Safarova continues her great run in Toronto

If you are a fan of Lucie Safarova, I feel for you. As a big fan of a notable left-handed under-achiever, I know how frustrating the experience is. Safarova has a great deal of tennis talent, but it is hard for her to string together victories. Suddenly, in Toronto this week, she's found her groove. First she took out Kaia Kanepi, then Ana Ivanovic, and today she defeated the formidable Zheng Jie.

It was an interesting day. Both Bondarenkos went out, but not without fighting. (After all, they're the Fighting Bondarenkos.) Alona fought the wind, then she fought her coach. She fought Serena Williams, too, but even Bondarenko's considerable second set boost couldn't get her to a third set. Kateryna gave Agnieszka Radwanska a harder fight, in a match that held an unexpected momentum swing in the second set. However, Radwanska prevailed, 7-5, 6-3.

In the battle of the hard hitters, Alisa Kleybanova defeated Aravane Rezai. Sam Stosur easily defeated Virginie Razzano, and Shahar Peer took Elena Dementieva to the edge, but lost.

Maria Sharapova upset 7th seed Vera Zvonareva in a match in which Zvonareva showed all of her trademark frustration, especially in the first set, when she just couldn't seem to do anything right. Sharapova took that set 6-2, with Zvonareva holding her serve only once. Zvonareva then began the second set by double-faulting four times in a row, which is a bit extreme even for these days of double-faulting 17 times in a match.

Zvonareva had the trainer wrap her ankle during the match. She also pulled herself together, and the second set contained moments of brilliant shot-making by both players. A few of the rallies were breathtaking, in fact. Sharapova--whose serve has suddenly improved--won, 6-2, 7-6. Both Russians are on the comeback path, and here's hoping that both of them continue to improve. (If anyone knows whether Vera has split with Sam Sumyk or whether she just had a substitute coach in Toronto, please let me know.)

Finally, there was the battle of the straddle. Wild card Kim Clijsters and 5th seed Jelena Jankovic, two of the best and most flexible movers around, took to the court quite late because of this evening's hour-and-a-half rain delay. Clijsters took the first set easily, but Jankovic bounced back and took the second. Serving at 3-4 in the third, Jankovic saved four break points before finally getting broken. Clijsters, serving for the match, immediately went down 0-30, and was soon broken. Jankovic held, then broke again, and went on to win the match 1-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Bondarenko overcomes 5 match points in Zurich

I sometimes call Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko "the fighting Bondarenkos" because they used to fight with each other while playing doubles. But today, Alona Bondarenko earned the name "fighting Bondarenko" because of the tremendous battle she waged against Alize Cornet in their Zurich Open first round match. Beaten 1-6 in the first set, Bondarenko went on to win the second set 6-3 (after being down 0-3), but she found herself down 1-5 in the third. When Cornet served for the match, Bondarenko broke her, then held, then broke Cornet again when she served for the match a second time. The match went to a tiebreak, which Bondarenko won, 8-6. She saved a total of five match points, and moves on to the second round.

Now, that's a fighting Bondarenko.

Family Circle Cup, day 1--in and around the grounds

We expected rain on this first day of the tournament, and we got some, but not enough to delay or interrupt any matches. There is a tornado watch right now in the Charleston area, and it just wouldn't be Family Circle Cup without a tornado, or at least a few watches or warnings.

There was a Venus sighting this morning, but not by me. I saw a lot of players, but not Venus. We did get to see Elena Dementieva do some practice hitting, and she signed a tennis ball for us.

When we got to the tournament site, we decided to watch the match between Tamira Paszek and Julia Schruff. We stood waiting for entry, and I looked next to me: There was Dominika Cibulkova, who had come to check out Paszek, her probable second round opponent. She and her coach were there, but Cibulkova did not stay too long. Paszek was not exactly impressive, so Cibulkova probably felt she had other things to do.

I spoke with Kateryna Bondarenko, who was in the stands, watching her sister, Alona. She said her wrist injury wasn't too bad, and the doctor told her she could begin practicing again in a week. Both Bondarenko sisters signed some photos for us. It is very disappointing for us that we will not get to see them play doubles together. Instead, Alona will be playing doubles with Anastasia Rodionova. One of the "fighting Bondarenkos," as I call them, once said that the best possible situation is for them to have a third person along, "so we can fight with that person!" Given her history, Rodionova is a pretty good pick.

Tennis outfit of the day: Marta Domachowska, in a bright yellow tank and a khaki/olive split-pleat skirt. Today was the only day to see it, though--the ever under-achieving Domachowska is already out of the tournament, knocked out by qualifier Anastasija Sevastova.

Wickmayer defeats Bondarenko in U.S. Open quarterfinal

Kateryna Bondarenko had a winning record over Yanina Wickmayer coming into the U.S. Open, but today, it was the Belgian who prevailed, 7-5, 6-4, in what turned out to be an entertaining, and sometimes tense, match. Bondarenko, probably the victim of nerves (or perhaps just being a Bondarenko), seemed a pale figure throughout much of the first set, letting Wickmayer dictate almost every rally with her inventive service game and tough groundstrokes. When she was about the lose the first set at 3-5, though, Bondarenko suddenly came to life, broke Wickmayer, and saved a set point. She then held for 4-5. Wickmayer held, then broke Bondarenko. At that point, the set became very exciting. Bondarenko wound up saving five set points, but her effort wasn't good enough.

Bondarenko--with her sister, Alona, and her chihuahua, Princess, looking on--broke early in the second set, and Wickmayer smacked her racquet on the court (or so I heard). Wickmayer remained tense for a while, smacking balls around and coming close to getting hereslf in trouble. But then she calmed down, and went back to dominating the match. She broke Bondarenko at 4-all, and then held to become a semifinalist at the U.S. Open.

Wickmayer could be more consistent, for sure, but on the big points, she came through. Surprisingly, she served only one ace. She hit twice as many winners as her opponent, and they were almost even on unforced errors. Bondarenko was never dominant enough, and getting off to a rather flat start didn't help.

Given Wickmayer's fighting spirit and the Bondarenkos' tendency to be inconsistent, I can't say I'm that surprised that this match went the way it went. Recognition goes to Todd Spiker for naming Wickmayer a semifinalist several days ago.

Two Belgians in the semifinals...feels like old times.