Archive for: 2009
Ivanovic, answering press questions after her first-round loss to Petrova
It says a lot about what’s happened to Ana Ivanovic’s ranking that she is the player featured on all the posters here but after the loss of most of her 2008 French Open points is ranked too low (13) to be seeded. Instead, Elena Dementieva is the top seed and Nadia Petrova, ranked 10, is seeded 7. In the first set, Ivanovic simply couldn’t get the ball back into court, while Petrova used her powerful serve and chip returns to good effect to take the set 6-1. In the second, Ivanovic used the advice her new coach gave her during the set break: don’t go for the big shots so early in the rallies. Doing that helped her get her rhythm back, and that was enough to win her the second set 6-4. And level they stayed up until 4-4 in the third set, at which point Ivanovic’s game left again.
“She was hitting the ball better, and I felt I should go for more,” Ivanovic said afterwards. “It was a mistake.” It was: the same errors that plagued her in the first set cost her the last two games and the match, 6-4. Even so, as Ivanovic says, the last two years she hasn’t played any warm-up events before Wimbledon and still managed to make the semis in 2007. I suppose every player always has to think positively, especially when talking to the press, but last year’s Wimbledon is where Ivanovic’s slump started. This year, she’s going in having just fired her coach of three months (the veteran Craig Kardon, who coached Navratilova to her ninth Wimbledon title) and convinced she wants a full-time coach but unsure whom to pick. She will have more match practice, though: she’ll be playing doubles tomorrow.
Of course, there’s no shame in losing to Petrova on grass. Twice a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon and last year’s beaten Eastbourne finalist, Petrova was determined not to lose this match. “It would have been very hard to be out in the first round.” Petrova is also playing doubles here, with Mattek-Sands, who will also be her partner at Wimbledon. “We’re having a good time,” Petrova said. She’s not letting Mattek-Sands pick her clothes, though.
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And so both Serbian “sisters” go out in the first round. But while there was nothing particularly shocking about Ivanovic’s loss – since it came to Petrova, last year’s finalist and possessor of the kind of power serve you expect to be successful on grass – Jankovic’s loss is pretty shocking. Although Chakvetadze is a former top-five player (in 2007, her best year, she reached the US Open semifinal and won several titles) she has barely won a match all year and her ranking is down to 31. Jankovic finished last year number one, and has dropped to 6 after an overtraining left her muscle-bound in the first part of the year.
Jankovic returns a shot from Chakvetadze on her way to a first-round loss
Jankovic, who said yesterday she’s been working to improve her serve, learn to volley, and shorten the points on grass, nonetheless looked uncomfortable in the first set, starting with a string of errors while Chakvetadze barely put a foot wrong for six games. Until 5-1, when Chakvetadze was serving for the set and stopped being able to find her first serve. Five games later, Chakvetadze had to serve to save the set, succeeded, and then dropped a tightly-fought tiebreak.
At that point, it seemed obvious that Chakvetadze was going to melt down further and Jankovic would win in straight sets. Still, the pair stayed level until 3-3, when Chakvetadze saved five break points to go 4-3, then broke Jankovic for 5-3, and served out to love.
In the third set, Jankovic set afterwards, her legs gave out from the strain of having to bend so low to get back all those deep, skidding shots. Her quads started to hurt, and her legs were tired, and she didn’t have the ernergy to keep running.
When you have two slujmping players playing each other, one of them has to lose. Surprising that the one who lost was Jankovic. But Chakvetadze does have a long history of playing on grass – the first time I saw her was at Wimbledon in the juniors, playing Michaela Krajicek probably ten years ago.
Jankovic herself admits that grass is her weakest surface – she’s made the semis of all the other Slams but never been past the fourth round at Wimbledon.
Today we can reveal the outfit that Ana Ivanovic will be wearing during her matches at the All England Club for the Wimbledon Championships.
Well a few days ago we previewed the quarterfinals and then tipped a player in each match. I thought I would just quickly run through and see how we went.
Robin Soderling (23) vs Nikolay Davydenko (10) = We tipped Davydenko to come back from two sets to love down to win. Well we were right about one thing, Davydenko would lose the first two sets, but he never recovered. Wrong
Andy Murray (3) vs Fernando Gonzalez (12) = I thought an upset would happen here and I was right. Gonzalez pushed aside Murray in four sets. Right
Juan Martin Del Potro (5) vs Tommy Robredo (16) = I thought Robredo would really put all of his experience into this match, but he never got into the match at all, Del Potro winner. Wrong
Gael Monfils (11) vs Roger Federer (2) = Roger was always the favourite for this match and he didn’t disappoint. It was a great performance by Roger and its good to see him in the semi’s again. Right
Dinara Safina (1) vs Victoria Azarenka (9) = Safina is in great form at the moment and we tipped he to win this match as well, and she didnt disappoint. Safina wins in three sets, but after losing the first in which we knew Azarenka had to win to even be in the match. Right
Dominika Cibulkova (20) vs Maria Sharapova = I really thought Maria had a shot of winning this match in three sets on paper, but in real life tennis matches are a lot different. Maria got punished and tought how to play clay court tennis from Dominika. Wrong
Sorana Cirstea vs Samantha Stosur (30) = I thought that Stosur had a game that was too strong for Cirstea and I was right, plus I knew she would win in straight sets. Right
Svetlana Kuznetsova (7) vs Serena Williams (2) = Serena played some of the worst tennis I have seen her play in a very long time. It was like she had a brain cramp today on court. Kuznetsova played a very solid match but didn’t really control the match at all. Wrong
Well after all that we only got 50% right. The French Open is the main tournament all year in which upsets happen, and it is great to see that this year has live up to that expectation.
Who will be in the final for both singles? Well I think the Men’s final will be between Roger Federer and Robin Soderling. Women’s final will be between Dinara Safina and Samantha Stosur.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga downed fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4 to record his maiden win at the French Open on Tuesday and celebrated the occasion by wearing a tie to his post-match news conference.
“This is my first victory here. I celebrate this victory like this,” a beaming Tsonga told reporters while showing off his navy blue tie. “I wanted to come in a tuxedo … but my sponsor didn’t really want me to. Now I’ve found a solution.”
Asked if he would wear a bow tie if he ended up winning the tournament, Tsonga responded: “If I win, I will wear whatever you want but not a G-string.”
Tsonga, who lost in straight sets to Andy Roddick in his only appearance at Roland Garros in 2005, prevailed after two hours 43 minutes on a windswept Centre Court.
Last week we were the first to write about Fabrice Santoro and how this would be his last French Open at Roland Garros. Fabrice Santoro, nicknamed the Magician for his habit of mystifying bigger and stronger opponents, is proudly preparing to open his bag of tricks for his 20th and final French Open show. The Frenchman, who will retire at the end of the year, will extend his record of appearances at grand-slam events to 67 in the May 24-June 7 claycourt tournament.
The 36-year-old Frenchman played only eight minutes Wednesday before completing a first-round loss to Christophe Rochus of Belgium 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. The match had been suspended Tuesday because of darkness.
“When I started my career on court No. 10 in 1989, I did not imagine at all that I would hold the microphone in my hands 20 years later in front of you,” Santoro said to the crowd at Court Suzanne Lenglen. “Those were extraordinary and fantastic years that I will never forget.”
Santoro has played in a record 67 Grand Slam tournaments, making the fourth round three times — at the French Open in 1991 and 2001 and at the Australian Open in 1999.
“Twenty years. That counts for something in a lifetime,” Santoro said. “It has been a long road, a fantastic career. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot.”
Santoro and Rochus started their match Tuesday, but it was suspended with the Belgian leading 5-3 in the fourth set. The pair came back out onto the court after top-ranked Dinara Safina’s easy win and finished the match quickly.
“I’m saying to myself that the story is over, that a page is being turned,” Santoro said. “I will no longer be on court next year. But I think that it is time to go.”
Ana Ivanovic is optimistic about defending her French Open title, saying on Thursday that a niggling knee injury had died down.
“Thankfully the pain and inflammation in my knee has gone away so I have been able to practice this week,” the Serbian said. “My timing is pretty good at the moment and I’m optimistic about my chances of success in Paris.”
The world number eight has suffered a sharp loss of form since last year and pulled out of the Madrid Open earlier this month with the recurring injury, which worsened after her country’s Fed Cup win over Spain in April.
The 21-year-old from Belgrade will need a steep improvement in recent form to retain her crown at Roland Garros, which starts on Sunday, after plummeting down the WTA rankings from the number one spot she grabbed after taking last year’s title.
Over at TennisIdentity they have put together a short article outlining the new tennis bags of 2009. So head over and check out the latest bags from Wilson, Head and more.
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.
After a great Wimbledon exhibition match Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf are schedule to now compete in another exhibition match on Saturday the 6th of June at Roland Garros. The famous couple will be playing on Court 7 at 11am. If you are heading to Roland Garros make sure you dont miss this match!
The match is being sponsored by Longines, and is in honour of the tenth anniversary of the couple’s 1999 singles championship wins. That year would prove to be Agassi’s one and only Roland Garros success, while it was Graf’s sixth and final triumph.
Agassi and Graf will also play with ten young players from around the world, followed by a special gala and auction benefiting the Andre Agassi Foundation and Children for Tomorrow.
