Navratilova receives Philippe Chatrier Award

The International Tennis Federation's highest honor, the Philippe Chatrier Award, was presented this week to Martina Navratilova. The award was presented at the World Champions Dinner in Paris. Champions' awards went to Jelena Jankovic, Cara Black and Liezel Huber.

French Open--what they said

"I really can't say that I wish I could have handled it differently, because I went out there and felt good physically, and like I said, mentally. I knew that I had a shot."

Samantha Stosur

"I mean, my plans--you know, actually, I knew how she's going to play. She didn't surprise me with anything. She played a lot of cross, good backhand. You know, I played a lot to her backhand and I didn't make her move a lot, because, you know, I was scared to play on the lines, just to miss the ball."

Dominika Cibulkova

"Liezel has a good record against me. That's why I picked her. I was just trying to be Cara Black out there, you know. A little taller, but the same."

Bob Bryan, on winning the mixed doubles championship with Liezel Huber

"A lot of them play the same kind of tennis...there are not many new players (who) stand out with a different kind of tennis."

Kim Clijsters, speaking on the BBC

"I think I got nervous, you know, and I made a couple mistakes, you know, and then I got in panic."

Dominika Cibulkova

"I'm not playing my best, but it's still not easy to beat me."

Dinara Safina

"I mean, I been playing ball from the second floor up here. It was not very comfortable."

Svetlana Kuznetsova, on handling all the spin she received from Sam Stosur

"The guy, pretty much at all times, looks nuts."

Mary Carillo, speaking of Zeljko Krajan

"I notice it a lot more when I watch them. It can be a bit annoying. But as far as a player down on the other end, it's never affected me, myself, anyway, on the court. It's--I guess it is what it is."

Samantha Stosur, on screaming players

What do you think about when you think back to when you first came on the tour and you were playing doubles with Martina? When you think back to the young woman you were then, what do you think about?
"I would think how come she could handle me? I was so difficult. I was so--maybe‑‑no, I would not--if you tell me to go back and do all over the same, I don't want to do this. You know, I've done it as I've done it, and I'm fine with that. But I was so late all the time. I was not organized that much. I was flying out in my head somewhere. It was so new."

Svetlana Kuznetsova

"I haven't seen a lot of players adjust their games to opponents....in the past, watching Serena play or Justine, or like when I got to play Sharapova, I... thought there was a lot more thinking."

Kim Clijsters, speaking on the BBC

What is your preferred warmup song at the moment?
"I don't listen to tough stuff. I listen to some happy stuff, because I'm not going to court to die. I'm just going to have fun."

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Huber and Bryan win French Open mixed doubles championship

Liezel Huber and Bob Bryan won the 2009 French Open championship in mixed doubles today, defeating Vania King and Marcelo Melo, 5-7, 7-6, 10-7. This is Huber's first mixed doubles championship at a major, though she has been a finalist three times.

We have our finalists!

Dominika Cibulkova was brutal to herself in her post-match press conference, but the reality was that she played rather well in her semifinal match against world number 1 Dinara Safina. The 6-3, 6-3 score looks a bit ordinary, but the match was enjoyable.

On the other hand, one can understand Cibulkova's frustration that she was unable to do more with Safina's somewhat shaky serve. Also, Cibulkova's serve was shaky, but that was the only visible sign of what she later described as the high anxiety she felt on the court. There were plenty of visible signs that Safina was angry and frustrated, and one British broadcaster felt compelled to apologize to his listening audience for Safina's language. No sympathy here--find a different way to position the microphones.

There are mitigating factors. Safina is ill, and has been for a couple of days. She looks pale and she sounds terrible. As for Cibulkova, she entered the French Open not having played matches since she retired in the Charleston quarterfinals.

(Photo courtesy of Angelica)

The Stosur-Kuznetsova match was a bit of a different story. Stosur, the queen of spin, did not disappoint. I saw only a set and a half, but Sam Stosur looked pretty good. In the end, she was--not surprisingly--outplayed by Svetlana Kuznetsova, who is top-notch on clay. Kuznetsova won, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, in a match that went on for almost two and a half hours.

Getting to the semifinals was an outstanding accomplishment for both Cibulkova and Stosur, neither of whom has ever won a tournament. One hopes that they will feel some pride in what they did at this French Open. And as for the finalists--whether you're cheering for Dinara or Sveta--let's hope Dinara is feeling healthy.

We have doubles finalists, too. 2008 champions and 3rd seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual will play 12th seeds Victoria Azarenka and Elena Vesnina for the championship.

4 women standing

How time flies when you're vicariously enjoying Paris. There are only four women left in the contest, and here is how the semifinals line up:

Dinara Safina vs. Dominika Cibulkova: The world number 1 and top seed is probably still capable of going off the track somewhat, but she has appeared more mentally stable on court lately. Even the shock near-obliteration she took from Victoria Azarenka in the first set of their quarterfinal didn't do any permanent damage to Safina's confidence. Cibulkova, the 20th seed, moves extremely well, and can get back a lot of balls; she will doubtless try to wear Safina down until she makes an error. This tactic will work only if the errors penetrate Safina's psche for any appreciable length of time.

Samantha Stosur vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova: Stosur, the 30th seed, is a very unlikely semifinalist for too many reasons to list here, but she got to the final four by putting on a very impressive display of tennis. She has a huge serve, and--when everything is working right--a very good second serve, too. If the moment doesn't do her in and that serve stays on, she can earn a lot of points over which Kuznetsova will have little control. Stosur puts a lot of spin on the ball, something 7th seed Kuznetsova is more accustomed to giving than getting. Kuznetsova is arguably the best clay player on the tour, however, and--as with Safina--her main job is just to do what she does best and to keep her mental focus intact.

Quote of the day--Sveta explains why Russians are so tough

Speaking of Russian grandparents: "They had to go with nothing, you know, without maybe bullets, only with knife, and still to go to war."

1st round Fed Cup draw held today

The draw for the first round of 2010 Fed Cup competition was held today. Here are the results:

Word Group:

Italy vs. Ukraine (in Ukraine)
Czech Republic vs. Germany (in Czech Republic)
Serbia vs. Russia (in Serbia)*
France vs. USA (in France)


World Group 2:

Spain vs. Australia (in Australia)
Belgium vs. Poland (in Poland)
Estonia vs. Argentina (in Estonia)
Slovak Republic vs. China (in Slovak Republic)

The first round will be played February 6 and 6.


* "...it's going to be very tough, because Ana, Jelena and Belgrade is three very difficult things to play against."

Svetlana Kuznetsova