Australian Open 2011 Women's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's semifinals at the Australian Open this year. I correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals.

AP

Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) vs. Li Na CHN (9). Wozniacki is the #1 ranked player in the world despite not having reached a single major final in 2010 and only once in her brief career (2009 US Open). The nubile, flaxen-haired 20-year-old from Denmark is sometimes called the "Golden Retriever" by some tennis observers due to her style of play resembling a human backboard. Wozniacki is in her first Australian Open semifinal while her opponent has reached this far in the tournament for the second consecutive year. In fact Li has won the first 10 matches she has played in 2011 and is surfing a wave of confidence while Wozniacki is hearing an increasingly louder chorus of whispers doubting her ability to ever win a major title. Li on the other hand is hearing the call of history: can she become the first player from China to compete for (and win) a major title, especially the grand slam of Asia/Pacific, the Australian Open? I say, yes, and probably this week. The match-up between the two players is interesting: Li has great power on both wings and is also an excellent mover; Wozniacki has the ability to frustrate her opponents by forcing them to "win" a point several times through relentless defense. Head-to-head Li leads 2-1 and beat Wozniacki in the fourth round here last year in straight sets as well as a few weeks before in Sydney. A year later I see no reason why the result should be any different. PREDICTION: Li.

Reuters

Vera Zvonareva RUS (2) Petra Kvitova CZE (25) vs. Kim Clijsters BEL (3). I expected Kvitova to come through this match just like she had against #5 Samantha Stosur whom she dismissed easily in straight sets in front of a hometown crowd. However, Zvonareva showed incredible defense and consistency to eliminate the Czech lefty 6-2 6-4. Zvonareva has always been one of my favorite players to watch and her rise to the #2 ranking in the world via two consecutive major final finishes is a delight. Clijsters has been the clear favorite to win this year's title since Serena Willliams announced she would not be defending her 2010 Australian Open title. She is the only player of the final four remaining in the tournament who has won a major title; Clijsters has 3 US Open titles (2005, 2009, 2010). With Elena Dementieva's retirement Zvonareva is probably the best player on tour not to have won a major. Head-to-head Clijsters leads 6-3 but 5 of these wins were before Clijsters' "retirement" in May 2007. The two played 4 times in 2010 and Zvonareva won 3 of those matches, losing the most important one in a rout: the 2010 US Open women's final (6-1 6-2). None of those matches were finals, where the mental pressure is a larger factor and this poses a disadvantage to the more mentally fragile player. In a semifinal the mental pressure is less which should help Vera play some of her best tennis. It is also true that Clijsters does have a tendency to go through bad patches which complicates what should be easy wins. I suspect something like that will happen in this match as well, but in the end, Clijsters will find a way to prevail. PREDICTION: Clijsters.

2011: Tennis Confessional.

 

Heck….has it actually been one month?

 

I don’t tend to do that good a job of staying away during the off-season, but the truth is that this year, I really needed some time apart.

 

I’d love to say this has something to do with my flamboyant Howard Hughes  lifestyle – the truth is I’d simply had enough.

 

 

Confession #1: You really can have too much of a good thing (That’s right, I said it).

 

The Fedal charity gig (raising over $5M in various fine causes – nice work gents) was particularly excruciating –  sitting through three engineered sets of pseudo-tennis twice, after a well-rounded, fulfilling season that actually ended on a good note smacks of the type of gluttony that leaves you feeling bloated, gaseous and in my case, nauseous.

 

Only when the start of the official season barely registered, did I sense something might be drastically wrong. Fortunately tennis-rehab came in the form of one of last years best WTA matches (Henin v ElenaD in R2 of Aus) – that’s right, it took a replay of a match that was played 12 months ago to reignite my interest in a sport I’m meant to enjoy enough to spend a criminal amount of time writing about.

 

 

 

Do a youtube search and you’ll find reams and reams of highlight reels – that’s no mistake: almost every other point was a highlight.

 

It was “only” two sets of tennis – but those two sets were uncontaminated, crystallised excellence.

 

All of which isn’t just a very long way of telling you how scandalous I find it that it didn’t even feature as a nominee for match of the year on any 2010 poll anywhere (not once). But rather to highlight that things rather faltered for the WTA from that point on  - I’d go as far as to say that all of the best women’s tennis of 2010 was played in its first month.

 

And that’s only the start of it, because I’m afraid:

 

Confession #2: I don’t consider 2010 to have been a vintage year of tennis.

 

I don’t expect Rafaelites to agree of course – come to think of it, I don’t “expect” anyone to.

 

It’s all subjective after all and I’m even willing to concede I might be wrong.

 

Even so, that many false starts, failed deliveries & soggy reams of disappointment (often from the highest of levels) speaks more of “fug” than it does “vintage”.

 

And besides, I figure we’re done pontificating on how great it all was.

 

1) All the best women’s tennis was played in its first month.

 

See above. ElenaD/Henin (Aus - R2) remains my personal fave, though the Serena/Henin final and the Brisbane final between Henin & Kim weren’t far behind.

 

The French Open final, perhaps, may have recaptured something of the drama but it remains the case that nothing came close in quality to what we saw in that very promising start to the season.

 

2) Men’s Grand Slam finals (and two of the women’s) were strictly one-sided affairs – only of any lasting interest to those strongly invested in Rafa or Fed.

 

Not that there's anything wrong with that and both the Aus & USO men’s finals were spellbinding if only in a torturously one-sided way.

 

 

Doesn’t stop a season devoid of a competitive (if not a five set) men’s Slam final from being, well…just a wittle-bit rubbish.

 

3) The Spectre of Delpo

 

Only including this for the sake of completeness, because as far as I’m concerned he could have taken off the entire year to recover from what can, after all, turn into a career-ending injury(history is full of the stinking carcasses of careers blighted by an ill-conceived desire to return too soon).

 

Even so, that didn’t stop me feeling twitchy when he (those two matches towards the end of the year not withstanding) went and did just that.

 

4) Muzz won another seventy billion Masters titles….and still less than precisely one Slam.

 

Seen it, been there, done that. NEXT.

 

5) Henin’s comeback miscarriage

 

Justine probably deserves more generosity on my part considering she gave us some of the best matches of this year and spent much of its second half with a fractured elbow.

 

 

All the same, I’m calling fug on a year in which she plays her best three matches in its opening month – one of which was in the opening week of the season.

 

Harsh, I know – fracturing her arm is hardly her fault though I’m not sure her win in Stuttgart was terribly convincing either.

 

6) Player of the year: Kim Clijsters…WTF result of the year Petrova d. Clijsters 60 61.

 

Its been almost 12 months yet no one’s come up with any more cogent an explanation for what’s unanimously held to be the single most WTF result of the year, than that Kim can be both alarmingly good and unnervingly bad – both it seems in equally disturbing measure.

 

I’ve mostly given up trying, yet what's remained overlooked is that Petrova played an exceptional match – something that got drowned out  by the pitch-black humour surrounding Kim’s performance.

 

 

 

I don’t have a problem with Kim being voted POY – in fact I was rather grossed out by the redundant groans of disgust at Serena being passed over.

 

Newsflash: Serena stepped on a shard of glass and it ended her year after playing all of six events. Sad, but that precludes her from POY contention (YES even if the two events she won were Slams). Sometimes it’s not a conspiracy.

 

Contrast that with Kim winning the USO, the SEC, Miami, Cincy AND Brisbane – a title at every level. She’s not my favourite player but arguing against those numbers is futile and smacks of sour grapes.

 

Despite all of that, Kim still has a certain ‘transient’ quality to her game that no one’s quite been able to put their finger on - who’s completely convinced we won’t see more WTF results from the Player of 2010? I know I'm not.

 

7) Djoko’s Title “Tally”

 

Remember when Djoko won Dubai early on last year?

 

It would be one of only two singles titles he would win in 2010 – both of them ATP 500s.

 

To put this into perspective, Djoko won a Masters title and reached the final of four others in 2009. He also won two Masters titles in each of the two years preceding that, which makes this the first time since 2006 that he’s not won a single Masters title.

 

Disappointing for a season in which he played some of the best tennis we’ve seen from him in over two years – though admittedly most of it was towards its back end.

 

8) Rafa’s clay-court clean sweep

 

Rafa’s clay seasons are always laughably one-sided but this year he won all three Masters and RG – all for the loss of only two sets. That would be two sets over the entire clay season.

 

 

That’s not domination, that’s tennis sacrilege.

 

As pleased as I was for him, that stat also speaks of underperformance from the rest of the tour (especially the top guys).

 

It’s ok, we can say that now. The dust has settled on Rafa’s year.

 

9) Greatest “Diss-appointment of” 2010?

 

Whither comeback queens Masha, Henin? Whither Sveta? Marin?? Those last two, in particular, have a lot to answer for.

 

Not according to tennis.com, who pronounced Dinara, who spent the better part of the year out with a bad back, their “Biggest Disappointment of 2010”.

 

They took the edge off it by noting that “few believe Dinara belongs outside the top 50”, but that headline is plain irresponsible.

 

Call me cynical, but if Serena isn’t POY because she only played six events then Dinara’s not DOY for precisely the same reason.

 

10) When is a scandal not a scandal?

 

Hey psssst! Have a hot tip for ya.

 

You ready? Get this – Rafael Nadal has just expressed a desire to win the Australian Open.

 

[furious scribbling noises]

 

Got that? Not only that [breathless] ….not only that….he’s even said he intends to try his level best to defeat whomsoever he should face in the final.

 

There’s more where that came from:  next week I’ll be revealing how the UK’s most savage spending cuts since the 1920s are likely to prove “deeply unpopular” and how all 33 of the freed Chilean miners were said to be “happy to be reunited with their loved ones”.

 

 

More of an off-court disappointment this one.

 

From what I can tell, if Fed passed on any “inside information” at all, it’s that he allegedly intimated to “someone” (we don’t even know this was Forstmann) that he intended to try and defeat Rafael Nadal in the 2007 RG final.

 

That’s about as “shady” as the Mercurian stratosphere and about as “scandalous” as Rupert Everett in drag.

 

If there’s a story here at all, it’s how easy it is to drag a high profile name into what seems to be nothing more than litigious hustling between the IMG kingpin and an estranged former business associate.

 

And how willingly irresponsible members of the media lapped it all up.

 

11) Demmie’s Retirement

 

The good news: I’m no longer in denial about this.

 

***

 

Still largely playing catch-up tennis-wise.

 

Normal service will resumptionalise in due course.

Best (Women's) Tennis Matches of 2010

BY MAD PROFESSAH

Here are my picks for the "best" (most memorable) tennis matches by women in 2010. These are basically the matches that had the most impact on me while they were occurring, feature some of the best play, had the most impact on the rest of the year or would be ones that I would most likely to watch again in the future. You can see my previous lists: Best Women's Tennis Matches of 2009 ,Best Women's Tennis Matches of 2007, and  Best Women's Tennis Matches of 2006.

1. S. Williams USA d. J. Henin BEL, 6-4 3-6 6-2, 2010 Australian Open final, Melbourne.

The finals of the 2010 Grand Slam tournaments (Australian, French, Wimbledon, U.S.) are often contenders for the most memorable matches of the year, due to the historic and reputational stakes at play depending on the result which sometimes (but not often) leads to high-quality tennis. The set up for this match was Justine Henin's return to professional tennis after a "retirement" of just over 18 months. The two had never been friendly and Henin had beaten Serena Williams in three consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals the last year they had met in 2007. Williams had won this tournament 4 times before (always in an odd year) and had never been able to successfully defend an Australian Open title. She had also had a near-death experience on her way to the final against Vika Azarenka; it was unclear if this would strengthen or weaken her confidence. What resulted was a match for the ages; Henin (inexplicably) decided to radically modify her game and go for broke on her return-of-serve and basically hit the ball as hard as she could whenever she had the opportunity. She also repeatedly rushed the net. Williams was placed into the unusual position for her of facing someone who was being even more aggressive on court. It was a high-stakes gamble for Henin which in one 10 minute period towards the end of the second set appeared to be paying dividends when the Belgian was able to win 4 games in a row (barely losing a point). However, in the third set Williams steadied her game and Henin's match inexperience with her own new service motion led to her downfall as the double faults and missed serves began to pile up, allowing Serena to win her 5th Australian Open title and 12th major title overall.

2. S. Stosur AUS d. S. Williams USA, 6-2 6-7(2) 8-6, 2010 French Open quarterfinal, Paris.

This was the match that decided the 2010 Roland Garros title. I am absolutely convinced that if Serena Williams had won this match she would have gone on to win her second French Open title. Amazingly, Williams actually possessed a match point late in the third set but hit an attempted winner down-the-line (instead of cross-court!) an inch or two long. Samantha Stosur had been widely regarded as a very talented doubles player but not really much of a singles threat at a major prior to this tournament. In fact, Williams had easily beaten Stosur in straight sets in Australia earlier in the year. However, in the 2010 clay court season Stosur had the most match wins of anyone on tour and her universally respected serve had become more of a weapon as her confidence increased in direct proportion to her match-win total. Always an excellent mover and possessing a great top-spin forehand as well as a both a slice and two-handed backhand, Stosur's Achilles heel had been her mental toughness. However, after beating Justine Henin, the 4-time French Open champion in the round before, Stosur showed that she had made significant progress towards erasing those doubts and took the rightful place her talent indicated in the Top 5 of Women's Tennis and a perennial threat to win major titles in the future.

3. K. Clijsters BEL d. V. Williams, 4-6 7-6(2) 6-4, 2010 U.S. Open semifinal, New York City.

A major tournament is always diminished by the absence of the #1 player in the world, even if they are not the defending champion. Serena Williams' absence at the 2010 US Open loomed over the tournament like the very dark stormclouds which disturbed play in the later rounds. Serena's absence led to speculation that it could help her sister Venus Williams to her best performance at a non-Wimbledon major tournament since 2003. Venus was not at her best physically but had a dream draw until she ran into defending champion Kim Clijsters after winning 5 matches relatively easily. The result was another curious showdown between Venus and Kim (but not as curious as 2009's 6-0 0-6 6-4 quarterfinal result) where the Belgian was able to come out on top by simply playing the big points better even though Venus basically dictated play for most of the match. Venus failed to respond to the call of history when the big moments showed up (2nd set tiebreak and 4-all in the third). Clijsters went on to win her 3rd US Open title in three tries and has a remarkable winning streak in New York dating back to 2005. Hopefully she can broaden her success to the other majors before she leaves the tour again in 2012.

4. K. Clijsters BEL d. J. Henin BEL, 6-3 4-6 7-6(6), Brisbane International final, Brisbane.

This was the first match that I saw in 2010 that I knew would end up on this list of the most memorable of the year. Despite their public protestations to the contrary, it is clear the "Belgian sisters" Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin do not like each other and that became blindingly clear in as this match progressed. Henin was playing in one of her first matches back on the tour, and Clijsters was coming off her 2009 US Open win. Clijsters easily won the first set and was cruising up 4-1 in the second when suddenly the wheels fell off and she couldn't buy a first serve or keep the ball in play. Henin, always one to take advantage when seeing an opponent in distress, easily won the 2nd set and was up a break in the third when Kim woke up from her "walkabout" and resumed playing high-quality tennis. In fact, the third set contained some of the best tennis played by any two women on tour all year. Clijsters came back from down a break (twice!) at 3-1 and 5-3 but fought back to take the match to a third-set tie-break. Henin was not done, saving 3 match points in the tie-break before finally succumbing. The length of the rallies, brilliant shot-making, and impossible defense were breathtaking and made this tennis fan very happy that both of these great champions had un-retired and returned to the Tour.

5. F. Schiavone ITA d. S. Stosur AUS, 6-4 7-6(2), 2010 French Open final, Paris.

No Italian woman had ever been in the Top 10 of the women's tour and certainly never in the final of a major championship. At nearly 30 years old, who would have expected Francesca Schiavone to lose the first set she played at the 2010 Roland Garros tournament and then never lose another, eventually holding the Coupe de Suzanne Lenglen after outplaying a stronger, bigger (and arguably more talented) player in the final? But that's exactly what happened and the tennis world was the better for it. By winning Schiavone again demonstrated why we watch sports: you never know what could happen; impossible dreams can come true. Schiavone ended the year at World #7.

6. V. Zvonareva RUS d. K. Clijsters BEL, 3-6 6-4 6-2, 2010 Wimbledon quarterfinal, London.

This year's Wimbledon was an odd tournament for me because I was actually in London for the final 5 days of the tournament (but only had tickets to the men's final). Anyway, because of this I actually saw much less of the latter round matches than usual (but still predicted the winners with better than average accuracy). Vera Zvonareva had her great breakthrough in 2010 at last, when her other, more famous Russian contemporaries (Dinara Safina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova, Elena Dementieva) either flamed out, wimped out or limped away from the court. That Zvonareva was talented was never in doubt; she's an excellent mover, has a world-class two-handed backhand and great hands at the net. Similar to Samantha Stosur, it was her emotional fortitude that had been tested and found wanting (her 2009 meltdown to Flavia Pennetta is legendary). Somehow, this year, on the grass of Wimbledon, trading backhand after backhand with Kim Clijsters, Vera found a way to play through the mental tumult by realizing the game of tennis is actually quite simple: just hit the ball into the court more times than your opponent. Surprisingly, it was the 2-time major champion who wilted first, handing the Russian just her second major semifinal berth of her career. Vera did not squander this opportunity and made it all the way to her first major final where she ran into an unstoppable force named Serena Williams. It's not clear that this tournament's winner was ever in doubt when both Williams sisters were in the draw, but this match at Wimbledon was a crucial turning point for women's tennis for 2010 when Zvonareva proved that she had reached the very pinnacle of women's tennis, ending the year at World #2.

7. S. Williams USA d. V. Azarenka BLR, 4-6 7-6(4) 6-2, Australian Open quarterfinal, Melbourne.

Serena Williams was down 6-4, 4-0 against the hard-hitting Victoria Azarenka when suddenly both players realized that Serena Williams, the 4-time defending Australian Open champion could lose this match. This realization had immediate and opposite impacts on both players. Azarenka started playing more tentatively (and was probably impacted by the fact that it was almost exactly a year before that she had had Serena in a similar position on this same court after easily winning the first set when Vika was forced to retire from the match due to the extreme heat). Serena on the other hand was enraged with herself and basically willed herself not to lose, slowly but surely making up the huge deficit against Azarenka point by point and game by game. Everyone watching the match was pretty convinced that the 2nd set tie-breaker would be determinative. If Vika won, the match would be over (obviously) but if Serena could come back to even the match score the mental and physical advantage would be hers. The tie-break was a taught, nervy affair but Serena was the more aggressive player and won the tie-break and went on to win the match. She was never really in much danger of not defending her title after that moment.

8. S. Stosur AUS d. E. Dementieva RUS, 6-3 2-6 7-6(2), 2010 US Open 4th Round, New York City.

The latest finish of any professional women's match of all time was an incredible slugfest between two great players who have never won a major title. This match was what Pam Shriver calls a "barn burner." On both sides of the net one saw world-class ground-strokes, excellent net play, incredible movement and mental anguish. Both players became tentative on their serve and both players blew leads which should have been insurmountable. This was really Dementieva's match to win. She broke Stosur impressive serve four consecutive times in the second set and in the third had a match point at 5-3 on her own serve as well as three more on Stosur's serve in the next game. Amazingly, almost all of these match points were decided by winners by Stosur who kept on going for her shots, despite being pummeled by powerful ground-strokes from the Russian. After that excitement it was only fitting that it came down to a 3rd set tiebreak, where surprisingly, it Dementieva's game which broke down first and she lost the match on a series of forehand errors at 1:36am.

9. E. Dementieva RUS d. L. Safarova CZE, 6-7(5) 6-1 6-4, Open Gaz de France Suez final.

In a curious twist of fate, Elena Dementieva won what was her last career tour title in front of Amelie Mauresmo, who had won this final hometown title the year prior to retiring at the end of 2009. This year it was Dementieva's turn for one last hurrah as she faced a determined Lucia Safarova who played "out of her head," aiming for the corners and regularly connecting to send winners screaming to the baseline out of reach of the Russian. There were some incredible, hard-hitting baseline rallies until finally Safarova's inconsistency caught up with her and she succumbed to the greatest player never to have won a major championship. I wonder who Dementieva will be watching win this title from the stands in 2011?

10. S. Williams USA d. V. Zvonareva, 6-3 6-2, 2010 Wimbledon final, London.

It's not very often that the Wimbledon final is not one of the top 5 most memorable matches in the final but that's exactly what happened this year. The reason why this match is even on this list because it was the very last match Serena Williams played in 2010, and it demonstrated how dismissive she could be of the player who ended the year ranked World #2 and had an envious second half of the year, with two consecutive Grand Slam final appearances, something no woman has done since Serena in 2008. There was never really any doubt who would win this match, or the 2010 Wimbledon title. Hopefully, Serena will return early enough in 2011 to make another impressive mark on the majors next year.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

S. Williams USA d N. Li CHN, 7-6(4) 7-6(1), 2010 Australian Open semifinal, Melbourne.

K. Clijsters BEL d. C. Wozniacki DEN, 6-3 5-7 6-3, WTA Championships final.

S. Kuznetsova RUS d. A. Radwanska POL, 6-4 6-7(7) 6-3, Southern California Open final.

V. Zvonareva RUS d. C. Wozniacki DEN, 6-4 6-3, 2010 U.S. Open semifinal.

C. Wozniacki  DEN d. M. Sharapova RUS, 6-3 6-4, 2010 U.S. Open 4th Round.

K. Clijsters BEL d. S. Stosur AUS, 6-4 5-7 6-3, 2010 U.S. Open quarterfinal.

J. Jankovic SRB d. S. Williams USA, 4-6 6-3 7-6(5), Rome semifinal.

J. Jankovic SRB d. V. Williams USA, 6-0 6-1, Rome quarterfinal.

K. Clijsters BEL d. J. Henin BEL, 2-6 6-2 6-3, 2010 Wimbledon Championships 4th round.

S. Stosur AUS d. J. Henin BEL, 2-6 6-1 6-4, 2010 Roland Garros 4th Round.

K. Clijsters BEL d. V. Williams USA, 6-1 6-2, Sony Ericsson Championship final.

P. Kvitova CZE d. K. Kanepi EST 4-6 7-6(8) 8-6, 2010 Wimbledon Championships quarterfinal.

J. Henin BEL d. E. Dementieva RUS, 7-5 7-6(6), 2010 Australian Open 2nd Round.

WTA Championships: Emotional Whiplash

 

 

Was I the only one that thought Kim was spectacularly under par in Doha?

 

And I don’t just mean the double faults, entertaining though they were.

 

There was simply no continuity to this final however you choose to spin it.

 

The most frightening demonstration of this was in the way Woz was allowed to claw her way back into the match from a set and 4-1 down – credit to Woz for seeing it through, but it’s something that should never have been allowed to happen.

 

All the same, kinda difficult to complain when the best player in the world right now (please note the bold font before excommunicating me from your rss reader) caps off the year without playing her best tennis -  in a way which, to my mind, puts an end to the question of who the ‘player of the year’ is (see below).

 

 

Fact: Caz hit 35 winners in the final – only one less than Kim Clijsters.

 

Fact: The day before in the semis, she came out all guns blazing.

 

Fact: Caz hit forehand winners throughout the week.

 

(In other news, Yvgeny-Unicorn won a pot of gold in a Challenger event held at the other end of the rainbow. Delegates from Mars and Lilliput expressed an interest in hosting similar events in their home nations.)

 

It wasn’t always pretty, it didn’t always work – but it’s yet more evidence of the growth in her game. And of the awareness of the need for such growth.

 

Belly-Flop of of the Week.

 

Bepa’s second set bagel against Caz. I’m almost not in favour of the “keeping-the-emotions-in-check” approach anymore– which, to be fair, got her to where she is today, but has now, one feels, run its course.

 

Not that she should return to being ‘Crazy-Bepa’.

 

But I really can’t see there being that much wrong with breaking a racquet or two occasionally (and to then move on, rather than letting it fester in the way she used to before), if that’s what it takes to avert these horrendous beatdowns we still occasionally get.

 

Some people just aren’t built to “button it up” – and it’s as wrong to expect them to do that, as it is for them to fly off the handle once too often.

 

Weaka-Vika

 

I really hope I’m wrong about this, but it seems to me that Vika joins a growing line of upcoming Slam contenders upended by breathing problems, heat and fatigue.

 

More Demmie.

 

Not over it. :((

 

There’s a small chance I may have shed non-virtual tears over this one. ACTUALLY THEY WERE GREAT BIG “MAN” TEARS.

 

It would probably have been the same for any player (even one I wasn’t as emotionally invested in) if they went so abruptly.

 

You have to be a very special, well-loved player to warrant and to then carry off a farewell tour – which is why I’m not, in general, a fan of them.

 

On the other hand, I’m pretty sure I’m not a fan of the emotional whiplash I’ve suffered over the past few days – a direct consequence of being forced to go ‘cold turkey’.

 

Can we agree on a more manageable, staged withdrawal strategy – a kind of halfway house – for when, say, Venus retires? The way Amelie cautiously signalled her intent a few months before making it official?

Player of the Year?

 

Has there ever been such intense speculation over this issue before? Probably not.

 

It’s easy to see why of course: never have such conflicting notions of consistency, quality, Slams and rankings points come to a head so acutely - nor grated against one another so viciously.

 

It’s as if Serena, Kim and Woz deliberately set out to demonstrate the three prevailing attitudes to the tour that may as well represent the Bolshy left, centre-right and far right of rankings system politics.

 

Woz is the young wannabe-opinion-maker eager to make a name for herself by being seen with all the right people at all the right parties – only one that hasn’t yet quite learnt the perils of overexposure.

 

Kim’s the former tree hugging liberal that has seen fit to drop her most provocative opinions as the demands (and comforts) of family life and the pragmatism of tennis-middle-age kick in.

 

Serena’s the eccentric aristocrat that expects the ‘National Trust’ to foot the bill for an extension to her country house; that is when she’s not shooting down ramblers exercising their right of way on her land.

 

Can you be player of the year having only made one Slam semi? I don’t think so.

 

Can you be player of the year having only played six events, all of which took place in it’s first half? Winning two Slams helps your cause as the best player in the world – but that’s not quite the same as ‘player of the year’.

 

Kim certainly wouldn’t be my centre-right WTA presidential candidate of choice in any other year – but she’s won a Slam, the WTA Championships, a premier mandatory (Miami), a premier 5 (Cincy) and an International event in Brisbane – that’s one event at every WTA tier.

 

If that doesn’t make you player of this (not especially representative) year, then I’m not sure what does.

 

Do Svidánija, Elena :’-)

 

 

Q: Why are you doing it?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA:  (Laughter.)  I need some support.  Why are you asking me these questions?
    I think it's the right time for me. I never wanted to wait until my ranking dropped and I'm not going to be able to go to the main draw.  I always wanted to leave this sport with a passion for it.  Tennis has been such a big part of my life, and always will be.
    To be honest with you, I mean, if I would be a man I would never stop playing.  But in the age 29; I have to think about something else.  I think I'm ready for the big change in my life.
    Still, it's very tough decision to make.  Very emotional.  I made the decision in the beginning of this season, so it was very hard coming to the tournaments knowing that this was my last one.  It was very emotional for me to play the whole year.
    But, I mean, that's decision like you know, it will happen to every athlete, and you have to get ready for this.

 

 

It’s not often that I’m prescient.

 

In fact most of what I say bears very little relation to reality.

 

But when Demmie went down to Stosur at NY this year – there was a feint but lingering whiff of despair in the air.

 

 

You didn’t need a MENSA-like emotional intelligence quotient to realise that so much more than a simple loss lay behind the way she despondently mouthed ‘no’ to her mother - heartbreak with a vivid suggestion of finality mixed in.

 

Not only was this completely out of character for one of the tour’s best known fighters– she seemed to be closing the door not just on any future hopes of Slam glory, but on tennis itself.

 

Knowing what I now know (that she had made up her mind at the very beginning of the season to pack it in), it makes perfect sense she would feel that loss so keenly: this was to be the last Slam match she would ever play.

 

Ditto her tearful retirement from RG – her 46th consecutive Slam appearance, and the one she’d felt herself best placed to win, even in her final year.

 

Well, I always had a dream of winning French Open, so starting you know, playing this season, I just wanted to give myself another try.  After Olympic Games, that was the biggest dream of mine.  I was so close.
    But I mean, I was pretty lucky.  I never had so many injuries during my career.  I was pretty healthy.  But that injury probably happened in the worst moment in my entire career.

Yeah, but, you know, I have no regrets.  I think I was practicing very hard; I was trying very hard; that was my way.
    If it didn't happen, it didn't happen, but I have nothing to blame myself.  I was very professional and I had nothing but tennis, tennis, tennis, and I did it with passion.
    So I have absolutely in regrets.  I have so many things to be proud of.  It was a very difficult and long way for me.  So, yeah, I just have very nice and unforgettable memories.

 

Ditto-Ditto her final ever tour win against (funnily enough) Sam Stosur just three days ago – the happy-screech she let out after three long sets (surprising at the time)was not unlike the one emitted after winning gold in Beijing – only now has the penny so heart-wrenchingly dropped.

 

As the season wore on and further losses followed (most recently to Polona Hercog in Luxembourg) I all but resigned myself to an inexorable, James Blake almost-but-not-quite-winding-down phase of her career.

 

 

Not once in my wildest dreams, however, did I imagine a retirement announcement would follow so soon.

 

Thinking back now, it all accords perfectly with Elena’s natural, unaffected, no-nonsense disposition – no emotionally-messy swan-song for her - no staged withdrawal dragged out mercilessly over the year.

 

The time was right. Her physicality/fitness, her most prized asset, had begun to fail her – what more was there to be done? And why need anyone else know about it?

 

***

 

-- ElenaD: Neither “classy” nor “nice”

 

*scrunchy-wincey face*

 

Yes, I’m afraid I really do struggle with those words.

 

With the frequency those superlatives are doled out you’d think we were living in Camelot itself – or some equally cosy-but-liberalised postmodern equivalent.

 

Well neither Lady Guinevere nor Audrey Hepburn has made an appearance in the top ten yet, so I’m assuming it’s the terms themselves that have been devalued.

 

 

Smile a lot, engage in tour pleasantries, but more importantly, possess the “right” sort of look (it helps if you score some big wins, though this is not strictly necessary) and you’re suddenly an “ambassador for the sport”. Whatever that means.

You see where I’m headed with this: the tendency is at it’s pug-ugliest when you can find nothing nice, nor classy, about the player you’re being invited to drum up. Not so much because they’ve done anything wrong as the plain absence of merit.

 

“Class” is, at least, quantifiable by how well you take defeat and so on, but what exactly is “nice”? And if we’re so intent on passing certain players off as “nice”, what, precisely, does that make legions of others that don’t make the cut? Not nice, presumably.

 

All this makes it rather difficult when someone really worthy of these labels shows up – only then is it plain to what degree they’ve been devalued.

 

I would have to say, therefore, that I never found Elena either “nice” or “classy” (she was too classy for that). Not as we’ve been primed to understand those terms.

 

She gave quite serious (sometimes stern) , honest and well-thought out responses to tricky questions posed in pressers. Not nice.

 

Q.  How do you want people remember you in the future? 

ELENA DEMENTIEVA:  Well, I don't know if I want people to remember me.  I'm sure I'm going to remember myself as Olympic champion.  That's the best thing could ever happen in my career.  That was the biggest goal, and I'm so proud of that moment.  It was unforgettable experience and unforgettable memories for me and my family.

I don't think about how people going to remember me.

 

 

She chose hard-won prize money over the million-dollar endorsements she could easily have had as a “leggy blond”.

Image clearly not “everything” ----> Not at all marketable ----> *So* not nice.

 

Here was a player that actually preferred getting rough and dirty and worse still, seemed to harbour an unfashionable enjoyment of her chosen sport. Really not classy Elena.

 

-- “Best player never to have won a Slam”

 

Surely now as bad as the posthumous Oscar for “Lifetime Achievement”. The Academy’s way of saying sorry to have missed out on you.

 

It actually brings into focus, quite brutally, what you haven’t achieved. Close, but no cigar.

 

 

Elena’s frailties were well known – I rooted for her because, rather than in spite of them. Fed, Rafa and Serena all have their place, but I’ve always liked my players flawed and I like to see them striving to overcome those flaws – the more powerfully juxtaposed they are alongside their immense talent the better (Think Marat. Think Sveta).

 

It’s why she’ll likely remain my second fave WTA player for many years to come (Sveta’s queer mix of on-court genius, unceremonious cool and gangsta rap means she comes first. God knows how I’ll cope when she retires).

 

Her serve stank for the better part of her career. Let there be no illusions as to how debilitating this actually was. This was far more ‘schlock-horror’ than the kind of service yips that continue to plague Ana or Masha (both of whom had perfectly competent serves pre 2008), which have always been more ‘symptomatic’ than they are ‘systemic’.

 

Yet she played with that debilitation through an iridescent era that included The Williamses, Henin, Masha, Kim, Amelie, Davenport – all (perhaps with the exception of Lindsay) in their prime.

 

 

She didn’t have winning records against any of them – but was still able to beat all of them multiple times (5-7 against Serena).

 

You’ll hear much of her unimpeachable professionalism and work ethic, and how good she was at making the most of a limited game. Not that any of that isn’t true, but it feels too much like selling her short (mainly, I suspect, because it is).

 

You’ll also hear a lot of commentary on how Elena worked extraordinarily hard to make up for her calamitous serve, this most peculiar of failings (one which should, by rights, have precluded her from ever being a factor given the competition she was up against) and was able to maintain her top ten standing over the best part of a decade largely by shoring up other facets of her game.

 

I disagree.

 

For one thing, and as much as I luuurve her, Elena didn’t have that many facets in her game to shore up.

 

Her greatest strengths – her fitness and timing off the ground -- were pure talent. No denying she worked hard to maintain and improve both, but they were as organic to her as the air we breath.

 

Perhaps fittingly, the biggest demonstration of this organic talent was destined to come not, sadly, in the form of a Slam, but in career statistics that make your eyes water.

 

 

Career statistics that could not have been born of anything other than organic talent.

 

Career statistics that make you wonder what might have been had she been in her prime in these past few years of less lacquered competition.

 

It’s certainly difficult to see someone who “merely works hard” (and I mean that in the most flattering sense possible to Daveed Ferrer or Shahar Peer) producing results like these against the players she did:

 

» 10 out of the last 11 WTA Championships

 

» 46 consecutive Slam appearances ending at RG 2010 during which she made 3 quarters, 7 semis and 2 finals.

 

» top ten 7 out of the last 8 years (328 career weeks inside the Top 10)

 

» Career high world #3

 

Or, for that matter, a match like this:

 

 

Wimby 2009 is held up, depending on who you speak with, as either the “best match of her career”, or as a perfect example of the kind of frailty that precluded her from being “Slam material”.

 

I’m not sure it’s either.

 

There’s an unfortunate (if understandable) tendency to sanctify admittedly powerful moments beyond their worth, just as there is to stigmatise players beyond their measure.

 

The truth is, Elena had played as well as this against the top players many times in her career, though this was likely the most visible of those.

 

As to the infamous, fateful (has the word ever carried so much weight?) decision not to go down the line in that glorious summer of 2009, I’ve always thought of it as a moment of madness. True, it cost her a spot in the final, but it’s not that different to the kind of errant nonsense we’ve seen from either one of the Williamses or Justine 1.0 many times over.

 

The other, somewhat inconvenient, point to remember is that had Elena gone down the line, she would still have had to go through Venus in the final – whom she was a significantly less flattering 2-8 against at the time.

 

If we are to entertain any regrets, let it not be for this moment of madness, let it not even be for the USO 2004 (Sveta was simply that good). RG 2004, however, like one Mr Coria that same year, is a title she ought have made her own.

 

I have no regrets because, you know, that was my way.  That's the way I played.  I was far away from being perfect, but, you know, I had a great fighting spirit.  Even without good serve, I was struggling for so many matches, but I was fighting and I was never give up.  I was giving 100% on the court no matter who well I was playing.  This is what I like.

    You don't have to be perfect, but you have to try very hard, and I did all the time.

 

 

And yet, as a fan I’m left with a bitter aftertaste.

 

 

 

 

I wish her well of course. But I also feel like that cat put out in a winters night after spending all day luxuriating by the fire.

 

Or like that kid that drops his ice cream on the pavement after crowing over everyone else (there’s one in every family in every country).

 

My player was clearly better than everyone else’s :’-(

 

Mostly, however, I feel stone cold – which is funny, as I’ve never been a fan of farewell tours: they mostly end up being a fare-thee-well-but-get-thee-on-with-it tour.

 

It’s babies of course.

 

And I’m told the man responsible is Maxim Afinogenov.

 

So that’s what you call yourself. >:- (

 

YOU TAKE GOOD CARE’A HER YA HEAR.

 

 

You’ve only just deprived us of one the most professional, thoughtful, fittest, well-mannered, intelligent, honest, beautiful, cleanest strikers and best timers of the ball this generation’s seen.

 

(Images: Getty)

Elena Dementieva Has Retired

by Savannah

Savannah's World

Doha 2010 - Day 1

by Savannah

Billie Jean King on the state of her baby the WTA,.

Billie Jean King, who co-founded the Women's Tennis Association and remains among the sport's more forceful advocates, concedes that women's tennis "is not in a great place right now." But King argues that the sport always goes in cycles; this particular down cycle, she said, is due more to freak injuries and bad luck. She also suspects it's exaggerated by media, whom she believes delight in pointing out injury or frailty (real or perceived) among female athletes.

"I just want everybody to be healthy at the same time because we really have depth if we can get them all playing," King said. "We've had a very bad year. But it's not going to be like that forever."

SOURCE

Doha - A Dismal Start

Jelena Jankovic did not have a great second half of the year. Still most people, well me, expected her to suck it up and bring her "A" game to Doha. The opening match between JJ and Vera Zvonareva should have been competitive. Instead JJ dropped the first set 6-3 and disappeared for the second set losing it 6-0. She is still saying she is ill.

For some reason I didn't expect much from the Caroline Wozniacki/Elena Dementieva match and I got even less. The final score was 6-1, 6-1 Wozniacki and it wasn't even that close. Elena is obviously injured but she did play the entire match.

There was one match worthy of the name and that was not between two new school WTA'ers. Francesca Schiavone and Samantha Stosur, neither of whom have official WTA sanctioned nick names both came to play.

I'm sure Franny will be talking to herself after blowing a 4-0 second set lead and losing the set and the match 6-4.

The win has to be a confidence booster for Stosur who tightened up her game winning six games in a row.

There is a lot of speculation that both Elena Dementieva and Jelena Jankovic will withdraw from the tournament. Li Na and Shahar Peer are the alternates. It was announced today that Li is a confirmed player in Bali, an event she said she didn't want to play. We should know more tomorrow.

Wednesday Order of Play - Doha

Khalifa Tennis Complex (from 17.00hrs - 10a Eastern US Time)

1. Vera Zvonareva vs. Victoria Azarenka

2. Kim Clijsters vs. Jelena Jankovic

3. Caroline Wozniacki vs. Samantha Stosur

2010 US OPEN: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

by Mad Professah

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the 2010 US Open.

Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) Maria Sharapova RUS (14) vs Dominika Cibulkova SVK Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (11). The top seed and last year's US Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki had never won a big match against a "Big Babe" like Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Venus Williams or Kim Clijsters and I doubted that she would even win 5 games against the 2006 US Open champion. But Wozniacki showed that she is not just an incredible retriever but has the consistency of a backboard. Sharapova didn't help her cause by throwing in 10 double faults. That being said, Wozniacki has made a believer out of me by dismissing Sharapova 6-3 6-4. The tall Russian was pounding away, shrieking as she pounded the ball nto the corners but almost every rally over 10 strokes was won by Wozniacki as eventually, Sharapova went for too much and committed an error to concede the point. I still believe that a "Big Babe" who is actually comfortable at the net would still be able to overpower Wozniacki, but it is doubtful that she will face someone who matches that description before the top seed reaches the final for the second consecutive year. However, I still don't see how the Danish youngster wins that final against someone with more power from the bottom half of the draw. PREDICTION: Wozniacki in 2 sets.

Vera Zvonareva (7) RUS  vs. Kaia Kanepi EST (31) Yanina Wickmayer BEL (15). It's odd how the 2010 Wimbledon finalist is silently making her way through the draw, even though she has reached the quarterfinals without dropping a set. The hard-hitting Kanepi is in her second consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal and will presumably manage the occasion better than her meltdown in London. Especially since she managed to win a match where she was down a bagel set and a break against last year's semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer. Zvonareva's birthday is Tuesday and she has been playing a more mature brand of tennis which will take her deep into the draw. PREDICTION: Zvonareva in 3 sets.  

Venus Williams USA (3) vs.  Francesca Schiavone ITA (6). Venus Williams has only lost 3 sets in the 7 matches she has played against the 2010 French Open champion, and never lost to her. However, after Schiavone became the first Italian woman to win a major title ever, she has made the phrase "Impossible is Nothing" seem like reality. Venus has not dropped a set in the tournament yet, but she should have lost one to a determined Shahar Peer in the fourth round, and if anyone can exploit what is her obviously sub-optimal mobility, it is Schiavone with her clay-court toughness and European flair. Happily, Venus' unreported injury is making her more aggressive and more likely to approach the net in order to shorten the points. That, and a decidedly gentle draw should give her a fighting chance to reach a non-Wimbledon final, her first since the 2003 Australian Open. I do think that the thought that she will not have to face her sister in order to win the tournament should give Venus some extra motivation and confidence to try to do so. PREDICTION: Williams in 3 sets.

Kim Clijsters BEL (2) vs. Samantha Stosur AUS (5). Clijsters is on an 18-match winning streak at the US Open, having last lost a match in New York in the 2003 final(!) to Justine Henin. She is absolutely devouring the draw and she has to be considered the favorite to repeat as Champion here. However, the very talented Sam Stosur, who played one of the best women's matches of the year to eliminate Elena Dementieva in the 4th round stands in the Belgian's way. Stosur has finally broken through into the top of women's tennis and is a legitimate Top 5 player. I sort of think of her as the female Robin Soderling, since none of the players ranked above her will be very pleased that they picked the short straw and have to face her in order to reach the final. That being said, Stosur till has not quite made the leap to actually winning a major title, and I suspect it will be that lack (and Clijsters' preternatural defensive skills plus her offensive artillery) that will result in Clijsters' victory. It could be a scorcher of a match though, in the words of Jim Courier "a real popcorn match." PREDICTION: Clijsters in 2 tight sets. 

USO: “Best Player never to have won a Slam”

 

LIke Roddick, her last chance may have come and gone at last year’s Wimby. She’ll likely retire as the “best player never to win a Slam”. I had to say it.

 

Yet I root for Demmie not in spite of her frailties, but because of them.

 

And as for talent and hard word, well let’s just say you don’t reach 7 semis and a couple of Slam finals by accident – mainly it has to be said on the back of her returning and fitness rather than any inherent guile - that’s somewhat closer to Kolya rather than Nalbie, that other “Best Player never to have won a Slam”.

 

 

I’m not going to go through the match. Demmie would fail to hold four match points before Stosur held one of her own and who now, along with Venus, Sveta, Masha, Bepa and Franny remains my last stand against Woz and Kim.

 

The pictures tell you all you need to know.

 

 

    

 

Most gut-wrenching moment of the past week: Stosur at match point, 6-2 up in the deciding tie break.

 

Demmie had left everything out there and had still pulled up short. 

 

In a thespian moment which might well serve as a tragic metaphor for her career, staring up tearfully to Vera and, one suspects, with an acute sense of awareness of her limitations, she shook her head lightly & mouthed the word "no".

 

It was over.

 

And I fear it is too. :’(