She looked a bit befuddled throughout the week, and her footwork betrayed her sometimes, but when it came down to defending her Madrid title, Serena Williams looked like--well, like Serena Williams. She defeated Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-4, winning her 50th title, and was in control of the match from start to finish. Of course, the longer this losing streak to Williams goes on, the worse it appears to get. Sharapova doesn't look like herself when she plays the world number 1, who--every time her opponent starts to figure things out--simply elevates her game another notch.
Yesterday, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won the Madrid doubles title by defeating Cara Black and Marina Erakovic 6-2, 6-4. This is the second title Pavlyuchenkova and Safarova have won as a team; they were the champions in Charleston in 2012. Pavlyuchenkova's new coach, Martina Hingis, also coached the unseeded championship team to the Madrid final.
Meanwhile, in Rome, Mallory Burdette beat Madison Keys in the second qualifying round, and the top-seeded qualifier, Lourdes Dominguez Lino, was knocked out in the second qualifying round by Andrea Hlavackova.
Also qualifying was Anabel Medina Garrigues, who played a very good match against Serena Williams in the Madrid quarterfinals. And regarding the Spaniard's fluffing of new balls, the WTA has acknowledged that if the umpire had seen her do it, she would most likely have had a code violation called on her.
2 comments:
things i've been pondering:
- i've always been impressed with mallory burdette's game. it's really contained and she finds ways to win. on the flip side keys...has always been known for her talent and power...but not for winning...and i think that that's something to keep in mind. she has no noteable junior results. she needs to win otherwise her talent will be buried in the heap. i think of davenport vs. evert. I feel that Davenport could have won 7 or 8 majors with her game...but she had trouble finding ways to win. Evert, due to her mental strength, was able to win 18 majors against opponents that were bigger and stronger than her.
yes, i know it's very early in keys' career. and i know that the path to the top is more of a journey these days...see: vika...but i hope that she can figure this out sooner rather than later
- why federer isn't called out for his meanness when he clearly reveled in his record against Andy Roddick. I'm so tired of people bringing up how "serena relishes beating maria." it might be true, but is it necessary to promote that narrative? it's never been phrased like that for fed. even tho it's not quite the same, i feel like this goes along with how men can be tough, but women are catty, bitchy, and mean.
Diane, I know you'll set me straight :)
I think that the "Serena relishes..." narrative comes mostly from the sexist media, who love to set up these "mean girls" scenarios among the women. I'm sure Serena does relish it, but it's not like she's going around broadcasting it.
As for the ATP, truly annoying and emotionally immature men like Berdych and Tipsarevic get a total pass. And remember when Safin said that the women are "too emotional"? This coming from the man who holds the all-time record for racket-smashing. Guess anger doesn't count as an emotion in some circles.
I have a soft spot for Mallory. Not only do I enjoy her game--she's just a delightful and very articulate woman. She showed big-time mental toughness in Charleston when she upset Lisicki.
With Madison, I expect the mental part to get better as she matures. They don't make teenagers like Evert anymore.
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