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.

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.

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.

Planet Hopman

Hopman Cup competition is supposed to be relaxed event. It has nothing to do with either tour, but is a season-opening tradition which fans enjoy. This year, it has also been the source of quite a bit of drama. Serbia was undefeated, and therefore, in the final, but Ana Ivanovic sustained an injury and the Serbian team had to withdraw. Francesca Schiavone was also injured, and Yaroslava Shvedova was injured so badly that she will not play in the Australian Open.

Kristina Mladenovic will probably not soon forget this Hopman Cup, either. Her doubles partner, Nicolas Mahut, dressed in a women's Lacoste outfit (complete with fake breasts) just like Mladenovic's for an exhibition match between France and the USA. His ensemble wasn't all French, though--Bethanie Mattek-Sands supplied him with tube socks.

With Serbia out, Belgium will play the USA in the final. In the meantime, Ivanovic reports that she expects to be able to play in Melbourne.

(There was another incident this week worth mentioning, though it occurred in Brisbane. Jarmila Groth's coach was not with her, so Sam Groth, the ATP player who is also her husband, stepped in. The pair engaged in a loud, unprintable argument during a break in her match against Andrea Petkovic. Groth lost the match.)

Passing shots

Elena Dementieva has accepted the position of vice president of the Russian Tennis Federation, which can be only a good thing for Russian tennis. The recently retired Dementieva was honored on Thursday by President Dmitry Medvedev. (Thanks to Forty Deuce for providing this news.)

Jelena Dokic has hired Glenn Schaap to be her coach.

Maria Sharapova, who recently ended her contract with Prince, will play with a Head racquet this season. She's been playing for a while with a Head racquet with the logo blacked out, so this is hardly a surprise. Sharapova's new endorsement contract is worth $2 million a year.

Kim Clijsters recently repeated her statement that 2011 may be her last full season on the tour.

Recently retired tour member Alina Jidkova was married over the holiday break. Jidkova married Sascha Ghods, who is also her partner in an international fine pearl business.

The January issue of the Russian version of Glamour contains a feature on Vera Zvonareva. You can see some photos here.

Dinara Safina spent part of the off-season in Argentina.

Jarmila Groth is blogging from Brisbane (warning: reading the first post will involve learning about Sam Groth's bleached mohawk).

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.

Matttek-Sands and Paszek to contend for Quebec City title

Qualifier Tamira Paszek advanced to the Bell Challenge final today, with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Christina McHale. In the final, she will play Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who defeated 3rd seed Lucie Safarova 6-2, 6-1. Mattek-Sands was the runner-up in 2008. Mattek-Sands and her partner, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, are also in the doubles final.

In Guangzhou, 1st seed Jarmila Groth clinched her spot in the final by defeating Edina Gallovits 6-0, 6-1. Her opponent will be Alla Kudryavtseva, who defeated Zhang Shuai 6-0, 6-4.

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.

Keep an eye on these U.S. Open 1st round matches

If Maria Sharapova were hoping for a good first-round warmup at the U.S. Open, then her hopes have probably been realized, for she will play Jarmila Groth. I was disappointed when I saw Groth's unfortunate first round draw; I enjoy watching her, and was hoping she could equal her French Open (where she had a wild card) and Wimbledon round of 16 runs. Of course, it may not be a walk in the park for Sharapova, especially if Groth brings her biggest serve. The Australian appears to like playing on a big stage, so this could be a good match.

Svetlana Kuznetsova could probably think of someone she'd rather face in the first round that Kimiko Date Krumm. Date Krumm's big tennis days are behind her, of course, but she gives every match everything she has, she's still a very good player, and her attitude doesn't tend to dip, unlike some of her peers. (Date Krumm, by the way, is back in the top 50.)

Two big hitters, Coco Vandeweghe and Sabine Lisicki, also meet in the first round. Under "normal" conditions, this wouldn't be a match of much interest. But Lisicki has not played many matches since she sustained her last injury, and this is a chance for the wild card to advance. Of course, Vandeweghe is a very undisciplined hitter, so anything can happen.

Daniela Hantuchova and Dinara Safina are also first-round opponents, though it's hard to accept that one of them will go home so early.

Pavlyuchenkova to play Vesnina in Istanbul final

3rd seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Jarmila Groth 7-6, 2-6, 7-5 in the Istanbul semifinals today, setting up a final against Elena Vesnina. Groth served for the match at 5-4 in the third set, but was broken.

The other semifinal, between Vesnina and Andrea Petkovic, has one of those strange scorelines you see from time to time: 1-6, 6-0, 7-6. Petkovic led 3-0 in the third set, but Vesnina caught up, and served for the match at 5-3. Petkovic broke her, and the match wound up in a tiebreak, which seemed just right, considering the odd course it had taken. Vesnina went up 5-0 before Petkovic even scored in the tiebreak, and eventually won it, 7-2.

The talented Vesnina has never won a tour title; Pavlyuchenkova has won one title.

Miscellany

The Kansas City Explorers are the 2010 World Team Tennis champions. It is the first championship for the team. Jarmila Groth was named the final's Most Valuable Player. Groth, who won all three of her sets, played doubles with Kveta Peschke.

Charleston, South Carolina, Atlanta, Georgia and Richmond, Virginia are the three finalists of the ten cities nominated by the USTA as the 2010 Best Tennis Town. The winning city, to be announced next month, will get $100,000 worth of tennis equipment to be used in its tennis community. 2010 Family Circle Cup champion Sam Stosur said: "Charleston certainly felt like the Best Tennis Town in America when I won the title in April, and it's definitely one of my favorite events on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour because the city is so beautiful, and the fans are very knowledgeable and supportive of the sport."

Ana Ivanovic says she is "a little hurt and disappointed" that she did not receive a wild card into Rogers Cup competition. Ivanovic will have to qualify to get into the main draw.

Sarah Unke writes about the struggles of Anna Chakvetadze.

Vera Zvonareva withdrew from the Bank of the West Classic because of a minor leg injury, but she plans to play in San Diego.

Here is an interview with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Kvitova blasts Wozniacki out of Wimbledon in round of 16

Petra Kvitova has always been a good hitter, but has tended to be careless. She has steadied herself at Wimbledon, however, and today added another impressive win to her string of Wimbledon upsets (which includes Zheng Jie and Victoria Azarenka) by upsetting 3rd seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-0. Kvitova had first and second service win percentages of 86 and 77, she hit 23 winners, and was successful at the net 88% of the time.

In contrast, Wozniacki--though she got 79% of her first serves in--won points on only 30% of them. She hit four winners in the entire match, and never saw a break opportunity.

Kvitova, by the way, has finally put on some weight; for a while, she loked like she might blow away.

Top seed Serena Williams faced a determined Maria Sharapova, but she prevailed, 7-6, 6-4. Sharapova held three set points in the first set tiebreak, but could not convert any of them. Williams hit 19 aces, bringing her total at this tournament to 62.

2nd seed Venus Williams, as I predicted, got her most serious challenge today, in the form of Jarmila Groth. It was an enjoyable match, but did not go to three sets, as I thought it might, because Groth eventually had trouble handling the occasion. Williams broke Groth at 4-all in the first set, and then held to win the set. Groth served for the second set at 5-4 and was broken. She served for the again at 6-5 and was broken again. Williams rushed to a quick 4-0 lead in the tiebreak, but Groth caught up with her, only to double-fault at 5-all, giving her opponent a match point. Williams won the match when Groth threw a forehand into the net.

Williams hit 26 winners and made 15 unforced errors. Groth hit 25 winners and made 16 unforced errors. Williams used her experience to win this match, which left Groth looking understandably disappointed. The Australian player has a lot to be proud of, however--coming from out of almost nowhere to reach the round of 16 at both the French Open and Wimbledon. She had a most impressive Wimbledon run.

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.

Karatantcheva and Groth get last Australian Open wild cards

The Asian wild card into the Australian Open has been given to Sesil Karatantcheva, and the other remaining one has been given to Australian player Jarmila Groth. The 8 wild cards are:

Justine Henin
Olivia Rogowska
Alicia Molik
Jarmila Groth
Casey Dellacqua
Sesil Karatantcheva
Stephanie Cohen-Aloro
Coco Vandeweghe

Miscellany

Alexa Glatch will not be competing for a wild card into the Australian Open main draw, after all. The latest contenders announced are Julia Cohen and Ester Goldfield. One more contender will be announced at a later date.

Jarmila Groth has been granted Australian citizenship.

Yanina Wickmayer will know within four months whether the appeal of her one-year suspension is successful. One hopes that "within four months" will be sooner than later.

Sun Tiantian recently married, and there is speculation that she will retire soon.

The second BNP Paribas Showdown, better known as the Billie Jean King Cup, will be played March 1 in Madison Square Garden. The competitors are Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters, and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Serena was last year's winner.

Peer wins match on one foot, and Lisicki retires

After she defeated Jarmila Groth today--6-2, 0-6, 6-3--in the Estoril Open quarterfinals, 7th seed Shahar Peer had to obtain crutches in order to walk off the court. Peer injured her ankle during the match, and is expected to withdraw from the tournament.

That wasn't the only injury: 4th seed Sabine Lisicki retired against Anna-Lena Groenefeld because of a right shoulder injury. I hope it isn't very serious; I am quite keen on seeing how Lisicki does on European clay courts.

Number 2 seed Maria Kirilenko was upset by 6th-seeded Ekaterina Makarova, and number 3 seed Sorana Cirstea was upset by Yanina Wickmayer. Top seeds Kirilenko and Cirstea were also upset in doubles by Julie Coin and Marie-Eve Pelletier.

Top seed out in Estoril

Yesterday, in her Estoril blog, number 1 seed Iveta Benesova remarked that she had played poorly in her first round. Whatever was wrong, she apparently did not overcome it. Jarmila Groth defeated her in the second round, 7-5, 6-4.

Sabine Lisicki (don't you wish she were in Rome?) defeated Elena Bovina 6-4, 7-5. Bovina made it through qualifying and won one match. It must be so tough for a player who was once number 14 in the world to be lucky to squeak out once match. I miss Bovina, and am sorry that she has had so much misfortune.