in Doha, isn't it? Still, Arruabarrena-Vecino's glee isn't any smaller than Azarenka's today. The 19-year old Spaniard was the last of the four unseeded semifinalists standing in Colombia. With a QF having been her best tour result before last week, LAV became the third first-time WTA champion of the '12 season. She notched wins over Patricia Mayr-Achleitner, Eva Birnerova, Paula Ormaechea, Edina Gallovits-Hall and Alexandra Panova. Ranked down at #174, she's the lowest ranked player to win a tour singles title since an unranked Kim Clijsters won the U.S. Open in '09. But since that stat is sort of a "cheat," if you really want a TRUE "last time" player, let's go with the 2009 Warsaw champ, #201 Alexandra Dulgheru. LAV's result overshadowed that of 18-year old Timea Babos, who reached her first tour SF in Bogota after getting wins over Romina Oprandi and Yaroslava Shvedova. She also reached the doubles SF with Valeria Savinykh.
=============================
DOWN: Caroline Wozniacki/DEN & Sabine Lisicki/GER
...as the Dane's ranking has fallen, so has her hold as a big topic of WTA discussion. If, as #1, she'd lost to Lucie Safarova in her opening match in Doha, in her first action since the firing of coach Ricardo Sanchez, failing to convert triple match point from a 5-4, 40/love lead on the Czech's serve in the 3rd set, she would have surely gotten raked a bit over the proverbial coals once more for all she's not accomplishing. As it is, as the (too far back for #1 to even hear her shout at the moment) #4-ranked player, though, the defeat goes down as a tough loss to a player who can burn hot and go cold at a moment's notice with equal swiftness. The walls are starting to close in a bit on Lisicki in' 12. She hasn't had a very good start to her season, and has been nursing niggling injuries and illness throughout the early part of the WTA schedule. She went 0-2 in Germany's Fed Cup loss to the Czech Republic, then last week suffered a 1st Round loss at the hands of her more-in-form countrywoman Angelique Kerber. She might have gotten a break in Dubai, though, slipping into Kvitova's #2 slot in the draw (getting a 1st Round bye) as the new #9 seed rather than have to play her previously-scheduled 1st Round match against A-Rad. She might still meet the Pole in the QF, but at least she'll now have a shot to gather a bit of steam before then.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Michelle Larcher de Brito/POR
...Larcher de Brito was the center of attention -- both for the hard groundstrokes and high-decibal level of her game -- a few years ago, but she's still looking for a big breakthrough on tour. At still just 19, she continues to put up good results on the ITF circuit, though. This weekend (as the world #151) she managed to add her name to the always-interesting list of champions at the $25K event in Surprise, Arizona, taking the title with victories of Heidi El Tabakh, Johanna Konta and Claire Feuerstein in the final.
=============================
JUNIOR STAR: Ashleigh Barty/AUS
...the 15-year old, #3-ranked junior won her first career ITF singles title in a $25K challenger in Sydney. Left in her wake were Aiko Nakamura, (new) countrywoman Sacha Jones and fellow Aussie Olivia Rogowska in the 6-1/6-3 final.
=============================

1. Doha 2nd Rd - Safarova d. Wozniacki
...4-6/6-4/7-6. If Wozniacki reaches the QF in Dubai, she might see world #1 Azarenka waiting for her there. Hmmm, I guess the Dane's new "under-the-radar" status would go out the window at that point, huh?
=============================
2. Doha 1st Rd - Kerber d. Lisicki 4-6/6-4/6-1
Doha 2nd Rd - Pironkova d. Kerber 6-4/6-1
...Kerber finally ran out of steal against Pironkova, but her win over countrywoman Lisicki pushed her into the Top 20 (at #20) for the first time in her career. Julia Goerges (#19) entered along with her, upping the number of Germans currently in the Top 20 to four. I don't know if that's a record or not, but it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if that was the case.
=============================
3. Doha Final - Azarenka d. Stosur
...6-1/6-2. Stosur seemed to accept her loss here a little TOO easily for my taste, but I guess a player who sometimes struggles with confidence probably shouldn't beat herself over the head too much after losing to the #1 player in the world. She's now 0-6 against Azarenka, so one wonders if the Aussie had pretty much lost this match (in her head) before it began.
=============================
4. Bog Final - Arruabarrena-Vecino d. Panova
...6-2/7-5. The current crop of Spanish women are surely a long way from the Golden Years of Arantxa & Conchita, but LAV is the fourth different Spaniard to win a tour singles title over the past year.
=============================
5. Bog SF - Arruabarrena-Vecino d. Gallovits-Hall 6-4/6-3
Bog SF - Panova d. Babos 6-2/6-3
...I said at the start of last week that, with Erakovic as the #1 seed atop an "iffy" draw, the Bogota event didn't really look like a WTA event. Come the weekend, the final four players left in the draw were all unseeded (it's the second straight year it's happened in Bogota) and sporting triple-digit rankings. All were without career tour singles titles, three had never reached a WTA singles final, and two were teenagers. In the end, #174 defeated #118 in the final. One might say, once the red clay dust had settled, that the event looked more like a $25K challenger when it had ended than it did when it began.
=============================
6. Dubai Q1 - Jabeur d. Zheng
...6-3/7-6. The young Tunisian lost her next match to Arantxa Rus, but it couldn't take the shine off the '11 Roland Garros Girls champ's biggest career victory here.
=============================
7. Doha 2nd Rd - Niculescu d. Zvonareva 7-5/3-2 ret.
Bog 2nd Rd - Gallovits-Hall d. Erakovic 6-4/6-4
...it was Qatar and Colombia, rather than, say, New York, but it was Romanians who took out both #1 seeds last week.
=============================
8. Doha Doubles F - Huber/Raymond d. Kops-Jones/Spears
...6-3/6-1. The Americans, AO title or not, are running away with the "Best Doubles Team" title right now. Raymond career title #76 ties her with Jana Novotna, while Huber's share of the crown gives her 50 for her career.
=============================
9. Bog 1st Rd - Ormaechea d. Dokic
...4-6/6-3/6-4. Dokic was up a set and 1-1 when the rains came. After play was re-started, she fell behind 4-1 and the match was suspended for the day. Things got worse the next day. This was the Aussie's first trip to Bogota since 1999, so I wonder if she won't be seen there again until 2025?
=============================
10. Doha 1st Rd - Halep d. Hantuchova
...3-6/6-2/7-6. A week after defending her Pattaya City title, Hantuchova was ousted in the 1st Round and lost her Top 20 ranking.
=============================
11. Dubai 1st Rd - Goerges d. Kuznetsova
...2-6/7-6/6-4. Kuznetsova fell all the way down to #27 in the rankings today, then lost a few hours later.
=============================
12. $10K Portimao Final - Justine Ozga/GER d. Elena Bovina/RUS
...4-6/6-1/6-1. She didn't get a winner's check for her efforts. But, as I always say when it comes to Bovina... she's STILL pluggin' away on the challenger circuit.
=============================

Doha 1st Rd - Safarova d. U.Radwanska 6-3/6-4
Doha SF - Azarenka d. A.Radwanska 6-2/6-4
...hmmm, will A-Rad's public disapproval of Azarenka's noisy game increase exponentially as she loses to her more and more often?
=============================

**LONG SEASON WIN STREAKS - since 2006**
25...Justine Henin-Hardenne, 2007 *
19...Maria Sharapova, 2006
18...Maria Sharapova, 2008
17...Justine Henin, 2006
17...Serena Williams, 2008
17...VICTORIA AZARENKA, 2012
--
* - Henin won 7 more in '08, giving her 32 straight overall
NOTE: S.Williams won 12 con. matches in '11, then 6 more after a walkover loss

**WEEKS AT WTA #1 - since 2009**
67...Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
62...Serena Williams, USA
26...Dinara Safina, RUS
4...VICTORIA AZARENKA, BLR
4...Jelena Jankovic, SRB
1...Kim Clijsters, BEL

**MOST WTA FINALS - since 2009**
24...Caroline Wozniacki (15-9)
15...VICTORIA AZARENKA (11-4)
12...Maria Sharapova (5-7)
12...Vera Zvonareva (5-7)
10...Serena Williams (7-3)
10...SAMANTHA STOSUR (3-7)

**MOST 2012 WTA SF**
3...VICTORIA AZARENKA (3-0)
3...Angelique Kerber (1-2)
2...MARION BARTOLI (1-1)
2...Daniela Hantuchova (2-0)
2...Petra Kvitova (0-2)
2...AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA (0-2)

**2012 LOW-RANKED SEMIFINALISTS**
#174 Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino, ESP (Bogota - W)
#159 Hsieh Su-Wei, TPE (Pattaya - SF)
#133 Timea Babos, HUN (Bogota - SF)
#128 Edina Gallovits-Hall, ROU (Bogota - SF)
#118 Alexandra Panova, RUS (Bogota - RU)

DUBAI, U.A.E. (Premier $2.0m/hardcourt outdoor)
11 Final: Wozniacki d. Kuznetsova
11 Doubles Champions: Huber/Martinez-Sanchez
12 Top Seeds: Azarenka/Kvitova (w/d)
=============================
=SF=
#1 Azarenka d. #7 Schiavone
#5 A.Radwanska d. #4 Stosur
=FINAL=
#1 Azarenka d. #5 A.Radwanska

...last year's runner-up is already out, and the hoped-for meeting in the final between Azarenka and Kvitova fell through with the Czech's withdrawal. Another title, which would run her streaks to six finals, four titles and twenty-two matches, would totally turn around Azarenka's Bad Times in the Middle East memory from '11, and inch her closer to Henin's recent WTA best streak of 32 match wins in 2007-08. At least without Kvitova tempting me in the draw, I won't be leaving Azarenka out there for Carl to pick.

MONTERREY, MEXICO (Int'l $220K/red clay outdoor)
11 Final: Pavlyuchenkova d. Jankovic (Pavlyuchenkova won 2010-11)
11 Doubles Champions: Benesova/Zahlavova-Strycova (team won 2010-11)
12 Top Seeds: Vinci/Errani
=============================
=SF=
#1 Vinci d. #4 Dulgheru
#2 Errani d. #3/WC Cirstea
=FINAL=
#2 Errani d. #1 Vinci

...Errani's recent injury issues make me leary of this one, but it's clay -- so it's something of a crapshoot, anyway.

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE USA (Int'l $220K/hardcour indoor)
11 Final: Rybarikova d. Marino
11 Doubles Champions: Govortsova/Kudryavtseva
12 Top Seeds: Petrova/Pervak
=============================
=SF=
#1 Petrova d. #4 Erakovic
Marino d. Tsurenko
=FINAL=
Marino d. #1 Petrova

...I was prepared to go with Sloane Stephens as a longshot pick, but she's already out.

DUBAI
=SF=
#3 wozniacki d. #1 azarenka (ret.)
#5 a.radwanska d. #4 stosur
=FINAL=
#5 a.radwanska d. #3 wozniacki

...Carl mad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Carl no like Todd stealing Vika pick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Todd get win last week with Vika, and Carl get NOTHING. Now, maybe happen again. Carl have to make big move. Pick Vika to hurt self in SF, Caro to reach final. But A-Rad to win. Sort of looong trip to Carl being right -- sniff, sort of like hunting trip for wooly mammoth Carl take with father long time ago. But Carl get rug-size pelt on that trip. See if happens again.

MONTERREY
=SF=
#1 vinci d. #8 dominguez-lino
#3/wc cirstea d. (wc) shvedova
=FINAL=
#1 vinci d. #3/wc cirstea

...Carl no pick Dokic here again after last week. Carl outsmart self there. (Editor's Note: I won't even try to make a joke about that line -- it sort of speaks for itself.)

MEMPHIS
=SF=
#1 petrova d. rodina
marino d. tsurenko
=FINAL=
#1 petrova d. marino

...Carl had good feeling about Marino, but (again!) Todd stole Carl's pick.

All for now.

Wk.6- German Blitzkrieg Overwhelms Paris

2012-02-13T15:41:00.002-05:00

A year after "Kvitova Kicks Kim's Keister," the headline in Paris has changed. Though SOME things sure looked familiar.

After Week 6 began with the likes of Sabine Lisicki (illness), Jelena Jankovic (leg) and Kaia Kanepi (shoulder) pulling out of tournaments, then Li Na (back) and Vera Zvonareva (hip) retiring during matches, it looked like 2012's first post-Fed Cup week wasn't going to be very noteworthy. But then Angelique Kerber stepped into the breach.

She's been doing as much for a while now, but probably hasn't gotten as much credit for it as she should have. Last September, as the world #92, Kerber defeated an error-plagued Flavia Pennetta to reach the U.S. Open semifinals, the first German to do so since 1996. She was actually the second woman from her country to reach a slam Final Four that summer, as Lisicki had done so at Wimbledon two months earlier. Coming into last week's Paris Indoors, Kerber had proven to be no fluke. Having risen into the Top 30, she'd already reached two 2012 semifinals and posted wins over Lisicki, Julia Goerges (yet another German) and AO quarterfinalist Sara Errani. She'd climbed out of the pool of players largely disregarded as potential title-winners, but her title run in Paris takes her yet another level higher on the WTA scale. In winning her first career tour crown, she put up wins over the likes of top-seeded Maria Sharapova, Yanina Wickmayer and #2-seed Marion Bartoli, the latter in front of a partisan French crowd riding the wave of a La Trufflette comeback that had turned what appeared to be a "routine" straight sets win into something potentially far more.

While Petra Kvitova has so far failed to assume the #1 ranking (and actually slipped a notch this week), her gradual-then-sudden rise over the last two seasons continues to linger over the rest of the players on tour. Who is the NEXT Kvitova? Who is following in her footsteps? Earlier this season, it seemed as if it might be Kanepi. She, as Kvitova did in '10, finished '11 at #34 in the rankings. Both opened the next season by winning titles in Brisbane. The Czech followed up that win with an impressive storming to the Paris title last February. Kanepi was originally in the draw for the event (Carl even picked her to win) last week, but withdrew with a shoulder injury.

Enter Kerber, in very Kvitova-esque garb.

This weekend, it was the German who followed up Kvitova's Paris title with one of her own. Kerber, like the Czech before her, had reached a surprise slam semifinal the season before her February championship run under the roof. In the final against Bartoli, she even experienced a very Kvitova-esque ebb-and-flow stretch in her game. She led Bartoli 7-6/5-2, serving for the match at 5-3, before the French woman caught fire. Kerber dropped thirteen consecutive points, was broken three straight times and lost the final five games of the 2nd as she was forced into a 3rd set. As Kvitova often does, though, the German rebounded. She got an early break to gain control, going up 4-0. Then, after having a difficult time closing things out (Bartoli saved a handul of match points), she finally prevailed in a 6-3 set.

Kerber will soon be a Top 20 player. After that, she can set her sights on trying to catch Lisicki and the currently-injured Andrea Petkovic to become the highest-ranked German woman. Come fall, when she'll arrive in NewYork to defend her '11 Open semi, one has to wonder what other players directly above her in the rankings will have cause to worry.

Surely, quite a few more than anyone would have ever guessed twelve months earlier.

*WEEK 6 CHAMPIONS*
PARIS, FRANCE (Premier $637K/HI)
S: Angelique Kerber/GER def. Marion Bartoli/FRA 7-6/5-7/6-3
D: Huber/Raymond (USA/USA) d. Groenefeld/Martic (GER/CRO)
PATTAYA, THAILAND (Int'l $220K/HO)
S: Daniela Hantuchova/SVK def. Maria Kirilenko/RUS 6-7/6-3/6-3
D: Mirza/Rodionova (IND/AUS) d. Chan/Chan (TPE/TPE)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Angelique Kerber/GER

...well, while the trophy she got to hold up didn't look as nice as the diamond-encrusted one that current Paris tournament director Amelie Mauresmo was given after she won one of her many Antwerp crowns a few years ago, Kerber surely isn't feeling "slighted" after her week in France. Obviously, her semifinal run at Flushing Meadows last September was more of a foreshadowing event than one closer to a fluke. She's already reached four additional semifinals since her U.S. Open Final Four result. Her final last week, though, was her first since she reached the decider in Bogota in 2010. In taking out the #1 (Sharapova) and #2 (Bartoli) seeds in the Paris Indoors, the 24-year old not only grabbed her first career title but also pushed her ranking to a new high. She's nearly in the Top 20 and, don't look now, but she's in Doha this week with a chance to fire another shot across the bow of German tennis -- she'll face Sabine Lisicki in the 1st Round. She could meet Bartoli again in the 3rd Round.
=============================
RISERS: Marion Bartoli/FRA & Yanina Wickmayer/BEL
...Bartoli was the Pastry-Who-(Almost)-Could in Paris last week. The tournament's comeback queen, she reversed a 6-4/4-1 deficit, as well as 5-2 hole in the 3rd set, against Roberta Vinci in the QF, then, after taking out Klara Zakopalova in the semis, pushed Kerber to three sets in the final after falling behind 7-6/5-2, breaking the German three straight times. It wasn't enough to take the title, but Bartoli does seem to be slowly-but-slowly rounding into better and better form as the season progresses. For a player like Bartoli, too much of a veteran to be a "rising star" (her inclusion in the "Riser" category notwithstanding), but not old enough to be thinking along the lines of "I've-got-to-win-a-slam-now-or-I-never-will," it's all about trying to work her schedule so that she's peaking around the time she'll travel to Roland Garros and Wimbledon, the sites of her best chances to "slip" into the slam winner's circle. While she didn't have it in the winter, she's still got a shot to have Paris in the springtime. Also in the season's first indoor event, Wickmayer continued to add weight to her "comeback" season after falling outside the Top 25 last year. After being the best player on the court in Belgium's Fed Cup loss to Serbia in Week 6, she was one of the few FC stars to carry over their momentum to Week 7. She reached the SF in Paris, taking out Christina McHale and Mona Barthel.
=============================
SURPRISES: Sania Mirza/IND & Chan Hao-Ching/Chan Yung-Jan (TPE/TPE)
...Mirza has shined as a doubles star (she's currently #7) in recent seasons, but she nicely pulled double-duty last week in Pattaya. In singles, she reached the QF with wins over Ayumi Morita and Anne Keothavong, then won the doubles title with Anastasia Rodionova. It's the Indian Princess' (whew! I haven't used that nickname for a long time) thirteenth career tour doubles crown, and she's collected them with ten different woman. With this win while partnering with the Aussie, her last ten WTA doubles titles have come with nine players. And she won a Mixed slam title with Mahesh Bhupathi, too. In the final, Mirza & Rodionova defeated the Chan sisters, 22-year old Yung-Jan and 18-year old Hao-Ching, who thus become the latest entry in the tour's ever-expanding pool of tennis-playing siblings.
=============================
VETERANS: Daniela Hantuchova/SVK & Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond (USA/USA)

...Hantuchova had never managed to defend a singles title before she did so this weekend in Pattaya. Reaching her second 2012 final (only Azarenka can say the same), Hantuchova claimed her fifth career crown with wins over Urszula Radwanska, Vania King, Hsieh Su-Wei and Maria Kirilenko in the three-set final. The 28-year old is (so far) the oldest singles champion on tour this season, just edging out Zheng Jie. In Paris, Huber (35) and Raymond (38) teamed up to claim their fifth title as a duo, all since last summer, and all Premier-level or better. Raymond has now grabbed 75 titles in her career, one fewer than Hall of Famer Jana Novotna (76) on the all-time WTA list and just five away from HOFer Natasha Zvereva's 80 (fifth-best in tour history). Teaming with Huber all season, it seems hard to believe that Raymond won't pass up both before the end of '12.
=============================
COMEBACK: Hsieh Su-Wei/TPE
...the Taiwanese vet turned back the clock in Pattaya City. In 2001, as a 15-year old, she qualified at a tour event in Bali and reached the SF. Last week, nearly eleven years later, the 26-year old world #159 finally reached her second career tour-level singles semi. Again, she did it the hard way, making it through qualifying and reaching the Final Four with impressive wins over Zheng Jie, Kimiko Date-Krumm and Sania Mirza.
=============================
FRESH FACE: Mona Barthel/GER
...from the looks of things, Barthel won't be having to go through qualifying for much longer. The Hobart champ (the OTHER German first-time singles champion of this young season) was at it again last week in Paris, qualifying with wins over the likes of Alize Cornet and Varvara Lepchenko, then reaching the QF after taking out Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova and Pauline Parmentier. The wins weren't as impressive as some of those during her early-season run, but the fact remains that the German's only '12 losses have come to players named Azarenka, Lisicki, Jankovic and Wickmayer, all of whom have previously reached slam a SF or better. After defeating Caroline Garcia today, Barthel will get a second shot at Azarenka, who beat her in the 3rd Round in Melbourne (it was the match in which the eventual champ had to fend off allowing her anger to get the best of her late in the 2nd set after a series of poor line calls, eliciting what was probably the most widespread anti-Vika crowd reaction during the two weeks), in a 2nd Round rematch in Doha in what will be the Belarusian's first post-AO title outing.
=============================
DOWN: Maria Sharapova/RUS & Vera Zvonareva/RUS
...it wasn't a good week for top-seeded Russians. Sharapova, coming off the "cold" that took her out of her second day of Fed Cup play last weekend, lasted only two matches in Paris, losing in straight sets to eventual champion Kerber. Still, with '11 champ Kvitova idle, Sharapova moved past the Czech and into the #2 ranking behind Victoria Azarenka today. Meanwhile, in Pattaya City, '09 and '10 champ Zvonareva retired against Sorana Cirstea in the QF after suffering a hip injury early in her two-and-a-half set match with the Romanian. While this was actually Zvonareva's best result in three events this season, I'm still thinking that that preseason notion that the Russian was going to suffer a significant slide in 2012 might not have been far off at all.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Alexandra Dulgheru/ROU & Olga Govortsova/BLR
...there were two $100K challengers held last week, and Dulgheru (Cali, Colombia) and Govortsova (Midland, Michigan) took the crowns. Following up her countrywoman Irina-Camelia Begu's title there last year, Dulgheru notched wins over Sharon Fichman, Alexandra Cadantu, Lourdes Dominguez-Lino (who'll try to defend her Bogota '11 title this week) and Mandy Minella. Govortsova, sticking around in the States after her FC participation in Massachusetts (and maybe proving that just losing close to Serena is enough to boost one's confidence), traveled a bit west and got her title with wins over Ashley Weinhold, Anna Tatishvili, Jamie Hampton and Magdalena Rybarikova.
=============================
JUNIOR STAR: Yulia Putintseva/RUS
...the junior #6, and Australian Open Girls runner-up last month, is still Down Under. Last week, she rebounded from her more-than-petulant reaction to her Melbourne loss to Taylor Townsend (here's how Diane saw it on "Women Who Serve"), winning a $25K challenger in Launceton with victories over Melanie South, Olivia Rogowska, Anna Schmiedlova and Lesley Kerkhove in the final.
=============================

1. Paris Final - Kerber d. Bartoli
...7-6/5-7/6-3. With the win, Kerber reached one of those weird little milestones in her career -- her ranking is less than her age for the first time. The 24-year old moved up to #22 today.
=============================
2. Patt Final - Hantuchova d. Kirilenko
...6-7/6-3/6-3. Hantuchova is the third #3-seed to win a singles title in the WTA's seven 2012 events, but she's the first #3-seed not named Victoria to do it. Meanwhile, Kirilenko drops to 5-5 in career tour finals, but once again played well in Asia (six of her appearances in finals have come on the continent).
=============================
3. Paris QF - Kerber d. Sharapova
...6-4/6-4. A few weeks ago in the Australian Open 3rd Round, Sharapova took out Kerber in straight sets. Throw in the German playing better, mixed with the Russian not playing at as high a level as she was in the Melbourne early-going, and you get the script being flipped quite nicely.
=============================
4. Paris 1st Rd - Pironkova d. Li
...7-6/3-2 ret. Li was coming off a three-match bit of work in Fed Cup when retired with a back injury in her first match in Paris.
=============================
5. Doha Q1 - Keothavong d. Robson 6-2/6-1
Doha Q2 - Keothavong d. Watson 6-4/6-4
...a week ago, Keothavong was Robson and Watson's supportive Fed Cup teammate. This past weekend, she slapped them down and showed them who's boss. At least for a little while longer.
=============================
6. Doha Q1 - U.Radwanska d. Tsurenko
...6-2/1-0 ret. Speaking of FC. In Week 6, U-Rad's untimely losses prevented Poland from advancing out of Zone play. Meanwhile, in the 1st Round, Tsurenko went 2-0 and very nearly led a huge Ukrainian upset of Italy. None of that mattered in Doha qualifying.
=============================
7. $100K Midland Doubles Final - Hlavackova/Hradecka d. Dolonts/Foretz-Gacon
...7-6/6-2. Hradecka has a pretty nice relationship going with this Michigan tournament. Coming into this year, she'd reached the singles final three straight years, winning in '09 and '11. As the #1 seed, she lost in the QF this year. But, as she did in '10 when she failed to win the singles title, she managed to go home with some hardware by taking the doubles crown instead.
=============================
8. Doha 1st Rd - Pervak d. Pavlyuchenkova
...1-6/6-2/6-3. While two Germans have won titles so far in 2012, no Russians have jumped into the singles winning circle. After a week in which Sharapova and Zvonareva stumbled, Pavlyuchenkova continued her early season spinout. The #10-seed opened up 1st Round play in Doha today by losing to Hordette-turned-Kazakh Pervak, fading after taking a set lead.
=============================
HM- Doha Doubles 1st Rd - Dushevina/Peer d. Pennetta/Schiavone
...6-2/5-7/10-7. The would-be Italian doubles pairing gets off on a bad foot (or back, in Pennetta's case?) in Doha. The Russian-Israeli pair won't be playing in the London Olympics, though.
=============================

1. Pattaya Doubles Final - Mirza/Rodionova d. Chan/Chan
...3-6/6-1/10-8. At least one tennis sibling sister was simply destined to win in Pattaya, as one half of the Rodionova sisters helped defeat the Chan clan.
=============================
2. Pattaya Doubles 1st Rd - Kichenok/Kichenok d. Gajdosova/Mattek-Sands
...6-2/6-2. They would soon lose to eventual runners-up Groenefeld & Martic, but Ukraine's Kichenok twins did manage a rather impressive 1st Round doubles win in Thailand before they left town.
=============================

**2012 FIRST-TIME CHAMPIONS**
Hobart - Mona Barthel, GER (21, #64)
Paris - Angelique Kerber, GER (24, #27)

**MOST CAREER WTA WEEKS AT DOUBLES #1**
237...Martina Navratilova
170...LIEZEL HUBER *
163...Cara Black *
124...Natasha Zvereva
117...Lisa Raymond *
111...Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
87...Paola Suarez *
-
* - active

**CAREER DOUBLES TITLES - ACTIVE**
75...LISA RAYMOND, USA
54...Cara Black, ZIM
49...LIEZEL HUBER, USA
44...Paola Suarez, ARG
30...Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
-
NOTE: Rennae Stubbs (60)

**TOUR DOUBLES TITLES WITH SANIA MIRZA**
3 - Liezel Huber
2 - Elena Vesnina
1 - Chuang Chia-Jing
1 - Edina Gallovits-Hall
1 - Vania King
1 - Bethanie Mattek-Sands
1 - Shahar Peer
1 - ANASTASIA RODIONOVA
1 - Mara Santangelo
1 - Yaroslava Shvedova
-
NOTE: Mahesh Bhupathi (1 Mixed)

**2012 SINGLES CHAMPIONS BY SEED**
#3 - 3 (Azarenka,Azarenka,Hantuchova)
#9 - 1 (Kerber)
Unseeded - 2 (Kanepi,Zheng)
Qualifier - 1 (Barthel)

DOHA, QATAR (Premier $2.168m/hardcourt outdoor)
11 Final: Zvonareva d. Wozniacki
11 Doubles Champions: Peschke/Srebotnik
12 Top Seeds: Azarenka/Wozniacki
=============================
=QF=
#1 Azarenka d. Wickmayer
#4 A.Radwanska d. Peer
#13 Ivanovic d. Pennetta
Kerber d. #2 Wozniacki
=SF=
#1 Azarenka d. #4 A.Radwanska
#13 Ivanovic d. Kerber
=FINAL=
#1 Azarenka d. #13 Ivanovic

...Azarenka returns. So does a Sanchez-less Wozniacki, who reached the final a year ago. Stosur might get a rematch with AO conqueror Cirstea in the 2nd Round, while Kerber/Bartoli II could be on tap for the 3rd Round. A truly intriguing Azarenka/Wozniacki final is possible, but too far out in the draw to focus on at this point.

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (Int'l $220K/red clay outdoor)
11 Final: Dominguez-Lino d. Johansson
11 Doubles Champions: Gallovits-Hall/Medina-Garrigues (Gallovits-Hall 2010-11)
12 Top Seeds: Erakovic/Dulgheru
=============================
=SF=
Voegele d. #4 Dokic
#2 Dulgheru d. #3 Oprandi
=FINAL=
#2 Dulgheru d. Voegele

...I'm tempted to pick Dokic, but I'll go with the more in-good-singles-form Dulgheru. Voegele has been playing well, of late, as well. Although she might have to face both the #1 seed (Erakovic... is this really a tour-level event?) and the defending champ (LDL) just to reach the semis.

DOHA
=SF=
#1 azarenka d. #4 a.radwanska
#2 wozniacki d. #3 stosur
=FINAL=
#2 wozniacki d. #1 azarenka

...Carl get more champion picks right than Todd (two in row with Hantuchova, since Kanepi pick last week "no count" since she pull out). Think CARL should get first pick. Would go with Vika, just like Carl did in Melbourne. But since Todd obviously trying to sabotage (thanks, Carla) Carl much-more-accurate picks, Carl outsmart him. Go against puny public's opinion and say Caroline. Like when Carl speak loudly at store as he trying to buy one of Carla's "female products" as she asked to do, then cashier ask for price check over loudspeaker and made Carl feel weird and make him want to smash and run out store because he no like way little woman with blue streaks in hair looking at Carl... umm, where was Carl? Oh. Like when Carl speak loudly, Caro win would both shut people up AND make them talk about him when he leave room.

BOGOTA
=SF=
#7 dominguez-lino d. #4 dokic
#5 dulko d. #2 dulgheru
=FINAL=
#5 dulko d. #7 dominguez-lino

...Carl pick Hantuchova/Kirilenko final right last week. Todd do not. Should listen to Carl when comes to picks. Carl so confused by this draw, though. Hard to pick winner from group of players like this. Should pick Dokic just to rub in Todd face if she win. In fact, Carl WILL do that.

=NEW SF=
#4 dokic d. #7 dominguez-lino
#5 dulko d. #2 dulgheru
=NEW FINAL=
#4 dokic d. #5 dulko

All for now.