Safarova and Medina Garrigues out of Monterrey in 1st round

Klara Zakopalova defeated 6th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues 7-5, 7-5 today in the first round of the Monterrey Open. Also going out in the first round was 8th seed Lucie Safarova, who was defeated 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 by Julie Coin. Coin hit ten aces in the match.

There was also an upset in doubles. Lourdes Dominguez Lino and Arantxa Parra Santonja defeated 3rd seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 5-7, 6-2, 10-5.

Wickmayer defaulted in Clearwater

Yanina Wickmayer and Julie Coin reached the final of the 50k ITF tournament in Clearwater, Florida over the weekend. Wickmayer won the first set, 6-3, and at 1-all in the second set, something happened. Wickmayer hit a "linesman" (I am pretty sure, from what I've heard, that this "linesman" was actually a woman) on the shoulder with a ball during the course of play. According to Wickmayer, up until that point, there had been no official standing in that spot, and suddenly, one appeared.

I really cannot get a grasp on exactly what happened, but the result was that Wickmayer was defaulted for the match and lost all of her points and prize money for the tournament.

Miscellany

Ana Ivanovic is now being coached by Craig Kardon. Kardon has worked with Martina Navratilova, Lindsay Davenport, Mary Pierce, and Jennifer Capriati.

The tour site has a nice piece on Julie Coin, who is playing in Memphis this week.

I continue to not like the dress style, but I am quite fond of the shade of orange worn by Jelena Jankovic during the Open GDF SUEZ.

The Billie Jean King Cup, which will be played in Madison Square Garden, will be broadcast live on HBO, 7:30 p.m., EST, on Monday, March 2.

Jarmilla Gajdosova was recently married to ATP player Sam Groth.

Laura Robson is now ranked number 2 in the world among junior girls.

Tennis TV is working out pretty well for me. I had some problems with it--and I still have a few--but I have straightened out much of the difficulty, and can now enjoy watching (when I'm not working--work really gets in the way of my tennis viewing) matches I would not ordinarily get to see. I bought a WTA pass only; I was afraid that if I bought the ATP pass, too, I wouldn't do anything but watch tennis in my spare time. I already drag a netbook around with me to check scores. Now--sometimes--I can even sneak a peek at a match while I'm typing or waiting.

Sharapova's recovery in question

A couple of days ago, I wrote that Maria Sharapova had withdrawn from both Paris and Dubai. Eurosport now confirms this. Sharapova said she did not play in Melbourne because she had not trained enough; Eurosport reports that she has not fully recovered from the injury.

Frenchwoman Julie Coin has withdrawn from the Paris tournament, also.

There's still some fight left in Mauresmo

Julie Coin, the Frenchwoman who found her mojo at the 2008 U.S. Open, took it to countrywoman Amelie Mauresmo tonight. It was Mauresmo who took Coin out of the U.S. Open, in the third round, and it was Mauresmo who took Coin out of the Brisbane International tournament today. But it wasn't easy. Coin took the first set 7-5, and Mauresmo took the second, 6-2. The third went to a tiebreak, which each player having--and losing--match points. In the end, Mauresmo squeaked through with an 11-9 tiebreak score.

Mauresmo has always been pretty good in tiebreaks, and this experience was doubtless an advantage in today's match. One thing is clear, however: Julie Coin has finally arrived.

More seeds out in Brisbane

Daniela Hantuchova, the 4th seed in Brisbane, went out in the first round yesterday, defeated by Sara Errani, 6-7, 6-4, 6-0. Also defeated was Francesca Schiavone, who fell to Olga Gorvortsova, 7-5, 6-2.

Lucky loser Julie Coin advanced to the second round by defeating Yanina Wickmayer, Sesil Karatantcheva advanced by defeating Iveta Benesova, and qualifier Roberta Vinci defeated top qualifying seed Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

And in what may have been the most interesting match-up, former world number 1 Amelie Mauresmo defeated former world number 4 Jelena Dokic, 7-6, 7-6.

Robson and Coin both advance in Shrewsbury

Junior Wimbledon champion Laura Robson had to retire in the second round of her first pro tournament because of a shoulder injury. She is now entered as a wild card in a 75k tournament in Shrewsbury, and has reached the second round by defeating qualifier and countrywoman Sarah Borwell. Robson's second round will be tricky, however: She meets another junior Wimbledon champion--Urzula Radwanska.

Also entered in the tournament is Julie Coin, who took Ana Ivanovic out of the U.S. Open. Coin has also made it to the second round, and will play Tzipi Obziler in the next round.

Top seed Sofia Arvidsson was defeated in the first round.

Fist-pump this: Tour debut player takes out top seed

Julie Coin made her tour debut by removing the number 1 seed from the U.S. Open

One had nerves of steel until she realized what was about to happen, then she recovered. The other had nerves of something less sturdy. I did not think Ana Ivanovic was going to make it past the third round of the U.S. Open, but I thought she would get through the second. It wasn't to be, though, as Julie Coin, playing in her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event, defeated the world number 1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

Coin is ranked number 188 in the world, which makes this the biggest upset in U.S. Open history. The fact that Coin had never before made it to a tour event adds another amazing layer to this upset. Imagine...you try and try for years, but you never qualify for a tour event. Then you qualify for one, and it just happens to be one of the four majors. You take out the world number 40 in the first round, and in the second, you think--"What the hell? I guess I should go ahead and take out the number 1, as long as I've made it this far."

Coin has won four ITF circuit singles titles and five doubles titles. She is also that rare bird--a college graduate; she played tennis for Clemson University. In the U.S. Open qualifying tournament, the unseeded Coin defeated Amanda McDowell, former tour rising star Sesil Karatantcheva, and 25th seed Elena Baltacha.

I saw Coin make one of her failed qualifying attempts at the 2006 Family Circle Cup. She defeated Bethanie Mattek in the first round of qualifying, but then lost to Julia Vakulenko in the second.

Coin served extremely well, and was very steady in her match against Ivanovic. At one point in the final set, she was down 0-40, and she won the game, then went on to break Ivanovic at love. She did get shaky when she served for the match, and it took her three match points to end the affair. The fact that she could end it at all speaks to her remarkably stable state of mind.

Ivanovic has been healing from a thumb injury which caused her to withdraw from the Olympics, and she did not have much match play coming into New York.