Top two Paris teams out of doubles in 1st round

Top seeds Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova were upset today by wild cards Alize Cornet and Virginie Razzano in the first round of play in Paris. Cornet and Razzano, who are just coming off of some tough Fed Cup play in Moscow, beat Huber and Petrova 3-6, 6-3, 10-7.

The number 2 seeds, Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, are gone, too. Maria Elena Camerin and Darya Kustova defeated them 6-4, 6-3.

Benesova and Zahlavova Srycova won the 2009 Open GDF SUEZ last year when they were given a walkover by Cara Black and Huber.

France up 2-0 against Russia in Fed Cup World Group

Until today, Alize Cornet of France had never won a Fed Cup match. In fact, a few years ago, she asked to be removed from second day play because she could not handle the pressure of Fed Cup competition. It was a different story today, though: In the first rubber of competition against former champion Russia, Cornet defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Cornet twisted her ankle in the final set, and had to take time out to have it bandaged.

In the second rubber, Virginie Razzano defeated Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-4. Sharapova went down 1-4 in the second set, but caught up. Russia's hopes were quickly dashed, however, when Razzano broke Sharapova in the next game, and then held at love to win the match. It was a fine display of tennis from the Frenchwoman, who has what it takes to beat higher-ranked players. As for Sharapova--it wasn't a performance she'll want to think about.

Belgium is up 2-0 against the USA. Yanina Wickmayer saved a set point in her second set against Bethanie Mattek-Sands, then defeated her 6-1, 7-6. Kim Clijsters then defeated Melanie Oudin 6-0, 6-4.

Also leading 2-0 is the Czech Republic. Lucie Safarova defeated Daniela Hantuchova of the Slovak Republic, 7-5, 6-1, and Petra Kvitova defeated Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-3. Kvitova looked really good in this match, and--as she continues to refine the rough edges of her game--she looks more and more like someone who who is headed to the top of the game.

Defending champion Italy is tied 1-1 with Australia. Francesca Schiavone (though she took the first set the hard way, in a tiebreak) was up a set and 2-0, and had two break points against Jarmila Groth. But what looked like a relatively easy win for Italy turned into an upset, as Groth held her serve, then turned the match around. Schiavone went down 3-5, 0-30 in the second set, but saved three match points. She then hit an ace to get a game point, but it began to rain and play stopped. When the players returned to the court, Schiavone saved a fourth match point with a drop shot, but Groth was successful with her fifth match point. She defeated Schiavone 6-7, 6-3, 6-3.

In the next rubber, however, Italy was able to even the score as Flavia Pennetta defeated Sam Stosur 7-6, 6-7, 6-4. Stosur served for both sets, but was broken. Pennetta is now 4-0 against Stosur; this is the first time Stosur has ever taken a set off of the Italian.

Tomorrow, in the Russia-France competition, Sharapova is scheduled to play Cornet in the third rubber, but no one should be surprised if Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is selected to sub for Sharapova.

Chakvetadze in Slovenia Open semifinals

Anna Chakvetadze continued creating good results today in Slovenia when she upset 6th seed Vera Dushevina and thereby secured a spot in the semifinals. 3rd seed Anna Pavlyuchenkova, however, was defeated in straight sets by Johanna Larsson.

In doubles, Chakvetadze and Marina Erakovic upset 3rd seeds Pavlyuchenkova and Anastasia Rodionova.

In Bad Gastein, Alize Cornet moved to the semifinals with a win over Patricia Mayr.

Petkovic upset in Bad Gastein

Top seed and defending champion Andrea Petkovic lost in the second round in Bad Gastein today. Petkovic was defeated 6-2, 7-5 by Alize Cornet, who was down 3-5 in the second set and saved three set points.

Also advancing were wild card Patricia May--who defeated 7th seed Tathiana Garbin--Julia Goerges, and Yvonne Meusburger.

The player party was held in Casino Bad Gastein; the photos are worth checking out.

Sharapova wins in Strasbourg

Maria Sharapova, the top seed (and wild card) won the Strassbourg tournament this morning, defeating Kristina Barrois 7-5, 6-1.

The doubles title was taken by Alize Cornet and Vania King. They defeated 2nd seeds Alla Kudryattseva and Anastasia Rodionova 3-6, 6-4, 10-7.

Czink and Rybarikova out of Estoril Open in 1st round

5th seed Melinda Czink and 6th seed Magdalena Rybarikova were both upset today at the Estoril Open. Stephanie Voegele defeated Czink 6-4, 6-3, and Jarmila Groth defeated Rybarikova, also 6-4, 6-3.

Also leaving in the first round was Alize Cornet, who lost to Michelle Larcher De Brito in a match that lasted almost 2 hours and 47 minutes. De Brito emerged the victor, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Cornet hit nine aces, but had a lot of trouble with her second serve. Larcher De Brito double-faulted nine times, which is characteristic of her. This was probably a frustrating event to watch. Cornet once had such promise, and Larcher De Brito was considered a star on the rise. To her credit, Larcher De Brito is a very good ball-striker who finds a lot of angles, but the double faults and the sometimes wild hitting get her into trouble. She's still quite young, though, and has time to clean up those problems.

Stosur upset in first round of China Open

Alize Cornet--remember Alize Cornet?--has upset 15th seed Samantha Stosur in the first round of the China Open. Cornet defeated Stosur 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Agnes Szavay, who appeared to be getting her game together again, went out again in a first round. She lost in Beijing to Alona Bondarenko, 6-3, 6-0. Also going out in the first round were Aravane Rezai and Sybille Bammer.

In doubles, the wild card team of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina defeated Jill Craybas and Alexa Glatch 6-0, 6-0.

Safina to meet Errani in Portoroz final

Dinara Safina, the Slovenia Open's top seed, defeated Alberta Brianti in straight sets today in Portoroz, and will face Sara Errani tomorrow in the final. Errani defeated Stefanie Voegele, also in straight sets.

The Portoroz doubles final was won by Julia Goerges and Vladmira Uhlirova. They defeated Camille Pin and Klara Zakopalova in the final.

In Bad Gastein, two finalists also emerged. Top seed Alize Cornet was upset, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, by Ioana Raluca Olaru. Cornet served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but was broken.

Olaru will play Petkovic in the final. Andrea Petkovic defeated Yaroslava Shvedova in the semifinals.

In doubles, the team of Hlavackova and Hradecka will play the team of Borwell and Fichman in the final.

Cornet advances to 3rd round in Bad Gastein

It shouldn't be news that the number 1 seed has made it to the third round of a tournament, but the way things have been going for Alize Cornet lately, it is indeed worth noting that she has gotten through two rounds.

Not so for 3rd and 4th seeds Sybille Bammer and Iveta Benesova. Bammer was upset by Ioana Raluca Olaru, and Benesova retired with a left thigh injury in her match against Andrea Petkovic. Benesova and her doubles partner, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova were forced to give their opponents a walkover because of Benesova's injury.

In Portoroz, Camille Pin upset 8th seed Petra Kvitova, and the number 1-seeded team of Vera Dushevina and Galina Voskoboeva were upset by Olga Govortsova and Sesil Karatantcheva.

2 more Frenchwomen say au revoir

Marion Bartoli--seeded 13th at the French Open--and Alize Cornet, seeded 21st, went out today in the second round. Bartoli was defeated by the unseeded Tathiana Garbin, 6-3, 7-5. Bearing in mind that some of the text is undoubtedly tainted by translation, it is nevertheless worth reading the transcript of Bartoli's press conference.

Cornet fell to the unseeded Sorana Cirstea, 6-3, 6-2. Cornet summed up her loss as a combination of feeling too much stress and not having adequate physical conditioning. That sounds accurate to me.

That leaves two Frenchwomen in the draw--Aravane Rezai and Virginie Razzano. Today, Razzano upset 18th seed and clay court specialist Anabel Medina Garrigues.

The tennis gods move in mysterious ways

I think I speak for many when I say how disappointed I was that Alize Cornet, last year's exciting Charleston semifinalist, decided to skip the Family Circle Cup this year and play in Barcelona. Her Spanish experience didn't last long: Cornet, the top seed, went out today in the first round to countrywoman Stephanie Cohen-Aloro. Cohen-Alora defeated Cornet 6-0, 6-3.

Phenom flashback

What's next for Victoria Azarenka?

Not that many years ago, all eyes were on a fifteen-year-old named Nicole Vaidisova. She could hit the ball hard and she had some talent. Many people expected great things from her, but now her name is barely mentioned; she is number 65 in the world. We were also watching the very talented Lucie Safarova, who turned out to be streakier than a kindergarten drawing, and is now number 50 in the world.

A couple of years ago, we watched some more players with great interest: Tamira Paszek, Agnieszka Radwanska and Agnes Szavay. Some of us also had our eyes on Caroline Wozniacki and Alize Cornet. Paszek has had her share of problems, and is currently ranked number 70. Szavay has been going out in the first round at most tournaments for several months now; her current ranking of 29 may soon look good if she doesn't change something soon.

The others have done better. Cornet, perhaps the most watchable of all of them, is number 11 in the world, but shows signs of significant mental weakness. She is still young, and can overcome that. If she does, I think she can have a very nice career. World number 12 Wozniacki, like Cornet, is a fiery player who has impressed many of us. She, too, should have a very nice career.

World number 10 Radwanska is a little harder to read. Radwanska is a very fine court thinker who can hit deadly accurate groundstrokes. But she tends to fold when she faces players who give her a lot of variety, such as Patty Schnyder and Amelie Mauresmo. Radwanska will have to learn how to handle these players (though--sadly--there are not many of them) if she is to improve.

That leaves Azarenka. For a time, Azarenka got into finals and lost them. She did that four times, in fact. Then she won Brisbane, and now she seems like a different player; now she has belief. Her performance at the Australian Open, unfortunately terminated by illness, was excellent. She just won Memphis, and did so by handily defeating Wozniacki.

Any of the above-named women could still break through in a big way, and it wouldn't surprise me. Players do things in their own time. But right now, the one who looks more and more like the real thing every day is Azarenka.

Frenchwomen get business done in Paris

Three of the Open GDF SUEZ second round winners who emerged in Paris today are French--Amelie Maruesmo, Alize Cornet and Nathalie Dechy. Mauresmo defeated Monica Niculescu 6-1, 6-2; Cornet defeated Daniela Hantuchova 1-6, 6-4, 6-2; and Nathalie Dechy defeated Patty Schnyder 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Yesterday, Emelie Loit defeatd Kaia Kanepi 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

I am never happy to see Schnyder defeated, yet I am always glad to see Dechy win. Dechy has an elegant game I like to watch. Following an inury a few years ago, she had trouble getting back into form, so she changed her focus to doubles. She has been quite successful in doubles, but I miss having her in the top 20 in singles.

In 2006, Dechy was number 11 in the world, in fact, and I wish she could have made her way to the top ten. People got to see her at her best during her 2007 Wimbledon match against Ana Ivanovic. That was the match Dechy thought she had won, and then Ivanovic's ball rolled over the net, keeping her in the match, which she eventually won. It was probably the best match of the tournament.

In the meantime, Jelena Jankovic defeated Li Na, something she has done only once before in five previous meetings. The final score was 6-0, 3-6, 6-2.

The other winners were Serena Williams (def. Karolina Sprem), Elena Dementieva (def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova),

Italy takes 2-0 lead over France in Fed Cup

It was a great Fed Cup day for Italy. Flavia Pennetta defeated Amelie Mauresmo, 2-6, 7-6, 6-4, and Francesco Schiavone defeated Alize Cornet, 6-1, 2-6, 8-6. Pennetta came back from a set and a break down and forced a tiebreak. During the tiebreak, she was up 5-1, and eventually had two set points at 6-4, which she lost. However, she went on to win the tiebreak, 9-7. Pennetta, by the way, was down 1-4 in the third set, and won five straight games.

Dinara "Thrill Ride" Safina goes to the quarterfinals

I have become so accustomed to Dinara Safina's last-minute, brink-of-defeat wins that when Alize Cornet served for the match at 5-3 in the third set in the Australian Open fourth round, I still expected Safina to win the match. 

I was right. Safina broke Cornet while saving two match points, then held, then broke Cornet again, winding up with with a 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 victory. 

Safina was on fire in the first set, going quickly to 5-0, but in the second set, she lost her way, returning to some old habits. She overhit the ball on many occasions, and looked close to having a meltdown. Cornet waited for Safina's errors, which were many, and she was rewarded. But when the sleeping giant was awakened, there was little Cornet could do to control the inevitable.

Allez!...and au revoir

Two Frenchwomen have advanced to the Australian Open round of 16--Marion Bartoli and Alize Cornet. And two Frenchwoman, Virginie Razzano and 2006 Australian Open champion Amelie Mauresmo --have not. Mauresmo played Victoria Azarenka today in the third round, and a quick look at the match must have pleased Mauresmo fans, for there was Mauresmo--lobbing and slicing, and executing her beautiful backhand. Closer observation, however, revealed that Mauresmo was behind a beat throughout the match. It wasn't so much that she needed more speed, but that she needed better anticipation. One of the TV commentators also mentioned that he thought the low bounce of the Rebound Ace court was just Amelie's cup of tea, but the higher bounce hurt her game.

Azarenka noticed this, too, and skillfully took Mauresmo out in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. Azarenka's next opponent will be Serena Williams, and things should get pretty noisy. Bartoli plays number 1 seed Jelena Jankovic, and Cornet plays Dinara Safina.

Razzano lost in a close match (7-5, 7-5) against Dominika Cibulkova. She was defeated in the third round last year, too.

Ivanovic and Hantuchova both out in Melbourne

Alisa "I'm a Russian, too" Kleybanova played three sets against 3rd seed Ana Ivanovic yesterday, and left the court with a 7-5, 6-7, 6-2 victory. Ivanovic has been having trouble with her ball toss, among other things, and Kleybanova was able to hang in and take advantage of the 2008 Australian Open finalist's vulnerabilities.

One of last year's semifinalists, Daniela Hantuchova, met the same fate. She was defeated 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 by Alize Cornet.

The top seed, Jelena Jankovic, struggled, too, though she managed to defeat Ai Sugiyama in straight sets. But Jankovic needs to seriously raise her form for the next round, in which she meets Marion Bartoli, who is never an easy opponent for her.

Chakvetadze out in Hobart, Petrova out in Sydney

Third seed Anna Chakvetadze went out in her first round in Hobart yesterday, falling to Carla Suarez Navarro, who defeated her 7-6, 1-6, 7-5. Chakvetadze joins Wozniak and Szavay, other seeds who went out in the first round. Also out are 8th seed Tamarine Tanasugarn, who lost to Iveta Benesova, and Patty Schnyder, who lost to Tsvetana Pironkova.

In Sydney, number 7 seed Nadia Petrova lost to Alize Cornet, 6-2, 6-4.

Quote of the day

"Me? What the hell, really? Why? I didn’t know this."

Alize Cornet, on learning that she is ranked number 15 in the world

This and that...

According to Chris Pike, both Marat and Dinara Safina (and especially Dinara) are feeling really desperate. The next match is between Russia and Italy, so the crowd will get to see the desperate siblings play together for the first time.


Speaking of Hopman Cup, Alize Cornet topped off her win against Hsieh Su-Wei with a mixed doubles win (with partner Gilles Simon) over Hsieh and Lu Yen-Hsu, 6-4, 7-6.


The season is about to officially start, but you still have time to answer 100 intriguing questions.


Jelena Dokic's first round opponent at the Brisbane International tournament is Amelie Mauresmo. Mauresmo has a 2-1 record over Dokic.


And first on the court--which means first ever on the court for the new Brisbane Intenational tournament--will be Sam Stosur, who will play Maria Kirilenko.