Zvonareva survives in Paris

I watched the 2nd round French Open match between 3rd seed Vera Zvonareva and Sabine Lisicki with a growing sense of dread because it seemed as though nothing too good could come of it. Zvonareva looked flustered and too defensive against Lisicki, but I was feeling something more than frustration over the 3rd seed's performance. Because I knew that Lisicki might choke away her opportunities, and I was right. It wasn't that I wanted an upset--it was just that watching one player under-perform and the other one lose her nerve was like watching some type of accident from which I wanted to turn away my sight.

Lisicki was two points away from winning the match in the second set, but she was simply not mentally up to the task. At that point, it was easy to believe that the German would just get discouraged and Zvonareva would take charge. But I still had that sinking feeling, which proved to be reliable. Lisicki led 5-2 in the third, and had a match point on Zvonareva's serve, but she didn't convert it. When Lisicki served for the match at 5-3, she was broken.

By this time, it was apparent that Lisicki wasn't feeling too good. She wound up seeing both a trainer and a doctor and getting ice packs and a lot of water; she was cramping. She was easily broken at 5-6, but then two of Zvonareva's match points faded away--one because of a massive, "last gasp" forehand from Lisicki, and one because Zvonareva made an error. Zvonareva finally won, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, and Lisicki managed to do the handshake, then collapsed into a heap of pain and was hauled away on a stretcher.

That was a lot of drama. The drama earlier in the day was more fun, however. 11th seed Marion Bartoli, fully pumped up and carried by the crowd, won a three-hour match against Olga Govortsova, who hit 46 winners. Bartoli defeated Govortsova 6-4, 6-7, 6-2. Bartoli outlasted her opponent, but one wonders what effect the length and intensity of the match will have on the ever-fragile Frenchwoman.

Meanwhile, the world number 1 advanced, as did the defending champion and the 2009 runner-up. Julia Goerges got the tough match from Lucie Safarova I expected her to get, and came from behind to win, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez went out, defeated by Rebecca Marino (I didn't see that coming), and Bethanie Mattek-Sands defeated countrywoman Varvara Lepchenko.

There was a significant upset in doubles. The Czech team of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka defeated the Czech team (and 8th seeds) of Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova. Benesova, by the way, is playing mixed doubles with Leander Paes (the injured Cara Black is his regular partner).

In other mixed doubles news, 2nd seeds Vania King and Daniel Nestor were defeated by Chan Yung-Jan and Eric Butorac.

Passing shots

Svetlana Kuznetsova has split with her coach, Carlos Cuadrado. When it comes to Kuznetsova and Ivanovic, I need to have a "________ has split with _________" template on the ready.

Petra Kvitova and Vera Zvonareva are skipping the tournament in Rome. Kvitova will play in a $100k challenger in Prague.

Lisa Raymond recently had brunch with Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss in New York City. Raymond calls King a "ball of positive energy."

Piotr Wozniacki has taken a page from the Walter Bartoli playbook, and--during the clay season--is requiring Caroline to do three-hour workouts every day, including the days she plays matches.

Here is a video peek of Maria Sharapova's Eiffel Tower-inspired French Open dress.

Passing shots

It's official: Vera Zvonareva has hired Karen Krotov to be her coach, at least for the U.S. hard court season; sources differ as to whether Krotov will work with Zvonareva in that capacity during clay season. Krotov did coach Zvonareva during the Fed Cup semifinals. The world number 2 parted with coach Sergei Demekhin because, she said, he didn't want to work with a team. Says Demekhin: "I have experience and I know girls' psychology, so let's wait for offers."

You can get to know Nadia Lalami.

"Neither as muscular nor as deep-voiced as she appears on television, she was strikingly normal, if that makes any sense." Yeah, Malcolm, we get it.

Rebecca Marino has begun taking Pilates classes.

James LaRosa has a fantasy about the WTA and on-court coaching.

Clijsters upset by Azarenka in Miami

It was anything but an exciting match, but 8th seed and 2009 champion Victoria Azarenka probably doesn't care. Azarenka faced a completely flat Kim Clijsters in the Sony Ericsson Open quarterfinals tonight, and pulled off a 6-3, 6-3 victory without having to break much of a sweat. Not that Azarenka didn't have her own problems: She served really well, but she would frequently make unforced errors just when she had set up those good serves to produce winners. Still, the 2nd seed gave the impression that she wanted to be put out of her misery, and Azarenka obliged.

Clijsters has been having some problems with her shoulder ever since the Australian Open, and I don't know whether the injury factored into tonight's meltdown. "I just didn't feel good out there," she said after the match. We haves seen this type of thing before; when Clijsters goes off, she goes way off. But, after getting what looked like an impossible victory against Ana Ivanovic, it did seem odd that the defending champion would have so much difficulty in the quarterfinals.

Vera Zvonareva, the tournament's 3rd seed, was another story. She defeated 9th seed Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5, 63, and will play Azarenka in the semifinals. Meanwhile, on the other end of the draw, Andrea Petkovic will play Maria Sharapova, assuming that Sharapova's ankle is stable enough for her to play.

In doubles, 3rd seeds Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova defeated wild cards Sloane Stephens and Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets to advance to the semifinals.

Zvonareva upset by Cibulkova in Indian Wells

It took her over three hours, and she had to go through a lot of match points, but Dominika Cibulkova--a bundle of nerves as she tried to eliminate the 3rd seed Sunday night in the 3nd round of the BNP Paribas Open--finally defeated Vera Zvonareva 4-6, 7-6, 6-4. Cibulkova, the 25th seed, slowly built up momentum, and by the middle of the second set, she was hitting stinging groundstrokes off both sides, brushing the lines, and effectively catching Zvonareva off-guard over and over.

Zvonareva served at 15-40 at 1-3 in the third set, but Cibulkova could not break her. Again, at 2-4, the 3rd seed served at 15-40, and this time, she was broken at 30. But the Cibulkova's resolve collapsed, and she was quickly broken back when she served for the match. Zvonareva had an easy hold, hitting two consecutive aces, and Cibulkova served for the match again at 5-4. Up 40-0, Cibulkova saw the easy win melt away as she struggled to even develop her service motion. At that point, it appeared that nerves had so overtaken her that she would be broken again, but she prevailed.

Zvonareva, who won the event in 2009, wasn't the only one to go. Earlier in the week, in the 2nd round, 7th seed Li Na was dismissed by countrywoman Peng Shuai, two-time champion Daniela Hantuchova was defeated by Dinara Safina, and wild card Christina McHale upset 11th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6, 7-6.

In 3rd round play, 2nd seed Kim Clijsters, who's having a lingering problem with her shoulder, looked all out of sorts against Sara Errani, and was lucky to get out of three sets and move on. And--though she held two match points on her opponent's serve--17th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova lost to 10th seed Shahar Peer.

Defending champion and 6th seed Jelena Jankovic won her match against Julia Goerges in straight sets, and executed match point with her signature backhand down the line. Jankovic was expressive, often smiling, throughout the match, just like old times. Her next opponent will be Ana Ivanovic.

In doubles 2nd round play, 6th seeds Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko defeated Francesca Schiavone and Sam Stosur, and 5th seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Zheng Jie were upset by Daniela Hantuchova and Agnieszka Radwanska.

Zvonareva wins Doha championship

Vera Zvonareva, known for her command of windy conditions, put that command on display today in the Qatar Ladies Open final in Doha. Never wavering in the presence of top seed Caroline Wozniacki's relentless ball retrieval and accuracy, Zvonareva eventually wore Wozniacki down. Zvonareva broke Wozniacki four times to achieve a 6-4, 6-4 victory, her first tournament win since February of 2010.

Zvonareva, seeded 2nd at the tournament, was clearly delighted with her victory, and hit balls into the stands for an unusually long time. The Doha win was not easy. In the quarterfinals, the Russian had to play for over three hours and nine minutes to defeat Daniela Hantuchova, and in a very competitive semifinal match against Jelena Jankovic, she won a game in which she served at 4-all, 0-40 in the final set.

Top seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik won the doubles title, defeating 2nd seeds Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova  7-5, 6-7, 10-8.

Wozniacki and Zvonareva go to Doha final

Marion Bartoli, who played exceptionally well this week in Doha, broke that pattern (sound familiar?) today when she played top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals. Wozniacki defeated the error-prone Bartoli 6-1, 6-1. Her opponent in the final will be 2nd seed Vera Zvonareva, who defeated 5th seed Jelena Jankovic 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 in a rather interesting match.

Jankovic injured her knee yesterday, and seemed to be moving a bit gingerly on it at first. However, she got into the groove of the match and put her signature backhand down-the-line shot on display over and over to dominate in the second set. At 4-all in the third, Zvonareva served at 0-40, but Jankovic was not able to break her. Instead, Jankovic was broken in her next game. This was, in general, a good week for the Serbian player, and one hopes her knee problem is minor. (She also got stuck on the surface and hurt her ankle slightly and momentarily, but it wouldn't be a JJ match without some type of spill.)

Zvonareva hit nine aces in the match. She will need to keep serving well because she has her work cut out for her in the final. Wozniacki is now shifting from outstanding defense to aggression when she needs to, and it's getting harder and harder to beat her. The Great Dane's timing and accuracy have become laser-like this season.

The doubles final will also feature the top two seeds: Number 1 seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik will compete against number 2 seeds Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova. Peschke and Srebotnik defeated 4th seeds Nuria Llagostera Vives and Anastasia Rodionova in the semifinals. Huber and Petrova defeated 3rd seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Zheng Jie.

Quote of the week

There is a big difference between being mentally tough and being emotional. It's a huge difference. I will always be emotional. As long as I use those emotions to my advantage, that's only a plus to me. If I need to break the racquet to pump myself up, then I will break the racquet. I don't care.

Vera Zvonareva

Kvitova in Paris final

Petra Kvitova was involved in some very long, mentally draining matches this week, but she made quick work of Bethanie Mattek-Sands in today's Paris semifinals, winning 6-2, 6-0 in just under an hour. 4th seed Kvitova will play new world number 1 Kim Clijsters in the final. Clijsters defeated 3rd seed Kaia Kanepi 6-1, 7-5.

In Pattaya City, top seed Vera Zvonareva's quest for a third straight title was stopped by Daniela Hantuchova. Zvonareva had problems with some of the line calls (which, I've heard, left a lot to be desired), and wound up getting a point penalty at a crucial time. What would have been her ad point was ruled by the chair umpire to be re-played, and Zvonareva's objection was deemed to be over the line. A referee made the final decision, and a penalty was enforced, giving Hantuchova match point, which she converted. Hantuchova won with a score of 7-6, 6-4.

Hantuchova, who is seeded 4th, will play 8th seed Sara Errani in the final. Errani didn't have an easy time of it, either: She had to play friend and long-time doubles partner, Roberta Vinci, in the semifinals. Errani and Vinci will play in the doubles final, in which their opponents will be Sun Shengan and Zheng Jie.

The Paris doubles final will feature 3rd seeds Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy, who will play against Vera Dushevina and Ekaterina Makarova.

She's number 1

Kim Clijsters became the number 1 player in the world today when she defeated Jelena Dokic 6-3, 6-0 in Paris. It has been 256 weeks since the last time that Clijsters held the number 1 spot. She will play 3rd seed Kaia Kanepi in the semifinals of the Open GDF SUEZ. The other semifinal will be played between 4th seed Petra Kvitova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who upset 6th seed Andrea Petkovic today.

Meanwhile, in Pattaya City, top seed and two-time defending champion Vera Zvonareva has made it to the semfinals, and will play 4th seed Daniela Hantuchova. The other semifinal match will be played between doubles partners Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, who are seeded 8th and 5th, respectively. Vinci defeated 2nd seed Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals.

Clijsters defeats Zvonareva for a spot in the Australian Open final

Vera Zvonareva didn't get the Kim Clijsters Agnieszka Radwanska got in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. That Kim Clijsters was hitting errors right and left, and if Radwanska had a better serve, she might have had a chance to go to the semifinals. Clijsters said later that she felt a bit tired, and just wasn't up to a higher level of competition. But she showed up for the semifinals looking fresher. Having lost to 2nd seed Zvonareva the last three times they had played, the 3rd seed knew she had to be prepared.

The players exchanged breaks at the beginning of the match, but this quick mutual defensive play was not to represent any kind of pattern. Clijsters hit the ball hard and with depth and precision, while Zvonareva had  problems with her serve. The Belgian took the first set 6-3 in 33 minutes.

Zvonareva continued to have problems with her second serve, but she elevated her level of play in the second set. Some of the rallies were long, with both players hitting powerful groundstrokes. Down a break, Zvonareva  held at love for 3-4. In the next game, she had 3 break points against Clijsters, and it looked like a turning point in the match had finally come. But even after winning those seven straight points, Zvonareva had to contend with a hold of serve from Clijsters.

That was Zvonareva's last opportunity to change the dynamics of the match. Clijsters, looking as solid as she has ever looked, won the second set 6-3. She will play 9th seed Li Na in the final. Clijsters and Li also contended earlier this month for the Sydney title, which Li won. Clijsters has a 4-2 career record against Li.

Clijsters and Zvonareva advance to Australian Open semifinals

Vera Zvonareva, the Australian Open number 2 seed, played her fourth left-handed opponent (and her third left-handed Czech opponent) today in the quarterfinals. Zvonareva expertly defeated an unsteady Petra Kvitova (seeded 25th) 6-2, 6-4. The match wasn't without its drama. Australia Day cannons were firing, and a fan apparently fell and hurt herself on some steps in the stands. Sometimes I think Australian Open and U.S. Open officials compete to see who can distract the most players. Zvonareva was obviously bothered by all the goings-on, and she slipped and let Kvitova in in the second set. Kvitova took the opportunity, but she made too many careless errors to make much of an impact. Zvonareva made only twelve unforced errors in the match; Kvitova made 28. The young Czech player has big hitting talent, but she showed tonight that she isn't ready for a really big stage. She's definitely one to keep an eye on, though. A calmer, more cerebral Kvitova could be a force in the future; the good news is that she has already made refinements in her game in the past year.

3rd seed Kim Clijsters won the other semifinal. Clijsters defeated 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 7-6. The Belgian went off her game in the second set, and Radwanska used her court savvy to throw Clijsters off  her rhythm. But Radwanska's serve, which drags behind the rest of her game, holds her back from defeating someone like Clijsters, who is not only athletic and powerful, but can also pull out several different shots when she needs to.

Radwanska served for the second set at 5-4, 30-0, but was broken. She also made unforced in situations in which she had carefully set up winners. All the same, it was an entertaining second set--though not so much when the Australian Day planes buzzed over the court repeatedly. And Radwanska, having just returned from foot surgery, is to be commended for making it to the quarterfinals.

The percentages for Clijsters are worth examining. She hit 41 winners and made 37 unforced errors. That is officially a "good" statistic, but Clijsters has been making a very high number of unforced errors throughout the tournament.

Wednesday, as previously mentioned, was Australia Day, which means that the ESPN crew eats Vegemite and invites a player to do likewise. Vera Zvonareva tried the Australian staple (Kim Clijsters didn't), though she recalled that she didn't like it when she sampled it five years ago. It turns out that she still doesn't like it, but she made an effort. Meanwhile, the sight of Brad Gilbert chewing with his mouth open was revolting. The good news is that, as soon as the Australian zoo creatures were brought onto the set, Gilbert made an exit.

Radwanska and Peng--together again as you always wanted to see them

Agnieszka Radwanska and Peng Shuai are incapable of stepping onto a tennis court together and quickly getting off. Every time they play one another, it's a knock-down, drag-out affair, with no shortage of entertainment for spectators. Old habits die hard: You can expect Peng to work extra hard to overcome her lack of a strong serve, you can expect Radwanska to have a very poor second serve, and you can look for Peng to most likely let match points slip by.

That was the case in the Australian Open round of 16 match which Radwanska won 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, but only after two hours and 44 minutes of tough, and often frustrating, competition. Radwanska, who became error-prone and passive in the second set, went up 3-1, 40-0 in the third. There was a questionable line call, and maybe that threw her off her rhythm, or maybe it was just inevitable that she and Peng drag the set out as long as possible. At any rate, Radwanska was broken in that game. Peng served for the match at 5-4, and Radwanska saved two match points. Finally, Radwanska won, on her second match point.

Radwanska wasn't even supposed to be in Melbourne. After having surgery in October for a stress fracture in her foot, she was told she could return to the tour in March, and that there was a one per cent chance she could play in the Australian Open. The straight-faced player from Poland provided the biggest laugh of the first week (and probably of the tournament) in an earlier round, when her racquet head flew off in the middle of a rally. After her fourth round match against Peng, Radwanska can probably be declared an official safety hazard: During the match, she hit a return which smacked a ballboy right in the head. Radwanska stopped play, checked on the ballboy, and shook his hand. Apparently, there was no real harm done.

Other round of 16 matches weren't as eventful, but they were certainly worth watching. 2nd seed Vera Zvonareva gradually worked her way into her match against Iveta Benesova, and eventually built up enough momentum to completely dominate the Czech player. Benesova, who had taken out two other Russian seeds, lost control of her serve, most likely because she was done in by the occasion. Zvonareva defeated her 6-4, 6-1.

And then there was Petra Kvitova, who defeated Flavia Pennetta 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Pennetta served extremely well in the first set, and looked as though she might make short work of the rising Czech player. But in the second set, Pennetta did not serve as well, and Kvitova's confidence shot up. The longer they played, the more deadly Kvitova's shot-making became, and she wore Pennetta down. Kvitova made 43 unforced errors, compared with Pennetta's 33. However, she also hit 46 winners, compared with Pennetta's 16. (You might call her the anti-Woz.)

A notable upset occurred in the junior girls' competition on Monday. Kanami Tsuji of Japan defeated top seed Daria Gavrilova 6-4, 6-3. Gavrilova won the U.S. Open in juniors, and also won a gold medal at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games.

Jankovic beaten in straight sets

The way that seeds are dropping at the Australian Open, one wouldn't be surprised to find a garden blooming--perhaps a garden featuring Golden Flowers. In the 2nd round, the Peng Shuai pulled off the biggest upset yet: She defeated 7th seed Jelena Jankovic 7-6, 6-3. Jankovic was up 5-2 in the first set, and served for the set at 5-4. Formerly the picture of consistency, she looked sluggish and off-rhythm throughout most of the match. Peng not only played well, but remained steady, and readily took advantage of Jankovic's lack of strategy. I'm a bit tired of asking "What has happened to JJ?" so I'll skip that question for now.

18th seed Maria Kirilenko fell in straight sets to Iveta Benesova, who had one of her brilliant streaks. Why can't Benesova do this in singles matches more often? She served (and she does have a really good serve) at 78 and 53%, and hit 24 winners. Her forehand was more than Kirilenko could handle. Benesova defeated Kirilenko 6-3, 6-1.

The increasingly dangerous Simona Halep took out 24th seed Alisa Kleybanova 6-4, 7-6. Kleybanova hit a lot more winners than Halep, but she also made 46 unforced errors. Halep put on quite a show, running down balls and hitting with confidence and precision.

Alize Cornet upset 26th seed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, a player who has an unusually good serve--except when she doesn't. Martinez Sanchez sometimes just loses the feel of her serve and goes for too much; in the 2nd round, she double-faulted eight times and lost the point on most of her second serves. She did lead 5-3 in the first, but was broken when she served for the set. Still, she had several opportunities to get the set back, but she wasn't up to the task. Cornet then ran away with the second set, and defeated the 26th seed 7-6, 6-1.

3rd seed Kim Clijsters, 5th seed Sam Stosur, 10th seed Shahar Peer, 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, and 16th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova all advanced in straight sets, as did 13th seed Nadia Petrova and 22nd seed Flavia Pennetta. Brisbane champion and 25th seed Petra Kivitova quietly moved into the third round with a straight-sets defeat of Anna Chakvetadze.

2nd seed Vera Zvonareva had to really work for her 2nd round victory. Bojana Jovanovski, the young Serbian player whose down-the-line shots on both sides are already her signature, dictated play against Zvonareva, and took the first set 6-2. Zvonareva, whose movement and speed were on lengthy display, remained patient, and forced Jovanovski to hit more balls than she might have wanted to. Jovanovski is a superb hitter, but she doesn't do much of anything else, so the unforced errors eventually came, and then more of them came. One hopes that the just-turned-19 Jovanovski will learn some variety and give herself some breathing room because she is one fine hitter. The experienced 2nd seed defeated her 2-6, 6-3, 6-1, and they were both fun to watch.

Wozniacki, Zvonareva and Stosur all out of Sydney

World number 1 and top seed Caroline Wozniacki played her first round in Sydney yesterday, and lost to Dominika Cibulkova. Cibulkova's 6-3, 6-3 victory follows the unseeded Slovak's 6-3, 6-3 win over Maria Kirilenko.

Wozniacki played in the Hong Kong Classic prior to arriving in Sydney; the Hong Kong Classic is a world team exhibition event and not part of the tour. This year, team Russia defended its title, and Vera Zvonareva defeated Wozniacki 6-1, 6-0 in that event.

Exhibition matches are generally not taken too seriously, but the Hong Kong Classic is, like the Hopman Cup tournament, a significant team event. And Wozniacki's two straight-set losses in a row make her look a bit vulnerable.

Zvonareva, seeded 2nd in Sydney, also went out yesterday, in the second round (also her first round). She was defeated 7-5, 7-5 by Flavia Pennetta. 4th seed Sam Stosur was defeated 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Svetlana Kuznetsova; Stosur had a second round loss to Jarmila Groth in Brisbane. 3rd seed Kim Clijsters advanced to the third round.

Of note in the Medibank International is the young Serb, Bojana Jovanovski, who defeated Kaia Kanepi in the first round, and Aravane Rezai (7-6, 7-6) in the second. Her next opponent will be Pennetta.

Play in Hobart has been hampered by rain. Top seed Marion Bartoli, who lost only one game to Dinara Safina in the first round, will play Elena Vesnina in the second round.

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).

Miscellany

Former tour player Leila Meshki is the director of the Baku Cup tournament.

Alina Jidkova, as expected, has retired from professional tennis. When she played (and lost in the final) of the U.S. Open qualifying playoffs, she said it was her last opportunity to play in the U.S. Open. Jidkova, who defeated Serena Williams in 2004 in Linz, attained her highest ranking in 2005, when she was ranked number 51 in the world. Her career-high doubles ranking was number 50. The Russian veteran is getting married next month. She and her fiance sell fine pearl jewelry.

"I'm not even 20 and there's someone who's 40 who could kick my butt," Rebecca Marino says of you-know-who.

Tennis Channel's latest "Tennisography" feature is about Vera Zvonareva. Using Leo Tolstoy's work as a backdrop, the story of Zvonareva's tennis life--her performance and her feelings--is told by her mother, her coach, and by Zvonareva herself. It sounds a bit cheesy, but it comes off well. What doesn't come off well is Tennis Channel's decision to use white subtitles on a lot of light background--a persistent problem on U.S. television.

And in tribute to Vera, here's the great Joan Armatrading:

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.

Miscellany

Led by Li Na, the Chinese team has won the gold medal for team tennis competition at the Asian Games. Li, however, is not entered in the singles competition, and neither is Zheng Jie. The top seed is Kimiko Date Krumm, who won the competition in 1994.

Be sure to check out the final "Ms. Backspin" awards for 2010. Pour a cup of coffee and take your time--there's plenty to read, including stats you would probably never find on your own.

The Bondarenko sisters, at least for  now, have been removed--by mutual decision--from the roster of the Ukrainian Fed Cup team. Youngers players will compete for Ukraine, though Kateryna Bondarenko says that she and her sister may return to the team in the future.

Greg Garber and Pam Shriver say it's hard to pick the Player of the Year. Women Who Serve agrees.

"Tiger" Murphy will slice you.

"I just need to pack my racquets up and leave them alone somewhere, just not touch them for three weeks or something," says Vera Zvonareva, who reflects on her stellar season.

Zvonareva achieves 3-0 record in Doha

Vera Zvonareva defeated Kim Clijsters today at the WTA Championships, which gives her a 3-0 record in round-robin play. Previously, Zvonareva--a member of the white group--defeated Jelena Jankovic and Victoria Azarenka. She will play world number 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals, and Clijsters will play Sam Stosur.

Zvonareva, seeded 2nd at the Championships, was down a break in both sets, but defeated 3rd seed Clijsters 6-4, 7-5.

In other Doha play, Victoria Azarenka defeated Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 6-1, and Francesca Schiavone defeated Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-2.

In round-robin play, maroon group members Caroline Wozniacki and Sam Stosur are 2-1, and Francesca Schiavone and Elena Dementieva are 1-2. In the white group, Kim Clijsters is 2-1, Jelena Jankovic is 0-3, and Victoria Azarenka is 1-2.