You had to be there.

 

getty

 

Kuznetsova d. Radwanska 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-3

 

A mostly dominating performance from Sveta apart from a joke of a second set tie break when the wee gremlins occupying her brain took control of the ship, putting the ‘case’ firmly back in front of the ‘head’.

 

In what has to be the the single most spontaneous act of cerebral combustion seen this year, Sveta blew away Championship after Championship point and with it the second set tie break – allowing Aga back in, all after being 4-0 and 6-3 up.

 

"It was very hard to close and I choked for first time in my life," said the two-time Grand Slam champion.

…

"My knees were shaking and I couldn't push on my serve and now I know why people double fault on match points," added Kuznetsova.

"I just shook. The trophy was very important to me. I was very embarrassed and I just got it back together and dictated.

"To play that bad at end of the second set and then to let her come back and see me choke, I had to be twice as strong in the third set and I was.

"It's pretty funny now that I won the match, but if I lost I might be thinking: 'should I finish playing tennis?' I doubt it will happen again."

-- BBC

 

“First time in her life?” Quite possibly.

 

You really had to be there.

 

It’s easy to assume Sveta’s simply talking up her confidence – blowing away unassailable leads is, after all, as familiar to her as the act of creating them in the first place.

 

But that’s mostly been through her aggravating tendency to believe she’ll make winners where none exist.

 

This was about nerve. Nerve so palpable, you could practically taste it behind your teeth – knowing that a double was on it’s way well before Sveta stepped up to serve.  Icky-unnerving and not at all for the faint of heart.

 

Difficult not to feel for Aga who, for two sets, played to the best of her ability. Reaching the finals here should further entrench her top ten ranking and, as I think I said earlier, I think she’s kinda earnt it.

 

getty

 

Nalbandian d. Baghdatis 6-2, 7-6 (4)

 

I know. I know.

 

All the narratives are in place. An unseeded wildcard. Ranked outside the top 100. Back from a hip injury. Not played since April.

 

And yet I remain unmoved.

 

It’s quite simple really. It’s as much a mistake to believe Nalbie will be upended by anything so trifling as hip surgery as it is to believe he’ll carry over this form wreaking havoc in the USO.

 

“If he plays like that,” Baghdatis said, “he can beat a lot of guys in the top 10.”

 

And if he doesn’t?

 

The real joy and wonder comes from knowing that in Sveta and Nalbie we have two stellar players whose form week in week out is as elusive as the location of a quantum particle.

 

In any given week they’re as likely to beat a string of top ten players as they are to exit in the first round of Warsaw.

 

If you were to attempt to jump into a wall a couple of trillion times, quantum theory predicts that your atoms  would, eventually, reconstitute on the other side.

 

Magic when it happens – nothing more than a sore head most of the other time.

 

For now I’ll content myself with knowing that they’ve made themselves relevant again.

Aga Saga

I don’t usually have much time for Kuzzie’s opponents. I have precisely no time for them, when she’s playing as well as this.

 

But I’m really feeling the Aga love.

 

getty

 

I get that her lack of firepower hurts her, something that, let’s face it, is not going to change any time soon.

 

Except on that basis neither JJ nor Muzzard should have ever cracked the top five.

 

Slam contender? No. But with her skill and composure (how often do you hear that word?) you’d think she’d have spent more time in the top ten.

 

Hell, I miiigght even be ok with her winning this.

 

And that’s coming from someone that spends more time reading Sveta tweet-comment matches than actually watching them.

“…I'd be lying if I didn't say that I enjoyed your company... but the truth is you do bother me enormously”

 

getty

 

Perhaps I’ll never understand why Flavs gets under Sams skin so very much – but she does.

 

“I can return her kick serve. There are few shots that I have that can make her nervous all the time,” Pennetta said. “She’s one of the best servers. I am really comfortable with her ball. I can handle the speed.”
Said Stosur: “She makes a lot of balls and runs everything down. She really makes you work for every point you win. Sometimes that can be a little bit frustrating.”

-- tennis.com

 

The opinion makers have Pennetta’s backhand DtL as well as her ability to “get over the top” of Sam’s big serve as the defining feature of her winning H2H over the Aussie, which is now 3-0 for the loss of….no sets.

 

Probably all true. Though you could likely make that case for anyone that bothers Sam. Flavs does, clearly, have a grip on Sam’s serve, though there’s no reason she should be any more equipped than, say, someone over 6 ft tall, to “get over the top” of it.

 

For my money, Flavs is simply, pound-for-pound, a better player from the back of the court. And it showed.

 

As did Sam’s propensity to overpress or, worse yet, shank in any rally lasting more than 6 strokes.

 

It wasn’t, to be fair to Sam, her best day (Flavs served 8 aces, Sam, none eh?) – and she does have a niggle in her arm that’s been troubling her since before the event. But if someone is doing a good job of returning her serve, be it Flavs, Venus or anyone else, that’s not a good place to be in.

Crying Wolf

 

getty

Kleybanova d. Jankovic 7-5 6-2

 

“I had some fear moving because I was afraid I would twist it again,” Jankovic said. “I’m not confident where I have to move side to side and play an intense match. I had a chances in the first set but then I got a little tired. I need to get in shape again.”

 

And this is what Kleybs had to say:

 

“She’s always a great runner and a winner against someone else isn’t always a winner against her,” said Kleybanova, who is now 3-2 against Jankovic but dropped two contests to her earlier this year. “But if I’m playing my best, my ball is fast enough to make winners against her. She was actually moving pretty well today.”

 

Yeah, Kleybs’ ball is fast enough to make winners against anyone, even when not playing her best.

 

As for JJ, I dunno.

 

Losing a 4-1 lead in the first set?

 

She did roll her ankle and hadn’t played on it in two weeks.

 

I’m actually inclined to cut her some slack this time round.

 

JJ wouldn’t be JJ if she didn’t cry wolf now and then. And now. And then.

 

And we all know how that story ends.

Twitter + Haters = Twats

 

6-1 7-6 over A Bondarenko.

 

Been a long time coming.

 

"I needed the win," Safina said. "Last week I lost a tiebreaker and in practice I lost one because I was playing defensive.

"Tonight I said I'm not going to play defensive and be aggressive and whatever happens, happens."

…

"I think my back is fine now," said Safina. "Every morning when I wake up and it feels good I say thanks."

-- Sky Sports

 

There were emotions. And some choking up. She’s happy about it.

 

She was also chased off twitter by the haters. Doesn’t sound like she’ll be returning. But that’s another story.

 

MENTAL NOTE: Man Down = Stop Kicking.

Again.

 

getty

 

Peer d. Ivanovic 7-6 6-3

 

It’s true, she could play some International events instead of continuing like she’s still in the top ten.

 

Question: What if she lost those too? Her already ailing confidence would be further shot to bits.

 

The trouble with most (though not all) well meaning advice is that:

 

a) It’s not well meaning and tends to be lovingly laced with abuse.

 

b) Those giving it sound like patronising twats.

 

c) They don’t know sh*t about tennis

 

At some point, in the not too distant future, Ana will, presumably(?), bounce back. Until then, I’m keeping schtum. Mostly.

 

And if you must say something, then how about this.