Passing shots in Paris

From WTA Backspin, we learn that the country with the second-highest number of players who made it to the top 64 (Russia had the most) is Romania. Join Todd Spiker and a commentator extraordinaire from the "past"--none other than Soren Kierkegaard--for a day-to-day existential deconstruction of events in Paris.

2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina is on her way to Paris to help coach 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. Because it takes a village.

Here is a Eurosport interview with Kuznetsova.

Sam Stosur told Benjamin Adler of the French Open website that either Julia Roberts or Drew Barrymore would be her choices to play her in a movie.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who has made it to the third round of the French Open, will probably be the number 2-ranked player from the USA in two weeks.

Passing shots

The WTA site has a feature story on Patty Schnyder's emotional farewell in Charleston.

Francesca Schiavone has withdrawn from Stuttgart because of exhaustion. Yanina Wickmayer has also withdrawn, in order to give her knee some rest.

"I’m a younger player with not as much experience and I played some stupid things," Bojana Jovanovski said of her Fed Cup loss to Dominika Cibulkova.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands reports that competitive shooting is her latest interest.

You know about her skills with a soccer ball, but here, you can learn even more about Sara Errani.

Mattek-Sands withdraws from Fed Cup

Bethanie Mattek-Sands has withdrawn from the USA team that play in this weekend's Fed Cup World Group Play-Offs. Mattek-Sands has a hip and back injury. Vania King has been named by captain Mary Joe Fernandez as the new team member. She will be joined by Melanie Oudin, Christina McHale and Liezel Huber.

The USA plays German in Stuttgart on an indoor red clay court. The German team consists of Andrea Petkovic, Julia Goerges, Sabine Lisicki, and Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

Vesnina beats Peng twice in one day and advances to both Charleston finals

Elena Vesnina won both of her matches again

Elena Vesnina has been a very busy woman in Charleston this week. Yesterday, she won both her singles and doubles matches, and today, in the semifinals, she repeated that accomplishment. In doing so, however, she had to defeat Peng Shuai twice.

In her singles semifinal, Vesnina defeated 11th seed Peng 7-6, 6-3. Unlike the earlier semifinal between Wozniacki and Jankovic, this match featured no break opportunities until Peng had a break point when Vesnina served at 4-5 in the first set. Vesnina held, then the players exchanged breaks. After Peng was broken, however, she began to walk with a slight limp. Her knee, which was taped, was bothering her, and she was tired, she would later reveal. After breaking her opponent, Peng held a set point, but did not convert it. The set went to a tiebreak, which Vesinina won.

Peng looked as though she might fade, but she immediately broke Vesnina in the second set, and then opened her own service game with an ace. Despite getting to 40-15, however, Peng was broken back. She remained competitive in the second set, but the momentum was with Vesnina, who used her serve--as she has all week--to get herself out of trouble. The Russian saved two break points at 3-all, then converted a second break point when Peng served at 3-4. Vesnina held to win the match.

Peng Shuai

Both Vesnina and Peng handled the wind well, and both displayed primarily error-free net play. This match had a bit of everything, including sharp volleys and well-executed drop shots. It was, in every way, the better ssemifinal match of the day, and quite entertaining.

After getting some rest, Vesnina and partner Sania Mirza played a semifinal doubles match against Peng and her partner, Zheng Jie. Mirza and Vesnina took the first set 6-2, and then endured a more competitive second set, which they won 7-5.

 "...today is a Chinese day for me," Vesnina told the press.

Shaughnessy and Mattek-Sands consult

Earlier in the day, 4th seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy defeated top seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 6-2, 6-4.

Mirza & Vesnina win Indian Wells

Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina, seeded 8th at the BNP Paribas Open, won the doubles title today by defeating Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy 6-0, 7-5. To arrive at the final, Mirza and Vesnina defeated the teams of Hlavackova/Hradecka, Benesova/Zahlavova Strycova (7), Jans/Rosolska, and Hantuchova/Radwanska.

According to Matt Cronin, the winning team almost didn't play because of Vesnina's wrist injury, but Mirza, who knows a lot about wrist injuries, reportedly helped her new partner to cope. Vesnina became available to play on a new team when her regular partner, Vera Zvonareva, decided to concentrate on singles only.

Passing shots

Doug Robson interviewed Serena Williams for USA Today. The former world number 1 has had a really difficult time lately, and talks quite openly about it.

Ana Ivanovic has parted ways with trainer Marja Lojanica. 

Shelby Rogers, last year's SMASH Junior Cup winner, has received a wild card into the main draw of the Family Circle Cup.

Guess who's playing mixed doubles in the U.S. open qualifying sectionals?! This broadcast is a bit long, but definitely worth listening to.

“It's never easy to play, I think, your countryman or countrygirl." That quote, unfortunately, comes from Novak Djokovic (from whom I expect more than, say, Brett Haber or Lindsay Davenport).

Steve Flink reviews Allen Fox's new Book, Tennis: Winning the Mental Match.

Chris Oddo interviews Bud Collins about the WTA.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands (who recently hit her first winning tweener) will make her debut as a BBC commentator during Wimbledon this summer.

Passing shots

Here is an interview with Venus Williams from the recent Women of Influence luncheon in Toronto. Williams was one of the speakers.

Not surprisingly, Christopher Clarey gives us a reasoned and educational glimpse into what the future may hold for Serena Williams.

Pardon the noise--but I just won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open!

Remember when Yanina Wickmayer recently wore knee socks while playing, and we joked that she looked like Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and maybe she wanted to cover up her leg after a wall fell on her? This happened weeks ago, but I thought it was worth mentioning: Those were Mattek-Sands' socks, and yes, according to Mattek-Sands, Wickmayer's leg "looked like a Hollywood war casualty prop."

The BNP Paribas Open Pre-Qualifier begins today in Indian Wells. The winner will receive the remaining wild card into the main draw.

Passing shots

Recently retired Tathiana Garbin plans to work with the Italian Tennis Federation, and she will also do some television work.

I learned a lot about Rebecca Marino by reading her Memphis blog this week. The rising Canadian player was born in Toronto, raised in Vancouver, and trains in Montreal. She is a big hockey fan, as one would expect, and she likes reading, going to movies, and hanging out in coffee shops. She doesn't go in for tanning (smart Rebecca!), and she is big into shoelaces. I learned more from reading Bobby Chintapalli's interview with her: As a child, Marino was a Jennifer Capriati fan, her coach thinks she is an inch taller than she actually is, and she really likes Alison Riske.

Serena Williams, who loves all things Green Day, recemtly got to tour the Broadway set of American Idiot.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands attributes a lot of the injuries on the tour to over-practicing.

Jarmila Groth is the top qualifying seed in Doha, and she has made it to the second round of qualifying. Also into the second round is Viktoriya Kutuzova, whom we haven't seen in a long time.

Kvitova defeats Clijsters to win Paris championship

In both the second round and the quarterfinals at the Open GDF SUEZ, Petra Kvitova came from behind to win. Her match against friend and countrywoman Barbora Zahlavova Strycova lasted three and a quarter hours, and she followed that with another three-set match. She had an easy win in the semifinals, but one had to wonder how much--physically and mentally--she had left to give in the final.

Enough, as it turns out. The fourth seed defeated new world number 1 Kim Clijsters 6-4, 6-3, hit ten aces along the way, and once again displayed a steady and thoughtful demeanor that is in contrast to the up-and-comer we saw just a year and a half ago. Australian Open champion Clijsters was the favorite to win in Paris, but Kvitova outshone her in both serving and returning. Kvitova won the match on the Belgian's serve, though Clijsters saved one match point by hitting her only ace.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy won the doubles championship. The 3rd seeds defeated Vera Dushevina and Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 6-2.

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.

Groth wins Hobart

Jarmila Groth, currently ranked number 40 in the world, has won the Moorilla Hobart International. Groth defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 6-3 in the final, which was played in windy conditions. Both players now head to Melbourne for the Australian Open. Mattek-Sands gets a qualifier in the first round, but Groth has to play 21st seed Yanina Wickmayer.

Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci are the new Hobart doubles champions. They defeated Kateryna Bondarenko and Liga Dekmeijere 6-3, 7-5. Because it rained so much during the tournament, a doubles semifinal had to be played following the singles final. Bondarenko and Dekmeijere won that match, defeating Groth and Klara Zakopalova.

Passing shots

Chang Kai-Chen has received a wild card into the main draw of the Australian Open.

Shahar Peer rose to a ranking of number 12 in the world this week.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands has pledged 5% of her Hobart and Australian Open prize money to the flooded communities of Queensland. Last year, Mattek-Sands donated part of her prize money to victims of the flood in Nashville.

Caroline Wozniacki needs to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open to be sure of holding on to her number 1 spot in the rankings.

Here is a look at what Wozniacki will wear at the Australian Open.

Monica Seles is going to write a two-book fiction series for young adults called The Academy.

Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters and Caroline Wozniacki have been nominated for the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year title.

USA wins Hopman Cup

The USA, facing an unexpected Belgian team in the final, has won the 2011 Hopman Cup. Justine Henin defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands 7-6, 6-3 (the first set lasted 69 minutes) in the women's singles rubber, but John Isner won his singles rubber, and the team of Mattek-Sands and Isner won the mixed doubles competition.

This is the sixth time that team USA has won the Hopman Cup.

Serbia expected to play in Hopman Cup final

Serbia's Hopman Cup team, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic, have gone undefeated so far in Hopman Cup competition. Serbia has won all three rubbers against both Australia and Kazakhstan, and will face the team from Belgium next. Belgium, however, would have to win all three rubbers in order to keep Group A team Serbia out of the final, and that isn't likely to happen.

Group B consists of Italy, France, Great Britain, and the USA. In women's singles, the USA's Bethanie Mattek-Sands has defeated both Kristina Mladenovic of France and Italy's Francesca Schiavone. Mattek-Sands' defeat of Schiavone is her first top-10 win (though the Hopman Cup tournament is not part of the tour).

Kazakhstan waa originally represented by Yaroslava Shvedova, but she injured her right knee in the first rubber when she played Ivanovic, and she was replaced by Sesil Karatantcheva. Shvedova is currently in rehab for her knee injury.

Mattek-Sands to replace Williams in Hopman Cup

Bethanie Mattek-Sands has been named to the USA Hopman Cup team. Mattek-Sands replaces Serena Williams, who was forced to withdraw from the tournament because of her foot injury. Mattek-Sands and John Isner will represent the USA in the international team event, which begins on January 1. The USA is in Group B, with Great Britain, Italy and France. Group A includes Serbia, Belgium, Australia, and Kazakhstan.

Fed Cup miscellany

Players are so tired at the end of the season, they probably appreciate any gesture that will lessen their workload. Usually, a player (or players) helps with the draw, but in San Diego, the job was given to Clyde the sea lion. The draw ceremony was held at SeaWorld, and Clyde selected the tennis ball which had Coco Vandeweghe's name on it, giving the young USA team member the first match against Francesca Schiavone, and setting up the weekend schedule. Schiavone's photo with Clyde is priceless.

Schiavone, by the way, is the final player to win a 2010 Fed Cup Heart Award.

For those unable to watch the final on television: You should know that Bethanie Mattek-Sands is wearing solid red knee socks this weekend.

Tomorrow, Billie Jean King will be given the 2010 Fed Cup Award of Excellence.

Spain's six top players have called off their boycott of the 2011 Fed Cup competition after reaching an agreement with their country's tennis federation that--according to Spain's sports minister, Jaime Lissavetzky--meets "the vast majority of the players' demands." "The objective," Lisavetsky said, "is to re-launch women's tennis in Spain over the short and medium term. The Spanish players who brought about the changes are Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Arantxa Parra Santonja, Carla Suarez Navarro, Nuria Llagostera Vives, and Lourdes Dominguez Lino.

Fed Cup final, day 1: Italy leads 2-0

Italy is now one match away from winning a second consecutive Fed Cup final. The defending champions won both singles rubbers against the USA today. In the first match, first-time Fed Cup player Coco Vandeweghe was defeated 6-2, 6-4 by Francesca Schiavone. Vandeweghe was visibly anxious in the first set, but calmed down in the second, and occasionally issued a challenge to Schiavone.

The second match had some high drama. A tired and physically down Flavia Pennetta--playing her 72nd singles match of the season (she has also played 64 doubles matches)--was still able to go up 5-1 in the first set. But then her opponent, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, won five straight games. Pennetta held, and a tiebreak ensued.

Mattek-Sands, who is always fun to watch, worked so hard to get into the tiebreak, but then experienced a loss of focus, which gave Pennetta the first set. "After a while, I was beginning to breathe," Pennetta commented later about the tight first set. "For a while, I wasn't breathing at all."

By this time, the two players had competed for an hour and 23 minutes. Several games into the second set, Mattek-Sands began to cramp. Pennetta knew that something was going on, but--she revealed later--she didn't know what it was, and she allowed her confusion to overcome her focus. As a result, Mattek-Sands, who received routine treatment during a changeover, was able to hang in for a while against the Italian. Pennetta won the set 6-2, however.

Mattek-Sands is scheduled to play Francesca Schiavone in tomorrow's first match, but, of course, whether she plays depends on how well she recovers from the cramping. Vandeweghe is scheduled to play Pennetta, though there was some talk today about substituting Melanie Oudin. Mattek-Sands' health will dictate some of the decisions that USA captain Mary Joe Fernandez makes tomorrow.

The Italian players both displayed end-of-the-season weariness. "You arrive 'finished'," Schiavone said of the fatigue involved in traveling from Doha to California; Pennetta said she had not been feeling too good all week.

Miscellany

Kim Clijsters reports that she is pain-free. Clijsters developed an infection on the bottom of her foot after undergoing a mole-removal procedure.

Justine Henin, by the way, reports that she is also pain-free.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands tells us that the most requested cocktail from her personal bar is a concoction called the Italian Wedding Cake. You can get details in her latest USA Today blog entry.

Coco Vandeweghe says she originally considered playing college basketball, but changed to tennis because she did not really enjoy playing on a team.

Amelie Mauresmo was on hand recently to celebrate Yannick Noah's 50th birthday, and you should check out this cake.

Mirza out of Guangzhou

Sania Mirza's comeback was cut short today by Zhang Shuai, who defeated her 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in the Guangzhou quarterfinals. Meanwhile, top seed Jarmila Groth advanced to the semifinals with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Maria Elena Camerin.

In the Quebec City quarterfinals, Bethanie Mattek-Sands defeated wild card Rebecca Marino 6-4, 7-5. Christina Mchale defeated qualifier Alexa Glatch, and qualifier Tamira Paszek defeated Sophie Arvidsson. Number 3 seed Lucie Safarova had to content with a challenge from Melanie Oudin, but Safarova came back from a 0-3 score in the final set to win the match, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Miscellany

Come to Win: Business Leaders, Artists, Doctors and Other Visionaries on How Sports Can Help You Top Your Profession, entered the New York Times best-seller list as number 5 last week. Author Venus Williams came to win last night, and is in the semifinals of the 2010 U.S. Open.

Martina Hingis is--once again--contemplating a return to the tour as a doubles player.

The late-night U.S. Open quarterfinal played by Sam Stosur and Elena Dementieva took its toll on both of them. Stosur had trouble getting out of bed Monday morning, and was not able to hit for very long. Dementieva said that she felt "a bit sleepy" during the match.

I understand that U.S. commentators have neither the manners nor the motivation to learn how to pronounce "foreign" players' names, but maybe they can't help themselves, since some of them cannot pronounce "Huber" or "Evert," either. And how surprised am I than a multiple-major winner, long-time commentator and self-professed know-it-all cannot pronounce "athlete"?

Esther Vergeer, along with several other players, is featured in Vanity Fair. (Thanks to Forty Deuce for this link.)

Bethanie Mattek-Sands reports that: Lisa Raymond keeps taking Mattek-Sands' lucky number 23 locker, Maria Sharapova likes to play Scrabble on her iPad, Nadia Petrova drinks an "alien green" sports drink, and Timea Bacsinszky burned holes into her tennis skirt while ironing it at the last minute.