7 finals, 7 titles--Chakvetadze takes Paris

Anna Chakvetadze is not always the most mentally tough woman on the court. Lately, mental toughness has probably been especially difficult for her because of an assault made on her and her family in December. But when Chakvetadze manages to get herself into a final, she wins. The Open Gaz de France final was her seventh one, and she won it, just like she won the other six.

Chakvetadze's opponent was Agnes Szavay, one of the tour's rising phenoms. Visibly anxious in the first set, Szavay double-faulted seven times, but then shook off her nerves in the second set and prevailed over an out-of-sorts Chakvetadze. What happened next we have seen before: Chakvetadze changed her attitude and stepped onto the court for the final set a different player. It finally occurred to her to move to the net, where she was quite successful. Her combination of net play and her trademark sudden change of pace, which she uses in long rallies, gave her the advantage, as did her repeated placement of the ball to Szavay's forehand.

The Open Gaz de France trophy, by the way, is beautiful.

Chakvetadze def. Szavay, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2

Bondarenko sisters win in Paris

Only their fans paid attention to the Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko until the Australian Open, which they won, never having won any kind of tournament before. Today, they won the Open Gaz de France, defeating Eva Hrdinova and Vladimira Uhlirova, 6-1, 6-4. The Bondarenkos are now on their way to Antwerp, to play in the Proximus Diamond Games.

Bartoli injured--again

Marion Bartoli won the first set of her Open Gaz de France semifinal, but during the second set, she sustained a hip injury. Bartoli received treatment for it, but was never the same again. Her opponent, Anna Chakvetadze, has moved on to the finals with a three-set victory, and Bartoli's fans (and, one would hope, Bartoli) are left with one more injury and more dashed hopes.

Many people have brought up the possibility that some of Bartoli's coach's unorthodox drills could be what makes Bartoli's body so fragile. I don't know if that is so, but it does seem possible that over-drilling could be causing the problem. Bartoli's training regimen is strict and excessive, and she needs to question the widsom of continuing it. For a while last year, Bartoli escaped from the injury cycle that has plagued her throughout her career, but now she appears to be returning to it. Every time she gets to a quarterfinal or semifinal, I cringe, just waiting for the injury. Chakvetadze def. Bartoli, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0

In the other semifinal, Agnez Szavay defeated Elena Dementieva, 6-3, 1-6, 7-5. Dementieva broke Szavay at 4-4 in the final set, served for the match, and was broken back. Szavay then held and broke again, to give her a slot in the finals.

Paris semifinals set

Daniela Hantuchova hurt her hand in the middle of her quarterfinal match against Agnes Szavay, and easily gave up the second set and the match. I do not know if Hantuchova was suffering with a blister or some other type of hand injury. Szavay def. Hantuchova, 7-6, 6-1

Kateryna Bondarenko put up a really good fight in her first round against Elena Dementieva, but things changed after that. Dementieva def. Bondarenko, 7-5, 6-2

According to those who saw the match, Virginie Razzano got down with some hijinks, i.e., imitating Marion Bartoli, during their quarterfinal match. The hijinks were not enough, though: Bartoli def. Razzano, 6-1, 7-6

Finally, while I cannot speak about the first two sets--I was gone--the third set between Anna Chakvetadze and Amelie Mauresmo was a series of breaks, one after another, until Chakvetadze served at 4-3 and was able to hold. She then broke Mauresmo again, held, and put an end to the match. Chakvetadze def. Mauresmo, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3

Number 1 seed Chakvetadze will play number 3 seed Bartoli in the semifinals, and number 4 seed Dementieva will play number 7 seed Szavay.

The Bondarenkos blog, and I'm not disappointed

Photo courtesy of After Atalanta

The Bondarenkos, Alona and Kateryna, winners of the doubles title at the Australian Open, are blogging from the Open Gaz de France in Paris this week. Here is a blog sample from the sometimes contentious sisters (Alona's comments are in italics):

People are always wondering if we get into arguments when we're travelling together, and the answer is, of course, yes. But we've improved. A few years ago we fought so much more but now I think we're used to being around each other all the time and we are a little older now, so we get along much better. And our fights are only for 30 minutes, maybe an hour, so they don't last that long.

I have to add that we maybe have small arguments every day, maybe a few times a day, but they're only about little things. And we didn't argue at all today. And we make up after so they don't last long. But it's always easier when we have somebody else with us, so we can fight with that person instead!

The Ukrainian Upset Special

Yuliana Fedak and her partner, Julie Ditty, defeated the top-seeded team in Paris today

We all (sports media excluded) had to sit up and take notice when the Bondarenko sisters, Alona and Katyrina, won the Australian Open. Now, another Ukrainian, Yuliana Fedak and her partner, American Julie Ditty, have defeated the top seeds in the first round of the Open Gaz de France. Fedak and Ditty beat Cara Black and Leizel Huber, 6-4, 0-6, 10-5, and will move on to the second round.

I do not think that Fedak and Ditty have ever played together before. Black and Huber are numbers 1 and 2 in the world, respectively.

Williams withdraws from Open Gaz de France

Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Open Gaz de France tournament, which begins Monday in Paris. Williams dropped out because she needs to have dental surgery. She was the number 2 seed.