Miscellany

Matt Cronin says the Williams sisters are headed toward retirement.

Venus Williams says she is hoping to win some titles and has her mind on the Olympic Games. "Serena and I will have to be in the best shape of our lives for London. We have to be machines to play in three events. It's something like fourteen matches in eight days. We had better be ready."

Not surprisingly, Vera Zvonareva was recently presened with Russia's Female Tennis Player of the Year award.

James LaRosa says that Zvonareva and Jelena Jankovic are still in the running to win majors, and that Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova are still in the running to attain career slams.

Sania Mirza has made it to both the singles quarterfinals and the mixed doubles quarterfinals at the Asian Games. She defeated Zhang Shuai in the second round.

Edina Gallovits is getting married during the off-season.

Groth wins Guangzhou title

Jarmila Groth won her first tour title today. Groth defeated Alla Kudryavtseva 6-1, 6-4 to claim the Guangzhou International Women's Open championship. Groth was the top seed at the tournament.

Edina Gallovits and Sania Mirza won the doubles championship. They defeated Han Xin Yun and Liu Wanting 7-5, 6-3.

Jankovic survives tough challenge from Gallovits in Charleston

2nd seed Jelena Jankovic--sometimes smiling, sometimes yelling at herself and addressing a very encouraging crowd--lost the first set of her second round Family Circle Cup match against Edina Gallovits. Gallovits likes to play on clay, she gets a lot of balls back (just like you-know-who), and she can throw in some tricky change-ups. Not allowing Jankovic to get a rhythm going, she took the first set 6-2.

The crowd, eager to see Jankovic advance, began cheering her on. For her part, Jankovic became more aggressive, and quickly went 4-1 in the second set. She then faced two break points, and when the second one came along, she made a loud and angry speech. Fans began yelling at her to carry on, and she broke into a big smile. It didn't affect Gallovits, though: She broke Jankovic. Later in the set, Gallovits saved two set points on her own serve, but then Jankovic successfully served for the set.

In the third set, the 2nd seed broke at 2-all, then broke again at 3-5. But when she served for the match, she double-faulted twice in a row. On the fourth point, she double-faulted again, and was broken. She broke Gallovits back, however, to post a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory.

Jankovic was quick to praise Gallovits for her competitive clay game. "...she played really well, especially in the first set, and I thought she played well...throughout the whole three sets. She didn't really give me much...."

Errani and Vinci upset in Acapulco

Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, seeded 6th and 7th in Acapulco, were both eliminated from competition today. Edina Gallovits defeated Errani 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, and qualifier Laura Pous Tio defeated Vinci 6-3, 6-2.

Errani and Vinci are partners in doubles, and have advanced to the semifinals.

Duque Marino wins her first tour title

Mariana Duque Marino, unseeded in Bogota, defeated 5th seed Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-3 today to win the title. Kerber upset top seed Gisela Dulko in the semifinals.

Dulko and her partner, Edina Gallovits, won the doubles championship, defeating Olga Savchuk and Anastasiya Yakimova 6-2, 7-6.

My Charleston doubles hopes dashed

I assumed that Edina Gallovits and Olga Govortsova, who finally teamed up again in Florida this week, would again play doubles in Charleston, but no such luck. Gallovits has withdrawn from the Family Circle Cup. Taking her place in the draw is Julia Schruff.

Medina Garrigues upset in Auckland

Edina Gallovits upset 3rd seed Anabel Medina Garrigues in Auckland today, defeating the Spaniard 6-3, 6-3.

Other seeds making an exit: 4th seed Aleksandra Wozniak (defeated by Ayumi Morita), 6th seed Nicole Vaidisova (defeated by Elena Vesnina), 7th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (defeated by Aravane Rezai), number 8 seed Carla Suarez Navarro (defeated by Anne Keothavong)

Oh, good!--they're together again

The entertaining team of Gallovits and Govortsova heads to the court

I was worried, after Charleston, that Edina Gallovits and Olga Govortsova had decided not to play doubles together anymore, but here they are--reunited--in the Wimbledon draw. Their accidental and spontaneous teaming up at the Family Circle Cup was a real plus for fans. Gallovits and Govortsova played exceptionally well and wound up in the final. On their way there, they took out both Black and Huber and Peschke and Stubbs.

Gallovits and Govortsova play Sofia Arvidsson and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in the first round.

Why, I wonder...

Would Edina Gallovits and Olga Govortsova not play doubles together at Roland Garros? The impromptu team made it to the finals in Charleston and they were a joy to watch. Govortsova, playing with Ekaterina Dzehalevich, has already been eliminated.

Srebotnik and Sugiyama win Family Circle Cup

Edina Gallovits and Olga Govortsova had never before played doubles together, and--ten minutes before the entry deadline expired-they decided, on a whim, to enter the Family Circle Cup. During the course of the tournament, they took out both the number 3 seeds, Peschke and Stubbs, and the number 1 seeds, Black and Huber. The number 2 seeds, Katerina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama, proved too much for them, however.

One hopes that the team of Gallovits and Govortsova is here to stay. Gallovits is good at the net, as is Govortsova, if she has time to set up. Govortsova has an impressive forehand down the line, and Gallovits thrills with her lobs. Against Srebotnik and Sugiyama, though, they were neither quick nor clever enough. It was a good final, whose scoreline does not reflect its quality; Gallovits and Govortsova, should they choose to stay together (and why wouldn't they?) have nowhere to go but up.

(Tournament director Robin Reynolds had no excuse for not knowing how to pronounce Govortsova's name, and she also should have known that Srebotnik is from Slovenia, not Slovakia.)

Srebotnik/Sugiyama def. Gallovits/Govortsova, 6-2, 6-2

Shake a hand, make a friend

There was an uncomfortable feeling throughout the match between Alize Cornet and Sara Errani. The two women had to deal with some bad line calls, and Cornet became incensed when a let was called in the middle of a volley (some trash had floated onto the court). At one point, one of Cornet's shots was called out, the umpire overruled the linesperson, and Errani successfully challenged the umpire. Cornet became more frustrated as the match wore on, and even when she won it, she seemed strangely out of sorts. She and Errani walked to the net, and--standing on either side of it--strolled to the umpire's chair to shake the umpire's hand. It was only when they were about to do so that the seemed to realize they had not shaken each other's hands. There was a very quick handshake with almost no eye contact involved.

Later, after Agnieszka Radwanska won their tough, drawn-out match, Edina Gallovits walked to the net to shake her opponent's hand, but--on the way--threw her racquet in anger. It landed on the tip of the handle and bounced a couple of times. Needless to say, the look on Radwanska's face during the handshake was less than calm. I was surprised and disappointed.