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Spencer is a frequent contributor to The Tennis Times. Spencer has had many years experience writing about tennis players, tournaments, interviews and more. Spencer contributes very detailed and analysis posts to The Tennis Times.
The AELTC has released the seedings for the 2009 Championships. They follow the ranking almost exactly, except Maria Sharapova has been seeded #24 despite her current ranking of 59. There is no disputing Sharapova’s grass court prowess, having won the title in 2004 and made the Semifinals on other occasions, and the All England Club clearly wanted to reward her for her past success. Why then, was the same criteria not applied to other players?
Venus Williams has won the Wimbledon title 5 times, and Serena Williams has won it 2 times, and yet they were not elevated and are both seeded behind Dinara Safina, who has never been past the third round at Wimbledon in 6 attempts. And what of Amelie Mauresmo? She has nearly identical grass court credentials to Sharapova, having won the title herself in 2006, but her seeding was not elevated from #17.
Personally, I don’t think that rankings should be changed at all for seedings. Players earn a ranking over the course of 52 weeks, which should not be able to be changed on a whim. At the same time, if they are going to alter seedings, then they should apply the same criteria to all players. They should not pick and choose which players they want to reward. This will certainly be a major topic of contention as the Championships get underway this Monday.
Full seedings may be found here: http://aeltc2009.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/pdf/2009_seeding.pdf
Svetlana Kuznetsova’s 6-4 6-2 drubbing of a tight Dinara Safina in the French Open final served as a particularly unfitting conclusion to what was one of the most enjoyable majors in recent years. Coming back from a relatively bland 2008 edition, where the story of choice was who wasn’t playing, the 2009 event was at times inspiring, at many times absurd, and always compelling. The drama began almost immediately as both Venus and Serena Williams, usually on cruise control through the first few rounds, were taken to three sets by Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Klara Zakopalova, respectively. Even when we think they’ve drawn a tough first round opponent, they will often get through dropping less than five games. That was when the alarm bells started to go off: this one would be different.
And so it was, as seed after seed began to fall. This is always a tough situation for women’s tennis because, if the seeds all get through, then it is criticized for not having enough depth, but if the seeds lose, then it is criticized for not having enough dominance at the top. This time, when the seeds lost, it was because the opponent played exceptionally well. Victoria Azarenka completely outplayed Ana Ivanovic to eliminate her in the fourth round, and Agnes Szavay played tennis she hasn’t shown since 2007 to defeat Venus Williams easily. Sorana Cirstea finally showed what the tennis world knew she possessed as she outlasted Jelena Jankovic in an epic 9-7 in the third, and Sam Stosur served like a top-10 player to eliminate Dementieva. All of this was in direct contrast to this year’s Australian Open, where Ivanovic collapsed against Kleybanova and Jankovic barely showed up against Bartoli. This time, the underdog had to win it. Basically, the only seed who wasn’t challenged early on was Dinara Safina, who took advantage of a light draw to sprint into the second week.
Ultimately, the two biggest news items of the first week had little to do with anyone’s play. The first story was Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who was hit with a ball by Serena Williams, but refused to acknowledge it to the chair umpire. Martinez Sanchez should have lost the point, but she won it, which sparked a press conference war of words with Williams accusing and Martinez Sanchez denying. Williams went on to win that match, so there was at least some sense of justice. When people went discussing whether Martinez Sanchez cheated, they were all aflutter about the screeching grunt of Michelle Larcher de Brito. Larcher de Brito has been touted for years as the next big thing, and she had a mini-breakthough here, making the third round in her first major main draw. More than her promising play, she is known for her grunt, which is by far the loudest on tour. Her third round opponent Aravane Rezai had quite a problem with it, complaining to the chair and again in the press conference. Once again the voyeuristic press was more than happy to latch on to this relative non-story. The furor will likely cause the tour to once again revisit the question of how loud is too loud.
Back in the tennis, the Quarterfinal lineup was a delightful mix of the expected (Safina, S. Williams) and the completely surprising (Stosur, Cirstea, Cibulkova). Joining those women was Maria Sharapova, which could not have been too surprising as she came into this tournament as a complete question mark. With little match play, no one knew whether she was heading for a first round exit or for the title. The match of the tournament took place in this round as Svetlana Kuznetsova finally put it together when she needed to and eliminated Serena Williams. Kuznetsova went up a set and 5-3, just as she did in Australia against Williams, and just as she has done so many times in her career. And so, it came as a shock to absolutely no one that she blew the 5-3 lead and Williams went on to win the second set. The Svetlana Kuznetsova of October 2004-May 2009 would have collapsed at this point. maybe mustering a couple of games in the third set as she went out with a whimper. This time she fought and ultimately won 7-5 in a thrilling third set. Since winning the 2004 US Open, Kuznetsova hasn’t been that player. She hasn’t been the one who is able to fight off bad games and blown leads. She hasn’t been a champion.
This week, she was. She went on to face a resurgent Sam Stosur in the Semifinals. Sam missed a year of her career, out with viral meningitis and Lyme disease, so to make it to a major Semifinal on her worst surface was an amazing accomplishment. Stosur acquitted herself quite well in this match, coming back from a deficit in the second set to level the match. Kuznetsova had the chance to blow it again, giving up a second set lead and going to the third, but the Williams match changed something. Her body language was better, but more importantly, her shotmaking improved. She wasn’t going for insane crosscourt forehands like she used to. She played patient, composed, and mature points to win the third. In the final, she would meet Dinara Safina, who eliminated Cibulkova in the other Semifinal.
This match was Safina’s to take. She was the pre-tournament favorite, world #1, dominant performer of the clay season, but the pressure was too much. As she watched her opponent crumble and make uncharacteristic errors, Kuznetsova had clearly changed from uncertain challenger to confidant winner, from choker to champion. In a tournament that was full of stimulating three set matches, the routine two-set final seemed to be a bit of a letdown. Everyone wanted there to be another three set epic, but in the spirit of this tournament, where Svetlana Kuznetsova, Sam Stosur, Dominika Cibulkova, Michelle Larcher De Brito, Maria Sharapova, Agnes Szavay, Victoria Azarenka, and Sorana Cirstea taught us to expect the unexpected, maybe it was better this way.
Many people, including me, thought Maria Sharapova’s decision to return to the tour in Warsaw was misguided. A premier level event on her worst surface in the week immediately prior to the French Open did not seem like the place to gain momentum or confidence. She would probably crash out early against a middling clay court specialist and be doubting herself and her comeback going into one of the biggest events of the year.
That was before. Now, she seems like a genius. The field has been decimated by withdrawals and only two seeds have advanced into the Quarterfinals. The toughest obstacle for Sharapova en route to the final now will be Alona Bondarenko – a tough player in her own right but not in Sharapova’s league. This event, where she appeared destined for an early loss, now looks like it could provide Sharapova with her first title on red clay. Even if she doesn’t win, she has already achieved the desperately needed momentum.
This doesn’t just apply to Sharapova. There are other players who can take advantage of the weakest Premier level field of the season. British hope Anne Keothavong used to avoid clay courts like the plague. In the last few years, she has made a concerted effort to improve her play on clay and it is showing. She is having the best clay season of her life and can certainly advance deep in this draw, potentially carrying that confidence through to next week. Dare we even day it? A British woman could actually put together a run at the French.
2009 has hardly been a season to remember for Daniela Hantuchova, but as the only seed left on the bottom half, she now looks like the clear favorite to make the final. She played a solid, if tense, match against clay specialist Llagostera Vives in the first round and advanced past hometown hope Urszula Radwanska in the second. A title here could put Hantuchova on track to salvage this season and return to where she belongs in the rankings.
While the withdrawals of Wozniacki and Radwanska seemed to hurt the field, they have actually created one of the more compelling events of the season. Sure, those two are more likely to make a French Open run than anyone left in this field (save for possibly Sharapova), but they have given this tournament the gift of the unexpected and provided a huge opportunity for ranking points, prize money, and momentum. And who knows what will happen in the coming days? An Olaru/Dulgheru final, anyone?
The second major of the year is already upon us as qualifying for the French Open gets underway today. With just a few days to go until main draw play begins this Sunday, all the talk on the men’s side is about Rafael Nadal’s quest for his 5th consecutive French title and whether Federer or Djokovic can catch him. An intriguing story line, certainly, but that is basically the extent of the discussion.
On the Women’s side, there is much more room for conversation. After more than a year of the WTA playing a game of #1 ranking tag, we actually enter Roland Garros with a clear favorite for the title in Dinara Safina. Of course, being the clear favorite, she will certainly lose before the Quarterfinals. Nonetheless, Safina has been the only top player to avoid looking disastrous. Playing her best tennis since last fall, Safina ran away with both the Rome and Madrid titles while the rest of her colleagues looked lost, uninspired, and injured. The question is not whether she has the game, it is whether she can hold it together mentally. If she can, the title is hers.
The other finalists from Rome and Madrid, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Caroline Wozniacki, can hardly make convincing claims as French Open favorites. Kuznetsova did beat Safina in Stuttgart, but she long since vacated the relevant conversation as she proved time and again her inability to close out big matches. Her collapse against Serena in Australia was just another in a long line of almost-wins. As for Wozniacki, she is still unproven. She has never reached the Quarterfinal stage of a major before, so we still don’t know how she handles the important moments. Without a big weapon off the ground, Wozniacki may struggle against a hard hitter who has found her rhythm (See: Safina in Madrid, Lisicki in Charleston, Dokic in Australia, etc.)
And what of the Williams sisters? Serena is injured and frustrated. Winless since March, she has spent her time speaking out against the tour for forcing her to play hurt and the ranking system for not rewarding her accomplishments. She retired against Schiavone in Madrid, and barring a miraculous recovery, Serena looks headed for an early exit. Venus seemed to be in a much better place than her sister, making the Rome Semifinal and having some of her best clay results in years. With a favorable draw she can make the second week, but an early round unforced error parade against Kleybanova in Madrid exposed why she might struggle to advance further.
Earlier in the year, it looked as though the Serbian train had lost a little steam. Now, it has fallen off the tracks, arrived at the wrong station, and caught on fire. Jankovic hit rock bottom during the Spring hardcourt season, but a title in Marbella seemed to indicate that she may have found her form, but it was not to be. Recent lackluster losses to Schnyder and Kuznetsova proved that she is still nowhere near her best and would do well just to make her seeding. When the French Open ends, it will mark one year since Ana Ivanovic fell to pieces. She’s had flashes of strong play since (Linz 08, Indian Wells 09) but nothing consistent or confidence inspiring. And the worst part? She pulled out of Madrid with injury. This defending champion will be hard pressed to make it even close the winners circle once again.
As for the rest of the top 10, Zvonareva is still injured and unlikely to play. Victoria Azarenka was the talk of tennis just weeks ago, but she has failed to make a deep run on clay. She can still upset a few people, but her bandwagon likely won’t get up to speed again until the US hardcourt season. This leaves Elena Dementieva. Just a few months ago, she was in Safina’s position, the favorite with momentum who is a solid bet to win her first major. It didn’t happen for Dementieva, and ever since she has been solid but unconvincing. In Australia, all of the pressure was on her, and she couldn’t handle Serena in the Semifinals. Now, no one is talking about her. Maybe that is exactly what she needs.
That probably completes the list of players with a serious chance to win the title, but there are a host others who could pull off the odd upset here and there. By beating Dementieva in Madrid, Amelie Mauresmo showed that she can still contend with the best. A few confidence building wins in the early rounds, and she could put together an inspired run and finally do what she has never done at Roland Garros, just when it seems the least likely. Last year’s surprise Quarterfinalist Carla Suarez Navarro can only find her game at majors, but she has the potential to repeat. Last month’s official WTA flavor, Sabine Lisicki, has been hampered with injury and illness since her Charleston win, but she has the game to go far. I expect we also will see some veterans with kind draws, like Patty Schnyder, Li Na, or Anabel Medina Garrigues, put together a few wins.
This leaves Maria Sharapova. She’s back and she’s unseeded. She could surprise some people and make a deep run, and she’s a horrifying first round threat to any seed. The attention is elsewhere, and she may actually go pretty deep in this draw. But winning? Just wait until Wimbledon.
The WTA players are in Stuttgart, Germany this week for the first major stop on the European clay court swing. Just like all the other events in Europe this time of year, the tournament is on red clay. Unlike all the other events, though, this one is indoors. This Stuttgart event used to be part of the ever-dwindling Autumn European indoor season, but as part of Larry Scott’s “Roadmap 2009,” the event has been moved to April. Because of the change in season, the event has changed their indoor hard court into an indoor clay court, the only one on the WTA Tour.
The player response so far has been positive. Argentine Gisela Dulko, who upset Victoria Azarenka here, said that it was nice to play on her favorite surface without having to worry about managing the wind or the sun. It is unlikely that she would have had to deal with blazing sun, but the indoor court does mean that this weekend’s impending showers will not be an issue.
On the other hand, having seen several of the matches in Stuttgart so far, there is something unnervingly sterile about the way the court is playing. There is no wind swirling the clay around, no sun illuminating the red court, no movement of any kind. Playing on clay is not just about being on another physical surface, it is about contending with the elements and finding a creative way to win when none of the circumstances are cooperating. Players who love clay talk about how the surface is unique because it feels so organic, but moving it indoors can only make it more artificial. Watching Jelena Jankovic dismantle Dominika Cibulkova in the first round, I could not help but think that the match might as well have been on a hard court. It was missing that special challenge.
The season’s second weekend of Fed Cup is nearly upon us, with 10 ties being contested in three different sectors that will determine the landscape of Fed Cup next year. The first group is the World Group Semifinals. These four teams are already safe to play in the World Group next year, and their sole focus now is winning the 2009 Fed Cup title. The first tie pits Italy against Russia in what would ostensibly seem to be a fairly easy walk for Russia that could turn very competitive. Italy has fielded their best possible team led by top-20 player Flavia Pennetta and last weeks’ Barcelona winner Roberta Vinci. Russia suffered a setback with Vera Zvonareva’s ankle injury, meaning they will counter with Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova in singles, both of whom are slumping. The red clay surface also favors Italy more so than the Russian team, which could further harm Russia title defense chances. Russia is still the favorite, but it could be closer than it would originally seem.
The other semifinal will be the USA vs. Czech Republic. The match will be an uphill climb for the United States as they have to use one of their untested youngsters Melanie Oudin or Alexa Glatch in singles. It will likely be up to the class of the team Bethanie Mattek-Sands to win both of her singles and partner with Liezel Huber in doubles to scrape out a 3-2 victory. This task will be made all the more difficult by the formidable Czech squad led by Iveta Benesova and Lucie Safarova. Both players are capable of producing exceptional tennis and would be a challenge for the US team under the best of circumstances.
The next section of matches are the World Group Playoffs, with the winners entering the World Group in 2010 and the losers being relegated to World Group II. Three of these ties look to be quite competitive, the exception being Ukraine who should easily oust a depleted Argentina team. Serbian superstars Ivanovic and Jankovic will have to fend off Spain’s Medina Garrigues and Martinez Sanchez. France and Slovakia will each pit one veteran (Mauresmo and Hantuchova) against a young hope (Cornet and Cibulkova) in what will be a complete toss-up. China was rocked by the injury withdrawal of Li Na, but they still have Zheng and Peng to go up against Groenefeld and the streaking Lisicki for Germany in the final tie of the group.
The other section is World Group II Playoffs, with the winners becoming part of World Group II and the losers returned to their respective regions for 2010. Here, Estonia, led by Kaia Kanepi will be the slight favorites over the slumping Israeli players. Poland should not have too many problems with Japan, and Australia should be in a similar situation against Switzerland, provided Jelena Dokic finds her form again. Belgium is also taking on Canada which could be quite interesting as Ponte Vedra finalist Aleks Wozniak leads her Canadian team against the slumping Belgians Wickmayer and Flipkens.
A major critique of the current teen generation on the WTA Tour has been their inability to win big matches. Players like Azarenka, Wozniacki, Radwanska, Cornet, and Cibulkova have no problem racking up points by playing a full schedule and making a fairly deep run at each of their tournaments, but they crumble in the biggest late-round matches. Then it falls to veterans like the Williams sisters, Dementieva, Jankovic, and Zvonareva to actually take these titles. Over the last year, this trend has created a perception that the newest generation just is not good enough and that our current champions will not be unseated by a fresher crop.
At the Australian Open this year, it seemed as though the pattern would only continue. Teens were playing effectively, but all of the sudden Kleybanova runs into Dokic, Cornet chokes against Safina, Azarenka gets sick against Serena, and the Semifinals contain Safina, Zvonareva, Dementieva, and Serena. The old guard all over again. The Miami tournament seemed like it would only be more of the same, with Serena and Venus advancing deep in the event ready to ward off any brazen youthful challengers. Things did not go as expected, though, it was at that event that Victoria Azarenka made her statement that teens were ready to buck this trend. Certainly, the ease of Azarenka’s win over Serena can be somewhat attributed to Serena’s knee injury, but it nonetheless proves that she has both the talent and mental fortitude to win big titles.
From Miami to the green clay, where Caroline Wozniacki took up the mantle of impressive teen sensation while Azarenka took a rest to count her winnings and newfound celebrity. Wozniacki has been known for the past year as a player who will beat all the people ranked lower than her but cannot effectively break through against the top-10. Her win in Ponte Vedra Beach could be brushed off with this critique, as her highest ranked opponent was #29. This last week in Charleston brought a new set of accomplishments for Wozniacki as she cruised into the semifinals, where she went up against top seed Elena Dementieva. In the past, this is where Wozniacki would crumble. The Wozniacki of last year would lose this match in two competitive sets, but this week she overcame her own nerves and fought for a tight three set victory. Wozniacki made it one step further.
The only thing that could derail her celebration train was another plucky teen with even more to prove. Sabine Lisicki has not achieved the success of the other women in her age group. While they are on the verge of the top 10, Lisicki’s pro career so far has been marked with inconsistency. Her talent is undeniable, but she becomes plagued with unforced errors and has difficulty putting together successive wins. This week, spurred on largely by her upset victory over Venus Williams, Lisicki finally showed the impressive form she has been hiding from the world. With aggressive groundstrokes and enormous serve, she was able to oust a visibly exhausted Wozniacki in the Charleston final and score another victory for the teen contingent.
After more than a year of quarterfinal appearances and unfulfilled potential, the teens appear ready to make a serious move. With Azarenka, Wozniacki, and Lisicki suddenly playing career tennis and other emerging young players like Pavlyuchenkova and Kleybanova showing they can make a deep run here and there, the established veterans might finally have a serious challenge in front of them. This will be especially true with the equalizing power of the red clay waiting to receive the tour in the coming weeks. As the teens find their game, more and more players are being added to the list of potential challengers with every new event. This clouds the image of tour favorites, but it also ensures that this year’s French Open will be a sight to see.
The clay court season gets underway this week with International level events in Marbella, Spain and Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. While the crucial clay court hardware will not be given out until May and June, the beginning of this new part of the year seems an opportune time to break down the women’s field as they make the surface transition. Ever since the retirement of Justine Henin, the title of Clay Court Queen has been vacant, and it looks to remain so for the foreseeable future. Last year, Dinara Safina and Ana Ivanovic broke through in the Spring and established their presence at the top. This year, they are among the slumping players who need to find a cure for their games in the European season. Along with Safina and Ivanovic, all of the top players come into this season with grand expectations, all of them looking to be the one to take up Henin’s crown.
1) Serena Williams: The reigning #1 player (though probably not for long) comes to the clay with impressive results so far this year. With the last two major titles and a recent trip to the Miami final under her belt, Serena is certainly still the player to beat. There are, however, several question marks haunting the Williams game right now that could provide openings for her closest competitors. First, we do not know the extent of her left leg injury. She was clearly hobbled in the Miami final against Azarenka, yet still plans on playing the next two weeks in Marbella and Charleston instead of taking some time off to rehabilitate. If the leg does continue to bother her in the coming months, the clay surface with only serve to accentuate it. Even though Serena won the French Open title in 2002, ever since her knee surgery she does the not have the same level of movement, which is exposed most drastically on clay. Any hint of a leg problem and she could be in the same trouble that she was against Srebotnik in the third round of the French last year.
2) Dinara Safina: Of all the players, Safina is in desperate need of solid results on the clay. Because of her excellent and consistent play over the last 52 weeks, Safina is in a position to assume the #1 ranking, but she has recorded miserable results ever since the Australian final. With significant points coming off her ranking in the next few months, she could see herself falling quite rapidly if she does not start to improve. Ever since she fell apart in the Australian final against Williams, Safina is 4-3, without a win over a top 30 player. The Berlin event last year was where Safina finally broke through, defeating Henin and Serena Williams en route to the title. As she proved then, she has the skills to beat anyone in the world on clay, she just desperately needs to regain her confidence and groundstroke range before then.
3) Elena Dementieva: Dementieva had a solid start to the year, winning two titles, but has likewise looked lost over the past month. Nonetheless, with the fall of Jankovic, she ascended to a career high #3 in the world this week. Dementieva is a notoriously difficult player to predict, as she can go from greatness to disaster and back to greatness for seemingly no reason at all, sometimes all within the same set. She had a very solid clay court run last year, only to be spoiled by Safina on a few occasions, so she will need to find greatness more often than not if she wants to hold on to that #3 for an extended period of time. In Indian Wells and Miami, Dementieva seemed uninspired in addition to playing erratically. It will be interesting to see whether she can regain that fire from the beginning of the year.
4) Jelena Jankovic: If anyone needs the results more than Safina, it is Jelena Jankovic. Jankovic has had a miserable year this year, with no impressive results to her credit. She currently sits at #25 in the race rankings, and has not won a match since a second round victory over Monica Niculescu in Dubai in February. Already this year she has fallen from #1 to #4 in the rankings, and looks to continue on this downward trajectory unless she can find some form on the clay. She is playing in Marbella this week, but she finds herself with another tricky first round opponent in Francesca Schiavone. With significant French Open points to defend, Jankovic is in danger of falling quite far during the clay season.
5) Venus Williams: Venus has had her best season start in quite some time so far in 2009. In the past few years, she has not really found her game until Wimbledon, but this year she already has two titles and has her ranking back up to #5. She is hardly defending any points at all during the clay court season, so she looks in solid position to make up ground on the slumping players above her. The problem for Venus is that she is not defending many clay points for a reason. Her game, more so than her sister’s, is reliant upon a fast surface. Even on a slower hard court like in Australia, her game becomes more vulnerable, with her groundstrokes and serve losing some effectiveness. This becomes more significant on a clay court, which could stand between her and some impressive clay titles.
6) Vera Zvonareva: Over the last 6-8 months, Zvonareva has played the best tennis of her career. She is more confident emotionally, and her groundstroke angles have never been more effective. She reached the Semifinals of Australia and won the title in Indian Wells, which pushed her to a career-high #5 ranking. Unlike the Williams sisters, Zvonareva feels quite comfortable on clay, having made her breakthrough at the French Open years ago. With great results and a surface that suits her to spur her on, Zvonareva may be the story of this clay season, sliding her way to a series of titles.
7) Ana Ivanovic: Ana Ivanovic was the story of last clay court season, but things have taken a drastic turn for her since her triumph at Roland Garros. She had a miserable second half to 2008, which continued at the beginning of this year, marked by a severely wandering ball toss. The bright spot for Ivanovic is that she did make the final of Indian Wells, which may indicate brighter results to come on the surface that gave her a Grand Slam title. She certainly feels comfortable on the clay, and her lack of serve and groundstroke confidence may not be as significant of a problem as it is on a hardcourt. While she is still in the midst of a slump, unlike some of her peers, there are indications that it may finally break on the clay.
Victoria Azarenka: Azarenka is the talk of the WTA Tour after her dominant win over Serena Williams in the Miami final. Azarenka is playing the most confident tennis of anyone on tour right now, and currently holds the position of being the only teenager in the top 10. While many of her competitors are struggling with range and consistency on their serve and groundstrokes, Azarenka’s game has been notably solid. She did not crumble under the pressure of her first significant tour final, which makes her an ever more compelling candidate for future star of the game. Azarenka has shown impressive clay results before, but this year she will be entering the season with much more pressure than in the past. If she deals with that pressure and continues to rack up the top 10 wins, she could solidify her place among the game’s best.
The Rest: Svetlana Kuznetsova recorded a desperately needed Semifinal result in Miami, which could help her confidence on the clay, where she has been a French Open finalist in the past. Caroline Wozniacki is always on the player to watch list, and this does not end with the clay. The question with her is: when is she going to record that huge result? Teens Alize Cornet and Dominika Cibulkova play their best tennis on the clay, and will be dangerous to some of those top players who are struggling. Veterans Amelie Mauresmo and Patty Schnyder are no strangers to the clay and could score some big wins. Finally, Maria Sharapova says she is coming back in Rome, but she is the biggest question mark of all at this point.
The early rounds at Indian Wells were marked by a number of notable upsets, and this trend looks to be continuing in Miami as a fairly depleted field heads toward the final rounds. With the introduction of the Williams sisters into the field in Miami, many felt that the tournament would retain the best players through the second week much better than Indian Wells did. For their part, the sisters have done the job in remaining in the tournament, but the same cannot be said for many of their colleagues.
Jelena Jankovic joined the upset club for the second tournament in a row as she fell in her first match to Argentine Gisela Dulko. In Indian Wells, she lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round, which spurred Pavlyuchenkova to a semifinal run, but Dulko was not able to match this performance as she lost her next match to Iveta Benesova. After her loss in Indian Wells, Jankovic expressed on her website that she is incredibly frustrated with her level of play lately, but she is also distracted by an illness that her mother is currently facing, which is taking up much of her time and energy. This certainly must be a contributing factor to her lack of conviction on court in recent weeks.
Jankovic was joined this week by her countrywoman Ana Ivanovic, who seemed primed to follow up on her Indian Wells success with an easy win over Mariya Koryttseva, but she was eliminated in surprising fashion in her second match, going down in three sets to the slumping Agnes Szavay. Szavay looked to be the future of women’s tennis in the fall of 2007 with some very impressive runs, but she has looked ineffective and unsure of herself since then. Perhaps this event will signal her return to the conversation in women’s tennis.
It was not just the Serbians who fell early, as Russian world #2 Dinara Safina also went out in the third round to Australian Sam Stosur. Safina was facing the added pressure of potentially becoming #1 in the world at the end of this tournament. It was in her hands, as a solid result would have vaulted her ahead of Serena Williams regardless of Williams’ performance. Now, with this loss, Serena controls her destiny at #1 for the time being. Safina will have another chance to take the top spot in a few weeks on the clay in Charleston. This was an important win for Stosur, who showed so much potential only a few years ago before she was sidelined with Lyme disease. She looks to be finally regaining fitness and form this year, but she has struggled closing out matches against top players. She has already lost three matches this year at 7-5 in the third to Serena Williams, Zheng Jie, and Agnieszka Radwanska. Being able to close out this upset will certainly improve her confidence.
Another early loss came from Vera Zvonareva, the Indian Wells champion. Zvonareva’s loss does not look to be as calamitous as the previous upsets, though, as she lost to talented Chinese player Li Na. Li is still coming back from injury, so her low ranking pits her against the top seeds early on. Li is capable of beating any player in the world when she is playing with confidence and consistency, so Zvonareva looks to be more a victim of bad draw luck than the slump epidemic.
Other notable upsets from Indian Wells, Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova, have survived early scares to have more impressive showings. Dementieva was taken to three sets by Russian teen Anastasia Pivovarova in her first match, but advanced through that match and cruised against Suarez Navarro before eventually being defeated by Caroline Wozniacki. This is not a great result for Dementieva but certainly a more respectable loss than her first match exit in Indian Wells. Kuznetsova also looked to be in serious trouble in her first match, down a set and a break to Tamira Paszek, but she fought to win that match 2-6 7-5 6-1, which seems to have given her new life. Kuznetsova had been disastrous ever since she blew her lead against Serena in Australia, but since the Paszek comeback Kuznetsova has recorded solid straight set wins over Vaidisova and Kleybanova, which moves her into the Quarterfinals. Kuznetsova looks to have found her game just in time to save her top 10 ranking going into the clay court season and to take advantage of a depleted draw, being the highest seed left in her half.
With these upsets, the path to the Semifinals looks clear for the Williams sisters in the top half, but the bottom half looks like it could be a fight between veteran major champions Kuznetsova and Mauresmo and the talented teens Wozniacki and Azarenka to see who scores the huge result and advances to the final in Miami.
Larry Scott announced today that he would be leaving his post as CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, effective July 1st. Scott will instead be taking over the job of Pac-10 Commissioner upon the retirement of current commissioner Tom Hansen. Larry Scott began his work with the WTA in 2003, after a successful stint as COO of the ATP Tour. Over his six year tenure, Scott has been praised for his ability to raise the financial standing of the tour, increasing prize money and securing a lucrative sponsorship deal with Sony Ericsson worth over $88 million. Just recently he made another positive pronouncement about the financial health of the WTA Tour in the face of current economic worries. Scott’s time atop women’s tennis has not been without controversy, though, with recent developments such as on-court coaching and “Roadmap 2009″ receiving criticism from players and commentators. Many feel that on-court coaching eliminates the individual strategy component unique to tennis, and several players expressed displeasure at the tournament requirements in the new Roadmap, wanting more freedom in selecting their events.
There is no word yet on potential replacement candidates for Scott at the WTA.
