Top seed Rezai upset in Fes

The home players have dazzled in Germany, but today in Morocco, there was also a big triumph for a countrywoman. Wild card Nadia Lalami, ranked number 497 number in the world, defeated top seed (and wild card) Aravane Rezai 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 in the second round of the Fes event. The 20-year-old Lalami is from Morocco.

Lalami's next opponent will be Kirsten Flipkens.

Passing shots

Kim Clijsters is out for four weeks because of continuing problems with her shoulder and wrist. She will return to the tour in Rome.

Aravane Rezai went out to wild card Estrella Cabeza Candela in the first round in Marbella today. The score was 6-3, 6-0.

Vera Zvonareva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and Ekaterina Makarova have been named to the Russian Fed Cup for the semifinal event to be held later this month in Moscow. The Italian team has not been announced. It is expected that Francesca Schiavone will not play because she is preparing her title defense at the French Open. Rumor has it that Flavia Pennetta may not play, which is a bigger issue for Italy.

Women's Tennis Blog gives us a peek at Maria Sharapova's French Open dress. Women's Tennis Blog, by the way, just celebrated its fourth birthday--cheers to Marija!

A marching band will perform in the Family Circle Cup stadium today as part of Charleston's "Best Tennis Town in America" designation. Each of the first 1,000 individuals through the gate will receive a "Best Tennis Town" memento.

Passing shots

Maria Sharapova has been suffering with an upper respiratory infection and had to withdraw from this week's tournament in Paris. She was scheduled to play in Dubai next week, but her name does not appear in the draw.

The decision was announced today: The French Open will remain at Roland Garros. 

Fashion note: During her week in Paris, Yanina Wickmayer was sporting some Bethanie Mattek-Sands-style black knee socks. Wickmayer plays wild card Bojana Jovanovski in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Speaking of apparel, he WTA Tour is still not offering any fan merchandise featuring the tour's new name and lame new logo.

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova is the top seed in Memphis next week. The next two seeds are Sofia Arvidsson and Melanie Oudin.

Aravane Rezai is expected to return to the tour for the tournament in Doha.

Passing shots

"Stuff just happens," Chanda Rubin said her recent house fire. Reporters asked Rubin which professional tennis player she would have picked to be on the fire rescue team. She immediately answered "Arantxa," a reference to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. Good choice.

Serena Williams says she plans to play on the USA Fed Cup team in April. First, however, the USA has to beat Belgiam in the quarterfinals.

Maria Sharopova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Dinara Safina are scheduled to play for Russia in the 2011 Fed Cup World Group quarterfinals. Russia will play France in Olympic Stadium in Moscow.

Aravane Rezai has withdrawn from both Fed Cup and the indoor Paris tournament. She withdrew from doubles competition at the Australian Open, following media reports that a member of her family would most likely be banned from tournaments. Rezai's father has a history of inappropriate behavior at tournaments, and--though one report mentions that a female is under investigation--it has now been widely reported that the French player's father threatened her romantic partner. Rezai says that the reports are inaccurate and exaggerated, but--considering her father's history--it isn't that hard to believe them. One thing is certain: Rezai's withdrawal from Fed Cup and the Open GDF Suez is very unfortunate.

Fern Lee "Peachy" Kellmeyer, the WTA's first director (and first employee) has been elected for induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. This honor has been a long time coming.

Passing shots

A member of Aravane Rezai's family (one can reasonably assume that this is her father, since he has caused so much trouble throughout her career) has been banned from WTA events. The tour reports that its investigation is of a "serious safety matter" that affects the French player's "health and well being."

Thanks to Jon Wertheim, I came across this slide show, which provides an entertaining look (but not the look you might expect) at women's tennis fashions through the years.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands reports that the courts are so hot at the Australian Open, she had "a second degree burn on my thumb from crouching down in an 'I' formation in doubles!"
 
Here are 10 Burning Questions for Agniesza Radwanska.

Yaroslava Shvedova is back on the court, and reports that she is feeling good.

Pavlyuchenkova and Ivanovic to start Bali competition

Anastasia Pavlyuchenova and Ana Ivanovic will begin the competition at the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions tomorrow. Pavlyuchenkova is seeded number 3. Following their match, top seed Li Na will play wild card Kimiko Date Krumm.

On Friday, Alisa Kleybanova will play defending champion and 2nd seed Aravane Rezai, followed by a match between wild card Daniela Hantuchova and 4th seed Yanina Wickmayer.

Rezai and Date Krumm have already faced one another (with some top chefs to help them) in the annual "Cookery Competition" in Bali. Rezai and Chef Doudou Tourneville received the Best Presentation award, and Kimiko Date and Chef Alexander Tanuhardja received the award for Best Dish.

The French player acknowledges she seldom has time to cook, while Date Krumm says that cooking is something she does to relax.

This time, it's Schnyder

In the third round of the U.S. Open, Yanina Wickmayer defeated Patty Schnyder 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 in an all-out thriller. Today in the first round in Luxembourg, Schnyder beat 3rd-seeded Wickmayer 6-4, 6-4.

The third seed wasn't the only one to make an exit. In the second round, 2nd seed Aravane Rezai was run over 6-0, 6-1 by Kirsten Flipkens, and Iveta Benesova defeated 7th seed Jarmila Groth 6-4, 7-5.

In Moscow, doubles 2nd seeds (and ad hoc team) Elena Vesnina and Liezel Huber were defeated 6-7, 6-4, 12-10 by Olga Govortsova and Alla Kudryavtseva. In singles, all the seeds who played today--Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Alisa Kleybanova and Victoria Azarenka--advanced to the third round. Also, Dominika Cibulkova defeated Tsvetana Pironkova.

Capra takes out Rezai and advances to 3rd round

Wild card Beatrice Capra stayed very steady today, and was rewarded with an upset win over 18th seed Aravane Rezai, who--despite her talent--seems to often be ripe for an upset.

Capra, who is ranked number 371 in the world, didn't expect to play in the main draw, but only in the junior draw. After she lost the USTA 18 Nationals, she assumed her chances to get a U.S. Open wild card were done. She was surprised, therefore, to get an invitation to play in the U.S. Wild Card Playoffs. Capra won that tournament, got the wild card, and--in her very first WTA main draw match--soundly defeated Karolina Sprem in the first round. She defeated Rezai today by letting her self-destruct. It was a mature performance, and Capra was a happy and charming winner.

I will now "confess" that I like watching Rezai. I know she can be a complete mess, and I know that anyone who reads this blog may find it odd that I enjoy her, since I would much rather watch this than most of the tennis being played in Flushing Meadows this year (or any recent year). A lot of women hit the ball hard--and certainly Rezai needs to do more than hit the ball hard--but she is a small woman who hits the ball hard, and I like how she messes with the WTA stereotype of "big babe tennis," as Mary Carillo named it some years ago. Rezai whales the hell out of the ball, and she definitely isn't a big babe. She also has a really big personality, and--for better or worse--I get drawn into the drama she creates on court.

Having said that, I'll now add that--despite the strides Rezai has made on the tour--she needs to learn how to substitute some finesse and strategy for some of that wild hitting. She should be winning more often, and things aren't going to get any better for her if she doesn't make some changes.

But enough about Rezai--back to Beatrice Capra, who is called "Trice" by her friends. Capra trains at the Evert Academy, and Chris Evert has been an active mentor for her. Her next opponent at the U.S. Open will be none other than Maria Sharapova.

Before the tournament began, each player was asked to submit the names of her three favorite songs, so that one of them could be played if the player entered Arthur Ashe Court. Capra didn't submit any song titles because she didn't believe there was any way possible she would have a chance to play on Arthur Ashe. As for today's Grandstand match, "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" would have been a good choice.

Li out of U.S. Open, Jankovic barely survives

Simona Halep served for the match today at 5-4 in the third set. She and her opponent, 4th seed Jelena Jankovic, played an error-filled mess of a match that Halep might have won had she been at a higher level of fitness and prepared to face the intense heat. But credit to JJ: When it came down to the end, something snapped into place, and she forced consecutive errors from her exhausted opponent to (finally) win 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Halep was up 5-1 in the second set, and almost ran away with it, as Jankovic made a string of unforced errors. (During the third set, my mind wandered to that Australian Open first round in which Jankovic saved herself  at the last minute from an upset by Tamira Paszek.)

8th seed Li Na, a semifinalist at the Australian Open, did not fare as well. She was defeated 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 by 2009 quarterfinalist Kateryna Bondarenko, who took advantage of Li's run of unforced errors. Also going out were 26th seed Lucie Safarova (def. by Tamira Paszek), 30th seed Yaroslava Shvedova (def. by Lourdes Dominguez Lino), and Bronx challenger winner Anna Chakvetadze (def. by Urszula Radwanska).

Jarmila Groth took a set off of Maria Sharapova, but then went to pieces mentally. She double-faulted 14 times--an unfortunate trend among big servers on the tour. Sharapova defeated her 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

The Coco Vandeweghe Watch is over. Vandewegh won one game against Sabine Lisicki, who is trying to put her game back together after experiencing a series of injuries and illnesses and a consequent loss of form and confidence.

The player who probably feels the worst today, though, is Magdalena Rybarikova. She believed that Aravane Rezai's last shot in a first set tiebreak was out, but it called good, and Rezai won the tiebreak 7-5. Rybarikova had the second set on her racquet at 6-5, but blew it with a forehand error. She then went down 0-5 in the tiebreak, and fought her way to 5-all. Rezai, the 18th seed, won that tiebreak 9-7.

As close as that contest was, however, I have to acknowledge the competition between John McEnroe and Chris Fowler over who can blather on the most while possessing the least amount of knowledge--not just about the women's tour, but even about U.S. Open procedures. ESPN, I have a deal for you: I'll do the job, and display a quarter of the ignorance for half the money. And I won't insult half of the players.

Jovanovski upsets Rezai in Cincinnati

Bojana Jovanovski, the young Serbian player who got herself noticed during the Fed Cup World Group playoffs, had the biggest win of her career today. In the first round in Cincinnati, Jovanovski defeated 14th seed Aravane Rezai 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Jovanovski is ranked number 98 in the world.

The other upset today was Ana Ivanovic's 2-6, 7-6, 6-2 defeat of 9th seed Victoria Azarenka. Azarenka won the Stanford title earlier this month. In the next round, Ivanovic will play either Yaroslava Shvedova or Alla Kudryavtseva.

Also defeated were Sabine Lisicki, who is returning from a long injury layoff, and Dominika Cibulkova. Lisicki was defeated by qualifier Monica Niculescu, and Cibulkova lost to Alona Bondarenko.

In first round doubles play, wild cards Carly and Chelsey Gullickson upset 6th seeds Alisa Kleybanova and Ekaterina Makarova 3-6, 6-1, 10-8.

Rezai wins Bastad

Aravane Rezai won her fourth Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title today in Bastad. 2nd seed Rezai defeated 4th seed Gisela Dulko 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the final. There were fourteen breaks of serve in the match.

Dulko and her partner, Flavia Pennetta, won the doubles title, defeating Renata Voracova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 7-6 (0), 6-0.

Dulko upsets Pennetta and advances to Bastad final

4th seed Gisela Dulko defeated her friend and doubles partner, 1st seed Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-1, today in the semifinals of the Swedish Open. Dulko's opponent in the final will be 2nd seed Aravane Rezai, who defeated 3rd seed Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6-3.

Dulko and Pennetta are the top seeds in doubles, and they will play in the final against 2nd seeds Renata Voracova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.

Kuznetsova and Rezai both upset in Wimbledon 2nd round

18th seed Aravane Rezai was shown the Wimbledon exit today by Klara Zakopalova, who defeated her 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 today in the second round. When Zakopalova is switched on, she does this sort of thing, and creates a great result.

The 19th seed didn't fare any better. Svetlana Kuznetsova was upset 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 by former countrywoman Anastasia Rodionova. Rodionova has been suffering with hip problems for a while, and I'm a little suprised she has lasted this long. She did receive treatment during the match, which apparently helped. She also questioned so many line calls, in her own special way, that Kuznetsova finally let her feelings out by refusing to shake hands with her. Note to Sveta: There are more productive ways of letting your feelings out on the court.

23rd seed Zheng Jie, who was a semifinalist at Wimbledon a couple of years ago, was taken out by Petra Kvitova, who defeated her 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. Zheng--who greatly improved her first serve after hiring a service coach when Justine Henin blew her off the court in the semifinals of the Australian Open--had serious problems with her second serve.

Daniela Hantuchova, seeded 24th, is also gone. She was upset 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 by Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.

Dominika Cibulkova and Ayumi Morita spent 2 hours and 48 minutes on the court today. Cibulkova won, 6-7, 7-6, 7-5.

All of the other seeds won their matches, with the top seed, Serena Williams, defeating Anna Chakvetadze 6-0, 6-1.

Defending champion Wozniacki out of Eastbourne in 1st round

No one has spoiled more good times lately than Aravane Rezai, and today, she took away defending champion Caroline Wozniacki's hope of defending her title in Eastbourne.

A contest between top seed Wozniacki and Rezai is a study of contrasts: The former is considered by many to have too defensive a game, without a plan B; the latter is considered by many to have too aggressive a game, without a plan B. Today, the aggression overpowered, and Rezai walked away with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory. Playing in very windy condtions, she also hit ten aces, a feat which does not win a match (ask Lucie Hradecka)--but it doesn't hurt, either.

Rezai is a very high-risk player--too high-risk, to be exact--but to call her a "ball basher," as some fans do, is to fail to take into account the Frenchwoman's ability to establish and control the rhythm of a match. Even I like watching her, and I'm the kind of fan who prefers to sit for hours and watch the likes of Evonne Goolagong or Martina Hingis. Of course, part of Rezai's attraction is her huge on-court personality, which helps her maintain notable intensity for long periods of time.

Of interest: 2010 French Open champion and surprise 2009 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Francesca Schiavone was also eliminated in the first round today. Sorana Cirstea defeated the 2nd seed 7-5, 6-3.

4th seed Agnieszka Radwanska went out, too, defeated 7-6, 6-1 by Victoria Azarenka. And qualifier Ekaterina Makarova upset 6th seed Flavia Pennetta 7-5, 6-1.

Speaking of qualifiers, Heather Watson defeated Aleksandra Wozniak--also a qualifier--6-3, 6-2. This was Watson's first main draw victory.

7th seed and Birmingham champion Li Na retired today with a left thigh injury; one hopes this isn't a sign of bad things to come.

Wild card Svetlana Kuznetsova won her first round match against Alisa Kleybanova, seed 5th Kim Clijsters ran over Yanina Wickmayer, 6-1, 6-1, and Zheng Jie defeated Shahar Peer.

Miscellany

Billie Jean King says that Martina Hingis may return to the tour as a doubles player next year. Hingis is playing a full World Team Tennis season this summer.

Virginie Razzano has withdrawn from Wimbledon, citing an injured left foot, as well as a right thigh tear brought about by the foot injury. Razzano says that all the trouble started with a massage given to her by a tour trainer. The massage, which she said was painful, led to edema, and then matters became worse. Razzano has begun proceedings against the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, and is reportedly seeking damages.

Not to be missed: WTA Backspin's 2010 Clay Court Awards. 

Dinara Safina has lost her fifth match in row, going out in the first round in s'Hertogenbosch to Magdalena Rybarikova. Rybarikova won the match 6-7, 6-4, 6-4  on her sixth match point. Safina was seeded 2nd.

Eastbourne defending champion Caroline Wozniacki plays Aravane Rezai in the first round of the tournament this week.

Miscellany

Longines Future Tennis Aces Tournament, which featured 16 12-and-under players, was held at Roland Garros during the French Open. The winner of the girls' competition was Aleksandra Pospelova of Russia. The USA's Lauren Fishbein made it to the semifinals (and is shown in the photo with her tennnis idol, Serena Williams). Pospelova also played in a mixed doubles match with partner Gustavo Kuerten. Longines is the official timekeeper of the French Open.

Amelie Mauresmo has been added to Michael Llodra's team as an advisor during the grass court season.

Chris Evert will be inducted into the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame on August 16.

Anastasia Rodionova recently did a fashion shoot for Muze. (And I don't usually pass on this type of information, but it's being talked about, and--considering the players--I thought it was too funny not to mention that Rodionova and Aravane Rezai, who played each other in Birmingham, may be the first pair of players on the tour to get into it with each other--and with the umpire--during the warmup.)

Sania Mirza says she never said she would retire in two years. She says her remarks were misinterpreted by the press. Imagine that.

One saga completed, another one in the making?

Nadia Petrova and 15th seed Aravane Rezai played very serious tennis last night, some of it in the dark. They each held three match points, and they each failed to convert. With the thriller at its peak--7-all in the third--the match was suspended due to darkness. Today, after a night of disturbed sleep, Petrova won, 6-7, 6-4, 10-8. The two exchanged breaks right away, and it was conceivable that the contest could go on and on, but Petrova held, and that--after 2 hours and 48 minutes--was that.

Petrova, seeded 19th, is known for going off mentally during a match, but even with the French crowd making the experience as difficult as possible for her, she steadied herself. She also hit 12 aces and 50 winners. Both players are to be commended for providing so much excitement for fans. Now Petrova gets Venus Williams in the round of 16, and that also has the potential to be a very good match.

The drama continued this evening, with 12th seed Maria Sharapova having to play in conditions that are the least favorable for her. It was raining, and of course--the balls were very heavy. In the first set, she looked lost, sometimes standing still or moving awkwardly to reach Justine Henin's shots. When she did move, it wasn't fast enough. Henin, seeded 22nd (go figure) at this event, went up 4-0, and won the set 6-2.

The outlook appeared grim for Sharapova, but in the second set, she began to play clay court tennis, and focused on confounding Henin's movement. She used a variety of change-ups, including drop shots, to get Henin out of her rhythm. Also, Henin had trouble with her service game. At 3-all, Sharapova broke, and took the set 6-3,  breaking Henin's streak of 40 consecutive set wins at the French Open. Clearly, the momentum was with the Russian, but at this level, momentum can change just as quickly after a set as it can after a night of sleep. To be continued...

Petkovic learns, first-hand, the meaning of "inexperienced"

I'll start by acknowledging that--before Svetlana Kuznetsova's second round French Open match began--I was expecting an upset. Once it got underway, I was expecting an upset even more. And then, serving at 6-4, 5-3, 40-0, Petkovic saw four match points--and the match--fade away. 6th seed Kuznetsova saved the first match point with a strong return, but the other three were the unforced errors of a player with insufficient experience in handling really big moments. When you're at a major, about to beat the defending champion, in straight sets--the belief that you cannot do it is playing in your unconscious mind like a song you don't realize you're humming. Kuznetsova broke, and went on to win the second set, and that was that. Her 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory--a gift from a choking opponent--places her in the third round against countrywoman Maria Kirilenko.

Then there was Madrid champion Aravane Rezai, who apparently became so anxious in the second set of her match against Angelique Kerber that she set up a number of winners, only to commit repeated unforced errors when she attempted to execute them. But Rezai put that set behind her, and won the third set, posting a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 score. It was a messy match for her--she made 42 unforced errors. She also hit 59 winners.

Taking out the 24th seed may not sound like a big upset, but when the match is played on clay, and it's 2010, and the opponent is Lucie Safarova, the upset is kind of a big deal. It was pulled off by the steadily rising Palona Hercog, who defeated Safarova 6-1, 6-2.

All of the other seeds advanced. Of interest: Chanelle Scheepers defeated Gisela Dulko 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Relentless Rezai wins Madrid title

Today in Madrid, Aravane Rezai became the second consecutive unseeded woman to win a premier tournament. Rezai upset 4th seed Venus Williams, 6-2, 7-5, in the final, adding a surprise (to some) ending to the dramatic story she has unfolded all week in Spain.

Rezai began her Madrid effort by defeating Justine Henin in the first round, and adding a 6-0 final set as a flourish. That was just the beginning.

All I could do was shake my head when Tennis Channel commentator Brian Webber said that Rezai "cruised" through the rest of the tournament. What tournament was he watching? Rezai defeated Klara Zakopalova in the second round, then--in the third round--the Frenchwoman had to contend with a very tough Andrea Petkovic in what was probably the thriller of the tournament. She had to work  hard again in the quarterfinals, especially in the grueling first set, to defeat Jelena Jankovic. Rezai got a break in the semifinals when opponent Lucie Safarova retired after the first set, but there were a lot of tense moments in other matches.

Being unseeded and upsetting Henin, Jankovic and Williams is big. As big as Rezai's hitting. Her personality is big, too. In the past, she has made public statements about her distaste for Jankovic, and she didn't hesitate to expand that rhetoric in Madrid. (Those who wondered why Jankovic was distant during the handshake might take this history into consideration; I'm not judging or justifying anyone--just pointing out that, right or wrong, it may not be that easy to behave warmly toward someone who publicly denounces you.) She also had some less than flattering things to say to the media about Henin. For better or worse, Rezai clearly has no inner editor.

Rezai's on-court presence became increasingly fiery throughout the week, too. The harder and deeper she hit the ball, the larger her persona seemed to be.  And then there was the black and gold lame outfit. A friend designs Rezai's tennis outfits, and I will now refrain from making obvious observations about that.

In her first set against Williams, Rezai was dominant on serve, and also she broke Williams twice, quickly attacking Williams' second serves. Rezai held at love in her last service game, and appeared fully in charge of the match. In fact, she was so dominant that her first serve win percentage for the set was 100.

That type of momentum can be hard to maintain, especially against a top player, and--sure enough--Rezai was broken right away in the second set. Her serve went to pieces, and Williams took full advantage, breaking Rezai again, and taking a 5-2 lead. But just when a third set seemed inevitable, Rezai started to scratch her way back. She held for 3-5, then broke Williams. Rezai then held again, and--once again in a psychological comfort zone--she broke Williams to go up 6-5. By this time, she had saved six set points, and just like that--she found herself with three match points. She needed only one to take the biggest win of her career.

Rezai is not that good of a mover and doesn't appear to be comfortable at all at the net, but her in-the-zone, laser-like ball-striking can be overpowering. It certainly was this week. And it should be noted that being down 2-5 in a final and refusing to let a third set occur reflects the mindset of a winner.

For me, the Madrid tournament leaves much to be desired. I've long complained about having female models be "ballgirls," and this year's concession to the women--having male models be "ballboys"--I find only a tiny improvement. The heterosexist tone of the arrangement aside--there are children and adolescents who are being robbed of the opportunity of to be real ballgirls and ballboys.

Then there is the Madrid website, which is almost useless.

And finally, poor Rezai will have to tell her friends and family, "I won the Madrid Open, and all I got was this tacky plate."

For many reasons, I'm already nostalgic for the good old days in Rome.

But I digress. Rezai's win confirms why she's been on my "watch" list for a while. She's been working for four months with a new coach, and has been steadily improving. One hopes that, in the future, she'll add more dimensions to her game. In the meantime, she moves into the top 20, and Venus Williams--who is having a fine clay season--moves into the number 2 spot in the rankings.

Williams and Rezai to meet in Madrid final

As expected, 4th seed Venus Williams has advanced to the final of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open. Today in the semifinals, she easily defeated Shahar Peer, 6-3, 6-0, to set up a final match against Aravane Rezai. Rezai won her match against Lucie Safarova when Safarova, suffering from a left thigh strain, retired after the first set. Rezai won that set 6-1.

Williams and Rezai have played each other only twice, both matches were played in 2007, and both matches were played on clay. Williams defeated Rezai in straight sets in the first round at Amelie Island, and Rezai defeated Williams in straight sets in the third round in Istanbul.

This has the makings of a really good final. Both women hit hard off the ground, Williams is a very good volleyer, and she is certainly the better mover. If she can move Rezai around a lot, she has an advantage. Rezai hits flat and goes for broke. If she senses the weakening of Williams' forehand, she will waste no time exploiting it. The Frenchwoman's hitting has become more and more explosive. Against a player like Williams, will that work for her or against her?