Roland Garros 2011: Women's Semifinals Preview

by Mad Professah, contributing writer

Here are my predictions for the women's semifinals at the 2011 French Open. Last year I was correct in 2 of 2 2010 French Open women's semifinal predictions.

Marion Bartoli FRA (11) vs. Francesca Schiavone ITA (5). The 2010 French Open defending champion made an astonishing escape to win her quarterfinal match with hard-hitting Anastasia Pavlyunchenkova. The Italian was down 1-6 1-4 but came back to lead 5-2 in the final set and gutted out the win 7-5 in the 3rd after the youngster stormed back to even the match at 5-all in the 3rd. Bartoli is in the semifinal of her country's major, a significant feat that 2-time major champion and former World #1 Amelie Mauresmo was unable to accomplish. Bartoli's dream is to play in and win the final in Roland Garros, but that will not be happening this year.

The Frenchwoman did well while Svetlana Kuznetsova committed one of her patented meltdowns to ruin my potential 100% accuracy rate in quarterfinal predictions.

Bartoli hits two-handed on both wings with impressive power and has increased her fitness level so that she can survive long rallies but her movement is suspect and Schiavone has the shot variety to expose the gaping weaknesses in Bartoli's unorthodox game.

The two have never met on clay, which is Schiavone's best surface, but the Italian still leads the career head-to-head 6-1, including a win on Bartoli's best surface, grass. Even though the two have not played each other in over two years I suspect even the new and improved Bartoli will be no match for the new and improved Schiavone who truly believes "nothing is impossible." PREDICTION: Schiavone in 2 sets.

Maria Sharapova RUS (7) vs. Na Li CHN (6). This should be an excellent match, with the winner most likely going on to win the title. Who would have thought the only woman on the tour to be in two major semifinals this year would be Li Na from China? Head-to-head Sharapova leads 5-2 but Li has won the last two times the two have played (which were both on the relatively slow grass of Birmingham in 2009 and 2010). The one time they played on clay was in Paris two years ago and Sharapova eked out a truly bizarre 6-4 0-6 6-4 victory. Sharapova is playing the clay as if it is a hard court, blasting serves and hitting groundstrokes even harder. She demolished Andrea Petkovic 6-0 6-3, a player who took her out in the year's first major tournament to reach this point. Li was able to dismiss heavy favorite World #4 Viktoria Azarenka 7-5 6-2 to reach her first major semifinal in Paris.

However, clay rewards great movement and there's no question Li is the superior mover between the two. Sharapova does hit the ball hard, but Li also has her own firepower, with one of the best backhands in the women's game. Sharapova, however, has 3 major titles and has been in 10 major semifinals. Li has been in one major semifinal, but it was this year--Sharapova's last major semifinal was 3 years ago in Australia when she won the entire tournament in 2008. Sharapova is on a clay court winning streak, having won the Rome title two weeks before Paris over 2010 Roland Garros finalist Samantha Stosur. If Sharapova serves well and is accurate off the ground she should win the match, but if Li is able to withstand the onslaught Sharapova's penchant for painting the lines will become a liability as those shots slowly turn into errors and Li will be in her second major final. The mental edge should favor Sharapova since she is undefeated against both Schiavone and Bartoli. For Sharapova, this match is the final, and she would desperately love to be in the panoply of great women players who have completed the career slam (like Navratilova, Evert, Graf, S.Williams, King and Court) . For Li, she makes history every time she steps on the court and may be satisfied by being the most successful Chinese player ever. PREDICTION: Sharapova in 2 sets OR Li in 3 sets.

Face Of The Day

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Jean Gachassin, president of the French tennis federation (FFT) gives a press conference to announce that French Open will remain at Roland Garros on the outskirts of Paris on February 13, 2011 in Paris. Roland Garros, built in 1928, is bursting at the seams and three alternative sites were proposed so that the country's claycourt Grand Slam tournament can grow and expand.

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And so it is. Roland Garros will remain Roland Garros.

Former world No. 1 and Wimbledon champion Amélie Mauresmo isn't so sure that's a good thing:

"I hope they (the French Federation of Tennis) won't get in trouble by taking this decision," Mauresmo said. "I don't know if the tennis aspect prevailed in that decision. I have some doubts. I clearly said that I was more in favor of a development, of an ambition, that is, to move."

"If you can keep the history of the tournament in a place that is big enough to have the crowd happy, the players happy, night matches perhaps, matches when it's raining, then that's the perfect situation," she said. "If you can keep tradition in these conditions, then it's great. I'm not sure that's the case with Roland Garros."

Me either.

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.

Serbia Wins Davis Cup, Makes History

by Craig Hickman


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Serbia's team captain Bogdan Obradovic and members Nenad Zimonjic, Novak Djokovic, Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki (L-R) raise up the Davis Cup trophy in Belgrade December 5, 2010.

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Relative to other tennis powerhouses, Serbian tennis remains underfunded. Still, the nation just won its first Davis Cup on the strings of unheralded Viktor Troicki.

It can thank Guy Forget, the coach of France's team, for a bit assist. Not that I didn't think Michael Llodra wouldn't make an intriguing choice in the final rubber. But his 30-year-old body didn't recover from yesterday's doubles marathon, and that was clear from the first point.

As someone tweeted, this tie was ultimately decided in the locker room this morning.

Amélie Mauresmo was not pleased.


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But make no mistake. Troicki earned his nation's victory with remarkable returns of serve, and viciously dipping passing shots that simply defied logic.

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He got the chance to secure victory on the strength of Novak Djokovic's play against Gael Monfils in the day's first match. (Monfils needs to rein in himself. He has zero on-court discipline. And I mean zero.)


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In the end, it was too easy. I had hoped for a more competitive final match of 2010, and perhaps with Gilles Simon, a counterpuncher who fights to the finish, the match may have featured a more compelling scoreline even if the result remained the same.

We'll never know.

What we do know is that Serbia becomes the 13th nation to win the Davis Cup and only the second in history to prevail in its final debut. Interestingly, Croatia was the first back in 2005.

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Serbian President Boris Tadic gestures.


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Face Of The Day

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Retired French tennis player Amélie Mauresmo turned coach watches the match between Mardy Fish of U.S and Michael Llodra of France, during their quarterfinal singles match on the fifth day of the AEGON Championships tennis tournament at Queen's Club, in west London on June 11, 2010.

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Singles - Quarterfinals
[8] F Lopez (ESP) d [1] R Nadal (ESP) 76(5) 64
[7] S Querrey (USA) d X Malisse (BEL) 63 75
M Fish (USA) d [12] M Llodra (FRA) 64 64
R Schuettler (GER) d [14] D Sela (ISR) 75 64

Singles - Third Round
M Fish (USA) d [3] A Murray (GBR) 64 16 76(2)

Doubles - Quarterfinals
[1] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d [5] M Fish (USA) / M Knowles (BAH) 64 62
N Djokovic (SRB) / J Erlich (ISR) d [2] W Moodie (RSA) / D Norman (BEL) 46 76(6) 10-3
K Beck (SVK) / D Skoch (CZE) d [6] R Lindstedt (SWE) / H Tecau (ROU) 63 76(3)
[8] J Benneteau (FRA) / M Llodra (FRA) d A Golubev (KAZ) / D Istomin (UZB) 64 61

Doubles - Second Round
[6] R Lindstedt (SWE) / H Tecau (ROU) d M Lopez (ESP) / R Nadal (ESP) W/O (Nadal - right hamstring)

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Halle

Singles - Quarterfinals
[1] R Federer (SUI) d P Kohlschreiber (GER) 75 63
[8] L Hewitt (AUS) d [WC] A Beck (GER) 76(0) 61
P Petzschner (GER) d L Lacko (SVK) 64 63
B Becker (GER) d [WC] M Zverev (GER) 76(4) 60

Doubles - Semifinals
S Stakhovsky (UKR) / M Youzhny (RUS) d [1] F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK) 36 63 11-9

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Birmingham

Singles - Quarterfinals
(1/WC) Li Na (CHN) d. (Q) Kaia Kanepi (EST) 64 62
(2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. (Q) Sesil Karatantcheva (KAZ) 62 64
(Q) Alison Riske (USA) d. (3) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 67(5) 64 63
(4) Aravane Rezai (FRA) d. (5) Sara Errani (ITA) 76(2) 75

Singles - Third Round
(1) Li Na (CHN) d. (13) Angelique Kerber (GER) 46 63 75
(5) Sara Errani (ITA) d. Marina Erakovic (NZL) 76(5) 64
(Q) Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. Michelle Larcher de Brito (POR) 62 62

Doubles - Quarterfinals
(1) Huber/Mattek-Sands (USA/USA) d. Pelletier/Senoglu (CAN/TUR) 61 61
(2) Black/Raymond (ZIM/USA) d. Rodionova/Rodionova (AUS/RUS) 63 62
Grandin/Spears (RSA/USA) d. (4) Chuang/Govortsova (TPE/BLR) 75 36 10-6

Doubles - First Round
(1) Huber/Mattek-Sands (USA/USA) d. (WC) Robson/Watson (GBR/GBR) 64 64
(2) Black/Raymond (ZIM/USA) d. Erakovic/Tanasugarn (NZL/THA) 67(3) 75 10-5
(3) Hsieh/Kudryavtseva (TPE/RUS) d. Dzehalevich/Poutchek (BLR/BLR) 61 64
(4) Chuang/Govortsova (TPE/BLR) d. Ditty/Savchuk (USA/UKR) 63 63
Pelletier/Senoglu (CAN/TUR) d. (WC) Keothavong/South (GBR/GBR) 76(3) 63
King/Shvedova (USA/KAZ) d. Czink/Errani (HUN/ITA) 76(1) 63
Rodionova/Rodionova (AUS/RUS) d. Borwell/Kops-Jones (GBR/USA) 16 64 10-6

Day 4: Delays and Drama

by KarenFed

Match points saved, match points wasted, head shaking moments, cramping, bad light, raucous crowds, rain delays and to top it all off awesome press conference moments. This summed up Day 4 of the French Open at Roland Garros.

The day started off well enough with veterans Venus Williams opening up against Arantxa Parra Santonja. Venus won in a match that had little or no drama. She won in straight sets 6-2, 6-4.

The second match up on Centre Court pit the defending Champion Roger Federer against Alejandro Falla from Colombia. This match went on serve until 5-5 all in the first set. During the first 10 games, not only was Federer struggling to hold serve, but Falla was holding with ease and seemed quite relaxed and ready to take this to the defending champion. I was nervous. At 5-5 all Federer serving, Falla finally broke and led 6-5 with the opportunity to serve after the changeover. This was not to be. After holding serve comfortably during the first 10 games of the match, Falla not only opened his account by making some shaking your head plays but ended up being broken at 15 to get the first set to a tie-break. Federer got the early mini break which Falla was able to get back and they changed ends at 3-3. Falla, ,who had been serving very well, standing up on the baseline and taking time away from Federer, all of a sudden started playing as if he remembered where he was and who he was playing. Federer took the first set 7-6 (4) and then from there barring the 2 rain delays seemed to find his groove and finished off the match 6-2, 6-4.

Out on court Suzanne Lenglen, the other gentleman from last year's final, Robin Soderling took poor Taylor Dent to the woodshed. He won the first set in 17 minutes. His serve was huge, forehand even bigger and backhand was on song. Poor Dent had no idea what hit him. Luckily for Dent, Soderling took his foot off the gas somewhat and Dent was able to win 2 games. The final score in a little over 1.5 hours was 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 and it was not even that close.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga played compatriot Josselin Ouanna. Ouanna lit up my life a few years ago when I saw him play for the first time at the French Open. I thought then that his career would have been zooming and he would have been in the top 20 or 30. Now I know why he has been getting wild cards. Big Jo beat Little Jo like he stole something. It wasn't pretty. Big Jo served big, hit big and moved exceptionally well on the clay. The final score was 6-0, 6-1, and 6-4.

Aravane Rezai hits the ball hard on every single point. I think she probably hits her drop shots hard. I saw her hit one today but I think that was more due to luck than an attempted drop shot. She won in 3 today over Angelique Kerber of Germany. The French crowd are really pulling for this young woman and unlike Amélie Mauresmo she is loving the attention. I am yet to see her press conference on the Roland Garros website but from what I understand, it would seem that there is no love lost between her and Marion Bartoli, the French No. 2. The French really feel that Rezai can win the French this year and it will be interesting to see if she gets to the final against the people’s champion, for whom will they cheer loudest. Final score was 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

Julien Benneteau who played the match of his life against Ernest Gulbis succumbs as he usually does in the very next round to Leonardo Mayer of Argentina. It was a dull, lifeless match. The final score was 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 and 6-4.

Match of the Day


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This is the match of the day not because it was good, but because of all the head scratching moments that occurred. Andrea Petkovic came to play today against Svetlana Kuznetsova who finally seemed to have found her game when facing 3 match points and seeing her ranking drop like the Titanic. Sveta started hitting hard and deep, pushing Petkovic all over the court and forcing errors. Petkovic needs to know how to hold her nerve in these pressure situations. No way do you serve for a match, have 4 match points on your own serve and lose the match. No way. I have been following Petkovic since Paris indoors and I have seen this apple stuck in my throat moment too many times from her. I thought when I saw her serving for the match and hold 3 match points on the first go round that she had conquered those demons. Clearly she has not. She lost in 3 sets to Sveta 4-6, 7-5 and 6-4. Sveta will either build on this victory or get dumped in the next round. She has not won 4 matches in succession all season so perhaps the chance to defend a title will motivate to find whatever it is that ails her.

Drama of the Day

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The most intriguing match that was called due to bad light involved drama queen Gael Monfils and Fabio Fognini. I am not sure why the officials felt the need to ask the players whether they wished to continue. It was 9:30 pm local time, the only lights that were available were the exit signs and it was clear that neither player could see where to hit the ball hence we saw quite a lot of off-pace shots in the middle of the court. This is a Major not some two-bit tournament. Either the officials install lights or they fast track plans to relocate the current venue.

Tomorrow, Day 5 has some very intriguing match ups. Cannot wait.

Face Of The Day

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Amélie Mauresmo, French tennis champion, weeps during a tribute to her career during Paris Open tennis tournament at the Coubertin stadium in Paris, February 10, 2010.


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Smiling as she is surrounded by her mother and friends after a tribute to her career during Paris Open tennis tournament at the Coubertin stadium in Paris, February 10, 2010.

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Open GDP Suez

Singles - Second Round
Lucie Safarova (CZE) d. (4) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 75 62
Andrea Petkovic (GER) d. (5) Aravane Rezai (FRA) 63 36 63
(6) Shahar Peer (ISR) d. (Q) Karolina Sprem (CRO) 64 63
Agnes Szavay (HUN) d. (WC) Petra Martic (CRO) 62 64
Melanie Oudin (USA) d. Patty Schnyder (SUI) 61 63

Doubles - Quarterfinals
(1) Black/Huber (ZIM/USA) d. Peschke/Srebotnik (CZE/SLO) 76(6) 63
(2) Benesova/Zahlavova Strycova (CZE/CZE) d. Dekmeijere/Grandin (LAT/RSA) 64 36 10-7
(3) Jans/Rosolska (POL/POL) d. Bacsinszky/Sfar (SUI/TUN) 63 63

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ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament

Singles - Second Round
[1] N Djokovic (SRB) d M Chiudinelli (SUI) 64 62
[2] N Davydenko (RUS) d M Baghdatis (CYP) 63 62
[4] G Monfils (FRA) d [WC] T de Bakker (NED) 63 62
[6] M Youzhny (RUS) d [Q] M Ilhan (TUR) 64 64
J Benneteau (FRA) d M Berrer (GER) 64 64
J Melzer (AUT) d A Seppi (ITA) 62 62

Singles - Quarterfinals
[1] N Djokovic (SRB) d F Mayer (GER) w/o (left leg)

Doubles - Quarterfinals
[1] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d F Lopez (ESP) / T Robredo (ESP) 63 64
S Aspelin (SWE) / P Hanley (AUS) d [4] C Kas (GER) / D Norman (BEL) 62 76(4)

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SAP Open

Singles - Second Round
[1] A Roddick (USA) d L Mayer (ARG) 63 62
[2] F Verdasco (ESP) d B Becker (GER) 75 62
[7] S Querrey (USA) d T Dent (USA) 64 64
M Russell (USA) d X Malisse (BEL) 64 75
[Q] R Berankis (LTU) d B Phau (GER) 76(5) 63

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