Sharapova (yes, you're reading it right) wins Rome

Back in what people consider her "great" days--when she was blowing opponents off of hard courts without dropping a set--Maria Sharapova was not expected to win red clay titles. During the past couple of seasons, after she went through botched diagnosis, rotator cuff surgery, and two rehabs--Sharapova was described as "finished," "under-confident" and "will never be the same again." She did struggle mightily, especially with her service game, but today, we got "old" Sharapova with a twist: She won a premier red clay tournament in Rome. The 7th seed and three-time major champion defeated 6th seed Stosur 6-2, 6-4 after the players waited three hours to play because of a rain delay.

To get to the final, Sharapova had to beat world number 1 Caroline Wozniacki, and to get the title, she had to beat 2010 French Open runner-up Sam Stosur. She beat them both in straight sets, and will be number 7 in the world when the rankings are published tomorrow. Sharapova is now 8-0 against Stosur.

Peng Shuai and Zheng Jie won the doubles title, upsettingh 3rd seeds Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova 6-2, 6-3.

Stosur and Sharapova to meet in Rome final

Never known for her acumen on clay courts, and considered by many to be "finished" because of injury and confidence issues--Maria Sharapova, the self-proclaimed clay court Cow on Ice--has made it to the final of the Italian Open. Sharapova defeated top seed Caroline Wozniacki 7-5, 6-3 in the semifinals, hitting 36 winners along the way. Of course, this isn't the first time that Sharapova has "failed to meet expectations" on clay. Last year, she played a gritty third round French Open match against Justine Henin, and took Henin to three sets.

The world number 1 has never won a red clay tournament. During this year's red clay season, she has fallen to Julia Goerges twice, and now to Sharapova. Wozniacki did win this year's Family Circle Cup, which is played on green clay.

Sharapova's opponent in the final will be 2010 French Open runner-up Sam Stosur, who defeated Li Na 7-6, 6-0 in the semifinals. Stosur has looked kind of flat lately, but her game has come to life in Rome, and the final will probably be a good one.

In the doubles semifinals, 3rd seeds Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova defeated 2nd seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 7-6, 62, and Peng Shuai and Zheng Jie defeated Alexandra Dulgheru and Jarmila Gadjosova 3-6, 6-4, 10-5.

Dulko and Pennetta out of Italian Open

Defending champions Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta, the number 1 seeds at the Italian Open, were upset today in the quarterfinals. The ad hoc team of Alexandra Dulgheru and Jarmila Gajdosova defeated Dulko and Pennetta 7-6, 6-4.

2nd seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik advanced, as did 3rd seeds Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova. Peschke and Srebotnik defeated 6th seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy; King and Shvedova defeated Nadia Petrova and Anastasia Rodionova. Peng Shuai and Zheng Jie defeated 8th seeds Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Anaabel Medina Garrigues.

Jankovic and Schiavone out of Italian Open

Blogger has been down for maintenance for a couple of days, so I haven't been able to post anything. The tournament in Rome has really captured my attention, however. It's now close to being in the semifinals, so--before we forget--there are a couple of players who made noteworthy runs, even though they've been beaten.

Polona Hercog, who went out in the first round of qualifying in Madrid, upset 15th seed Andrea Petkovic in straight sets in the second round in Rome. Hercog, who had to go through qualifying, also defeated Alexandra Dulgheru, who is known for her clay court savvy. Hercog lost to 6th seed Sam Stosur in the third round.

Greta Arn had a good run, too. Arn upset 12th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 in a first round match that lasted three hours and 22 minutes. Arn then defeated wild card Alberta Brianti, and she defeated (an injured) Elena Vesnina in the third round (also, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6). Finally, Arn met her match in 4th seed Li Na.

Rome is, of course, generally where Jelena Jankovic "finds herself." She lost the final last year, but her run was nevertheless top form--she defeated both Williams sisters. Today, however, she was beaten in three sets by top seed Caroline Wozniacki. Jankovic made an abundance of unforced errors, helping Wozniacki to send her out of her beloved Rome.  The top seed will play Li in the quarterfinals.

Also making it to the semifinals was Sam Stosur, who took out home favorite and 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in straight sets. Stosur will face wither Victoria Azarenka or Maria Sharapova next.

Defending champion out of Rome in first round

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who brilliantly defeated Jelena Jankovic in last year's Rome final, was defeated today in the first round of the 2011 Italian Open. Ekatarina Makarova defeated Martinez Sanchez 6-0, 5-7, 6-4. Gisela Dulko and Alexandra Dulgheru went out, too, defeated by Iveta Benesova and Polona Hercog, respectively.

Also defeated in the opening round was 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. Kuznetsova lost to Greta Arn, 3-6, 7-6., 7-6. The third set tiebreak score was 11-9, and the match lasted three hours and 22 minutes. The third set, in fact, lasted an hour and 47 minutes. Arn saved four match points, and won on her fifth match point.

Dulko and Pennetta take Rome title

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez was going for the whole thing in Rome today, but she and partner Nuria Llagostera Vives had to be content with runner-up trophies in the Italian Open doubles competition. Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta, who won the title last week in Stuttgart, took the honors today in Rome, too. The Italian 6th seeds upset the Spanish 2nd seeds 6-4, 6-2.

It should be noted that while Pennetta's singles career has taken a dip lately, her doubles career is on fire. The opposite is true of Martinez Sanchez. She and Llagostera Vives were a very hot doubles team last year, but have not been able to find the same form this season.

Unseeded Martinez Sanchez wins Italian Open

Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows that I wasn't exactly shocked that the unseeded Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez made it to the semifinal of a big tournament. And I wasn't that surprised that she made it to a final, either, though she has been known to collapse at big moments against big players. Any regular reader also knows that I am a major JJ fan, and I really did want her to get her third Rome title.

And I thought she would. But Martinez Sanchez, whose bag of tricks makes me long for days gone by, knew what to do. She lost her nerve a few times, yes, but she found it when it mattered most.

When contemporary tennis experts were handing out today's "rules," Martinez Sanchez wasn't listening: Never use a drop shot on return of serve. Use a drop shot only in an emergency. Work your way into the rallies. "Pardon--did you say something?..."

It can be successfully argued that the Spaniard over-used her favorite shot in the first set, but--on the other hand--even the drops that didn't work kept what had to be a tired opponent running and running. But Martinez Sanchez is about more than drop shots. She can slice, spin, volley from all parts of the court, and make it up as she goes along. She's fast, she can stretch out quickly, and she has that increasingly elusive gift--a good serve.

Jankovic, it should be noted, played well. The 7th seed is one of the very best movers on the tour, and she's harder to push around with aggression than many other players would be. She's also a very smart player, and there were moments in the Rome final when you could literally watch her figure out her opponent. She also knew--as did we all--that nerves would be a major factor in Martinez Sanchez's first big tour final. Jankovic had not only been there before, she'd won the title twice before.

Martinez Sanchez went up 5-2 in the first set, and had a set point at 5-3, but was broken. At 5-all, Jankovic broke, but was broken back, and a tiebreak ensued. Martinez Sanchez won that tiebreak 7-5, closing it with serve-and-volley finesse. Martinez Sanchez immediately broke in the second set, but was broken back to create a 3-all scoreline. Martinez Sanchez then went up 5-3, but was broken again. At 5-all, the Spaniard hit two flat forehand down-the-line winners to go up 6-5, and she won the match with another serve-and-volley play. At 7-6, 7-5, Martinez Sanchez fell backward onto the clay before greeting the crowd and accepting her trophy. In two sets, she hit 44 winners, many of which were either smacked or gently nudged from the net.

There were many entertaining moments in the match, particularly when--toward the end of the second set--the two women engaged in rapid-fire volleying right at the net. Jankovic hit the clay so often that by the end of the match, she looked something like a lime-tinted Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

Both women had great tournaments. And although Jankovic failed to win a third title in her beloved Rome, she can still say she took out both Williams sisters in one tournament--and consecutively, at that. Jankovic is playing very well on clay right now, and also seems quite strong mentally. The big win for Martinez-Sanchez represents yet another turning point in the late-blooming Spaniard's career, and clay season just gets better and better for fans.

Dulko & Pennetta go to Rome final

Ever since Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta began playing doubles together again, they have been the new hot team. They won both Miami and Stuttgart, and now they are in the final in Rome, after defeating Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova 6-2, 4-6, 10-5 in the semifinals.

The Italians' opponents will be last season's Sony Ericcson Championships winners, Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who is also in the singles final. Llagostera Vives and Martinez Sanchez, seeded 2nd in Rome, defeated 4th seeds Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs 6-2, 7-6 today.

Jankovic to play Martinez Sanchez in Rome final

I have photographed quite a few tennis players, and there is one player who--if I just shoot repeatedly without even paying much attention to what I'm doing--I wind up with a series of pictures of stretches, splits, twists, slides, and bends. That player is the intensely physical Jelena Jankovic, who is a kind of twisty perpetual  motion machine on the court. (I imagine photos of Kim Clijsters would be similar, but I haven't had the good fortune of photographing her.)

Jankovic has now slid her way to her third Rome final, taking out the Williams sisters, one after another, in two very different matches. Today's semifinal match against Serena Williams lasted over 2 hours and 47 minutes, and featured just about everything you could want to see--except for clean play. Both players committed a lot of errors, both fought hard, and the momentum swung with such intensity that it was useless for fans of either player to get comfortable about the outcome.

Williams took the first set 6-4, Jankovic took the second 6-3, and then the real fun began. Serving at 3-5, Jankovic held, then broke Williams when she served for the match at 5-4, saving a match point along the way. But Williams broke her right back. Williams served for the match a second time, and went down 0-40. She saved those three break points. Williams then hit a smash that was intended to be a winner, but Jankovic got to the ball and passed Williams. She then broke Williams to set up a tiebreak.

Williams, suddenly finding the serve that had eluded her for much of the match, went up 3-0 immediately in the tiebreak, then went up 5-2, but Jankovic finally brought it to 5-all. She then broke both of Williams' serves to take the match, and the up-and-down, drawn-out affair was over. Jankovic, who went through some of her usual turmoil throughout the match, was quite mentally tough when it counted the most.

Between them, the two players double-faulted 17 times. There were 39 break opportunities and 13 breaks of serve. Welcome to clay court season!

The other semifinal was fun to watch, but not nearly as dramatic. I always enjoy watching Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, whose so-called "old school" tennis constantly exposes the gaps in today's player development. Spin like mad into the corners, then serve flat? No problem. Stretch out wide and hit a volley from the baseline? No problem. Martinez Sanchez has such deft touch, and so much variety--and she also has one of the tour's best serves. It was all too much for Ana Ivanovic to handle, and the Spaniard won the match 6-4, 6-2.

I can't think of two people I'd rather see play a final on red clay than Martinez Sanchez and Jankovic. Of course, this experience is a new one for Martinez Sanchez, and she is likely to be anxious. Jankovic is hoping to get her third Rome title, and Martinez Sanchez is hoping to get her first big title anywhere. If Martinez Sanchez can hold her nerve, this could be a very entertaining final.

Sounds like old times...

Serena, Jelena, Ana, and Maria. That sounds like a semifinal draw from a couple of years ago. It isn't quite the same though. The "Ana" part is a surprise, and the last name on that list refers to clay court artist Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, not the other Maria, who probably wouldn't be on the list even if she were healthy.

Ivanovic has made a resurgence in Rome, and has advanced to the semifinals via her defeat today of 14th seed Nadia Petrova, who just can't seem to put it together anymore, not even on clay, at the deep end of a tournament. Ivanovic served her way to a 6-2, 7-5 victory, and will play Martinez Sanchez in the semifinals. Martinez Sanchez defeated Lucie Safarova 7-6, 6-4. Expect some big serving from both players in their match tomorrow.

Top seed Serena Williams defeated Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. Kirilenko was down 0-4 in the second set, but fought back to create a contest.

And then there was Venus Williams, whose serve was terribly off today, and--to make it worse--she faced a completely in-form Jelena Jankovic. Jankovic loves Rome. She has won the tournament twice, and her first big career turn-around took place there. Jankovic won 6-0, 6-1 in just under an hour. She will play Serena Williams in the semifinal. Jankovic is 3-4 against Williams in tour matches, and they have never before faced each other on clay.

Jankovic and Martinez Sanchez put on shows in Rome today

Jelena Jankovic hit 22 winners and made only 7 unforced errors today in her steamrolling victory over 11th seed Yanina Wickmayer today in Rome. Jankovic hit 6 aces, and had service win percentage of 75 and 73. Hitting over 30 winners, and demonstrating why some of us love to watch clay court tennis, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez looped and dropped her way to a 6-4, 6-4 victory over 2nd seed Caroline Wozniacki. Martinez Sanchez now has a 3-0 head-to-head lead over Wozniacki.

Lucie Safarova also continued her recent good form, defeating number 8 seed Agnieszka Radwanska 1-6, 6-3, 7-6. Radwanska won only one point in the tiebreak. Ana Ivanovi appears to be back among the winners, too, defeating Elena Dementieva 6-1, 7-6.

Here is the quarterfinal draw:

Serena Williams (1/wc) vs. Maria Kirilenko
Venus Williams vs. Jelena Jankovic
Ana Ivanovic vs. Nadia Petrova (6)
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez vs. Lucie Safarova

Williams and Jankovic have quite a rivalry going. They have met ten times, and have split the wins evenly. All but one match went to three sets. Jankovic leads Williams 3-1 on clay surfaces.

In doubles today, the number 3 seeds, Cara Black and Elena Vesnina, had to retire in their second round match because Vesnina sustained a lower back injury. Other seeded teams advanced today in the second round, with 4th seeds Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs advancing to the quarterfinals.

Dulgheru defeats Safina and advances to 3rd round in Rome

Alexandra Dulgheru impressed me when she beat Sara Errani in the first round of the Italian Open. She backed up that good win today by taking out the defending champion and 3rd seed, Dinara Safina, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1. Safina double-faulted nine times and her service stats overall could certainly have been better. Nevertheless, Dulgheru hung in for over 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Safina, who made 51 unforced errors, will probably have to play quite a few matches before she can find her form again. Of course, it's hard to play a lot of matches when you go out so early in a tournament, but really good players have found their way back many times.

Ana Ivanovic seems to have made a fresh start in Rome, defeating Elena Vesnina in the first round and 9th seed Victoria Azarenka in the second. Ivanovic's next challenge will be Elena Dementieva.

Top seed Serena Williams faced a challenge today from Timea Bacsinszky, but prevailed 7-6, 6-1. How often do we see that scoreline when a much lower-ranked player plays a close first set? Williams' sister, Venus, is now 10-0 against Patty Schnyder, and plays Shahar Peer in the third round.

As I expected, Yanina Wickmayer had to work long and hard to win her second round match against Aravane Rezai. The score was 6-3, 6-7, 7-5. Wickmayer will play Jelena Jankovic in the third round. Jankovic defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

No Italians left in Italian Open

Alberta Brianti, Robeta Vinci, Maria Elena Camerin, Flavia Pennetta, and Francesca Sciavone were defeated today in the Italian Open, leaving no Italians in the draw after the second round. Romina Oprandi, Corinna Dentoni, Tathiana Garbin, and Sara Errani all went out in the first round.

I thought that both Errani and Schiavone--not to mention Pennetta--might stick around longer, though 13th seed Schiavone had to face Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the second round, and she is a tough opponent on both clay and hard courts. Martinez Sanchez serves really well, which often gives her a nice advantage.

12th seed Pennetta won only three games against Lucie Safarova. Pennetta had one of her bad serving days, and was broken six times by Safarova.

Miscellany

Dinara Safina says that she has no back pain when she plays, but in her conditioning regimen, she is no longer permitted to do anything that puts pressure on her spine.

Venus and Serena were referenced in last night's episode of Brothers & Sisters, which included a lot of tennis. Go Kevrah!

Rome matches are being streamed all this week on both Tennis TV.

Sania Mirza is hitting again and reports that she has no wrist pain.

Anne Keothavong says that she and Rome doubles partner Andrea Petkovic kept themselves amused during the rain delays yesterday by doing impersonations. Unfortunately, she doesn't say whom they were impersonating.

Victoria Azarenka has redesignd her website.

Kuznetsova upset in 2nd round of Italian Open

Maria Kirilenko sent Svetlana Kuznetsova (who hit 10 aces) out of Rome competition today with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 win over the 5th seed. Kuznetsova, the 2009 French Open champion, has not had a champion's year so far. She did make it to the quarterfinals of Miami, where she was the number 1 seed, but was upset by 13th seed Marion Bartoli. Kuznetsova reached the second round in Sydney, the fourth round at the Australian Open, the third round in Dubai (where she lost to a qualifier), and the second round in Indian Well (she had a bye in the first round). As defending champion in Stuttgart, she lost in the second round.

Four qualifiers, a wild card and a lucky loser (Pauline Parmentier, who became the lucky loser when 10th seed Sam Stosur withdrew from the tournament) went out in first round play today, and a couple of clay court experts took out a couple of big hitters. Italian veteran Roberta Vinci defeated Alisa Kleybanova 7-6, 7-6, and 13th seed Francesca Schiavone defeated Daniela Hantuchova.

There were also clay court experts who did not survive. In the "What do I know?" department, Sara Errani--whom I chose to be a dangerous floater in the tournament--lost to Alexandra Dulgheru. That is a bit of an interesting story: When Dulgheru, a qualifier, surprised everyone and won in Warsaw last year--in the first tour tournament she had ever entered--she defeated Errani in the second round.

The other clay specialist who did not survive today was Gisela Dulko, who did a lot of hard work in the third set, only to lose the match in a tiebreak. Dulko played fellow clay afficionado Patty Schnyder, who was up 5-0 in the third set, but, characteristically, had problems closing the match. Dulko broke her twice and held her own serve, also. Schnyder had a break point when Dulko served at 3-5, but could not convert it. Dulko then broke her again, and then again. Schnyder saved three match points at 5-6, then won the tiebreak 7-5. (Thrill Ride makes her 2010 Rome debut soon, and she will have to be really creative to top that.) The final score was 6-7, 6-2, 7-6.

11th seed Yanina Wickmayer barely survived. She defeated qualifier Karolina Sprem 6-3, 1-6, 6-4. Lucie Safarova hit 14 aces in her 6-2, 6-7 (9), 6-3 defeat of Olga Govortsova, and Ana Ivanovic, in her straight set win over Elena Vesnina, posted outstanding service win percentages of 81 and 69.

In the all-USA match, recent Fed Cup star Bethanie Mattek-Sands defeated Melanie Oudin 6-1, 6-3. For her effort, she will play 7th seed Jelena Jankovic. Mattek-Sands is now 3-0 against Oudin in tour play.

In doubles, the all-Russian team of Maria Kirilenko and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Victoria Azarenka and Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 7-5.

Zvonareva and Zheng out in first round of Italian Open

Vera Zvonareva, seeded 15th in Rome, lost the first set of her first round match against Petra Kvitova, then went on to win only six more points in the match. Kvitova's 6-4, 6-0 win over Zvonaeva is the first major upset of the tournament ("major" because Zvonareva would normally be seeded higher but is still working her way back from a long injury layoff). Zvonareva, who says she is not near her optimum fitness level, did get to the final in Charleston, but was soundly defeated in that event by Sam Stosur.

Also going out today was Zheng Jie, who lost to wild card Maria Elena Camerin. Camerin defeated Zheng 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in a match that lasted 2 hours and 51 minutes.

Play today was repeatedly interrupted by rain.

Rome draw promises interesting early round action

Qualifiers have been placed in the draw, and the main draw action is about to begin in Rome. The tournament is being played in a brand new stadium, which can seat 10,500 people.

Former Italian Open champions who play this week include Dinara Safina (2009), Jelena Jankovic (2008, 2007), Kim Clijsters (2003), Serena Williams (2002), and Venus Williams (1999). Wild cards are held by Serena Williams, Romina Oprandi, Corrina Dentoni, and Maria Elena Camerin.

Here are some interesting first round matches:

Samantha Stosur vs. Dominika Cibulkova: Stosur, the 10th seed, may be a bit tired from her week in Stuttgart. On the other hand, Cibulkova hasn't played much lately; she had to withdraw from some clay tournaments because of an injury.

Gisela Dulko vs. Patty Schnyder: Though Schnyder is obviously winding down her career, Rome has always been a good venue for her. Both she and Dulko are capable of playing very well on clay, and both produce inconsistent results.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands vs. Melanie Oudin: USA Fed Cup team members, who just celebrated their run to the final, now have to be opponents in Rome. Mattek-Sands is a qualifier, so she has already played two matches in the new stadium. The winner gets two-time champion Jelena Jankovic.

Lucie Safarova vs. Olga Govortsova: This has the potential to be one of those good--and perhaps long-- matches that doesn't get much attention.

Francesca Schiavone vs. Daniela Hantuchova: Oh, dear--one of them has to go out in the first round.

2009 champion Dinara Safina will probably play Sara Errani in the second round, so she'll have her work cut out for her.

The doubles draw features a number of excellent teams, including the top seeds:

1. Liezel Huber & Nadia Petrova
2. Nuria Llagostera Vives & Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez
3. Cara Black & Elena Vesnina
4. Betanie Mattek-Sands & Yan Zi

Baltacha out in 1st round of Rome qualifying

Top Rome qualifying seed Elena Baltacha lost to Greta Arn today in the first round of qualifying. Arn defeated her 2-6, 6-3, 7-6. 2nd and 3rd seeds Ayumi Morita and Pauline Parmentier advanced to the next round.

Hsieh and Peng win Rome doubles title

Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai, who won the 2008 Bali title and the 2009 Sydney title, won the Internazionali BNL d'Italia doubles championship today. Hsieh and Peng defeated Daniela Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama 7-5, 7-6.

Safina wins Rome, and makes it look easy

There was no Thrill Ride today. Instead, the Dinara Safina who the world number 1 claims is the real one showed up for the Internazionali BNL d'Italia final. Aggressive from the first ball she hit, Safina never let up on the pressure against her talented opponent. And the pressure did Kuznetsova in, as she lost the patience she had shown all week, and made errors as she tried to fight back.

Is this a turning point for Safina? Or just a psychological wellness day? Time will tell. It felt to me like it could be a turning point. If it is, I have to confess that I'll miss those 2-5 down in the third matches. But, as she discovered in the French Open final last year, Safina cannot keep those kind of antics going too long and still win championsips. They are too mentally exhausting, not to mention the physical toll they take.