Thursday, June 18, 2015

The grass is green--and filled with surprises

The players move from clay to grass, and before you can say "Nobody serves and volleys anymore," all manner of interesting things happen.

This, for example:


That can hardly be a coincidence, though why it occurred probably involves a complex conversation about court surface, young players' early experiences in their respective countries, and what appears to be a new emphasis on serving (finally) in the women's game.

And speaking of serving, Sabine Lisicki cracked the WTA record yesterday by hitting 27 aces in one match. Even more remarkable, it was a two-set affair. Big serving is becoming more common, as is smart, tricky serving. Some players with clever serves (Tsvetana Pironkova and Ekaterina Makarova are good example) cannot always access those serves, so serving helps them only some of the time. And some players with big and tricky serves (like Lisicki and Petra Kvitova) tend to go through periods of double-faulting.

And speaking of double-faulting--Camila Giorgi finally won a title. The talented but wildly inconsistent Italian defeated Belinda Bencic in the Topshelf Open final earlier this week.

Perhaps the most talked about event of recent days, however, is the 6-3, 4-6 6-0  defeat of Genie Bouchard by Kiki Mladenovic in the second round (Bouchard had a bye in the first round) of the Aegon Classic in Birmingham. It was Mladenovic who took Bouchard out of the French Open in the first round. The Canadian star has a 7-11 win-loss record for 2015, though it's worth noting that she reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

Bouchard hasn't been the same since she lost the 2014 Wimbledon final to a terrifyingly efficient Petra Kvitova. Injuries have bothered her, but there's obviously something else going on. I don't think Bouchard (or any player) is obligated to talk about all of her ongoing issues with the press. Having said that, I'm stunned--yet again--that the sports press describes Bouchard's explanations as "candid" and "honest." They're actually vague and repetitive. Again--I support a player's right to be vague. This isn't a criticism of Bouchard, just one more observation that you can tell the tennis press anything at all and they will instantly turn it into either a virtue or a crime.
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Sunday, June 7, 2015

My French Open top 10


Moulin Rouge
My top 10 French Open occurrences, in ascending order:

10. One is nice, two is tres doux: Jiske Griffioen won her first singles major at the Australian Open, and now, at the French, she has won her second. The Dutch wheelchair star also won the doubles championship, with partner Aniek Van Koot.

9. Who was the consultant, Wimbledon?: The French Open website, iPhone and iPad apps were dismal beyond description. They were hard to navigate, they froze easily, and it was often difficult to refresh the information.

8. Halfway there!: Serena Williams won the Australian and the French, so she's halfway to a Grand Slam. Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova won the Australian (the first time they played together) and the French, so they're halfway there, too. And wheelchair champion Jiske Griffioen, who won her first singles major in Australia, is also halfway there!

7. Czeched out: One of Lucie Safarova's many high-end victims was defending champion Maria Sharapova, whom Safarova defeated 7-6, 6-4. Sharapova wasn't at peak physical health, but, nonetheless, Lucie made it look so easy.

6. The Queen of Mexico dazzles Paris: Timea Bacsinszky's career took a bit of a dip after she pulled off her double-title runs in Mexico, but she rose to the occasion in Paris, and how. The "new" Swiss Miss took out the likes of Madison Keys, Petra Kvitova and the also-impressive Alison Van Uytvanck. By the time she got to Serena Williams in the semifinals, however, Bacsinszky did something she rarely does--she choked.

5. Roasted pepper: Many fans and members of the sports media thought that Simona Halep would win the French Open. I thought her chances were quite good, despite a recent display of the old nerves. But the 2014 runner-up, sometimes known as Halepeno, was booted out in the second round by Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who played a next-to-perfect match against the third seed.

 4. Giving "doubles" a new meaning: Bethanie Mattek-Sands wasn't content to win just the mixed doubles title with Mike Bryan. She and Lucie Safarova also won the women's doubles title. This is such a wonderful accomplishment for a very talented player who hasn't had the best of breaks in her career.

3 Encore! Encore!: 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova played a completely awesome, never to be forgotten, match in the 2011 Australian Open round of 16. I don't believe in "bests," but if I were forced to pick a best match of all that I've seen (and I've seen a lot), I'd probably pick that one. It went on for four hours and 44 minutes in the sweltering Australian heat, and neither player ever had a letdown. It was simply a festival of thrills and artistry, all performed under the most difficult conditions. Schiavone won, 6-4, 1-6, 16-14.

Those two. They did it again at the French Open, in the second round. This time, they played for "only" three hours and 49 minutes, with Schiavone winning again, 6-7, 7-5, 10-8. The first set tiebreak score was 13-11.The Fighting Italian would go on to lose to Andreea Mitu in the next round, and it was sad to see her go. But the level of tennis that she and Kuznetsova played (they really bring out the best in each other) is awe-inspiring. Schiavone is surely near the end of her career, but how wonderful to know that, with a little help from a very gifted opponent, she can still steal the show from everyone.


2. We love Lucie: What a run! During the last couple of seasons, Lucie Safarova has done two important things. She's calmed her nerves, and she's become more aggressive. During these last two weeks, we all got to see just how far the talented Czech player has come. She had to beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Kurumi Nara, Sabine Lisicki, defending champion Maria Sharapova, Garbine Muguruza, and former champion Ana Ivanovic to get to the final.

But, as is often the case, the player who does the really heavy lifting isn't quite up to the task of finishing off an opponent in the final. Safarova gets a break here because "an opponent" was Serena Williams. The 13th seed actually didn't come alive until halfway through the second set, but when she finally found her game, she was able to take Williams to a third set. Williams would have none of it, though, and lifted her game even higher to defeat Safarova. Still, it was a remarkable run, and a very old-school kind of run in that Safarova also competed for two weeks in doubles. She and partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands won that title. What an impressive two weeks!

1. 20 and counting: She struggled throughout the tournament, constantly getting dragged to three sets, and suffering with a very nasty case of flu. She had to fight off old foes Victoria Azarenka and Sloane Stephens. But--no surprise at all--Serena Williams prevailed. The world number 1, who appeared to be on her last leg after winning her semifinal match, did what she came to do in Paris: She won the whole thing, giving her her third French Open title.

This means that Williams has now won 20 singles majors. For what it's worth, she's also won 13 doubles majors and two mixed doubles majors. The 33-year-old Williams is halfway to winning the Grand Slam, one of the few things she's never done, but something that is not at all out of the question.
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Saturday, June 6, 2015

Super-athlete Serena Williams wins French Open for third time



A hundred years from now, when we're all dead and gone, Serena Williams might just have one more match left in her. Just saying.

Today, the world number 1 won the French Open for the third time, beating Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6-7, 6-2. In doing so, Williams also won her 20th major singles title.

Williams started off strong, serving both with power and precision. Throughout the first set, Safarova struggled to keep up, as she rushed most of her shots and continually hit the ball out of the court. Safarova had hit with extraordinary control throughout the tournament, in which she hadn't dropped a set, but this was a different scenario. The Czech player had never before reached the final of a major, and now, here she was, playing in one, with Serena Williams standing across the court from her.

I expected the Czech star to straighten herself out in the second set, and I was a little surprised to see Williams go up 4-1. But then it happened: Safarova found her rhythm and recovered her form. She made a thrilling comeback, and the set went to a tiebreak, which Safarova won 7-2 with such ease, Williams looked stunned.

Safarova won the second set on her own merit, but it helped that Williams had begun to have trouble with her serve, double-faulting nine times throughout the match (an unusual stat for the world number 1, but I should add, she also hit 11 aces).

Safarova appeared to still have the momentum at the beginning of the final set, when she broke Williams right off. But at 1-2, when she hit her only double fault of the match, she was broken back. Williams broke her opponent again to go up 4-2, and that was that for Safarova's chances--maybe not technically, but reality-wise. Williams simply stormed through the remainder of the match, with Safarova saving one match point on her own serve, but then getting broken on the second.

This was a difficult French Open (they kind of all are) for Williams. She had to go three sets in five of her seven matches, and she was ill from the third round on. When she played Timea Bacsinszky in the semifinals, she was obviously very ill. But this is Serena Williams we're talking about, and she once again found a way to be the last woman standing.



Lucie Safarova had a wonderful run, reaching the final by taking out two former French Open champions (Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic), as well as clay court standouts Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Garbine Muguruza. And her performance in the second set of the final reminded us of everything she had accomplished during her two-week stay in Paris. Tomorrow, she and partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands will contend for the French Open doubles championship.

When the new singles rankings are posted tomorrow, Safarova will be number 7 in the world.

In the meantime, Serena can have some real illness recovery time before she heads to the grass courts to prepare for Wimbledon.

It was a dramatic final, fun to watch. I'll be glad to be rid of the ill-behaved French crowd, but mostly, I'm about to feel my usual letdown. The French Open is my favorite of the four majors, and I have no relief in sight, since it's followed by the major I can barely bring myself to watch.
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Friday, June 5, 2015

Lucie Safarova--the busiest woman in Paris



Today, Lucie Safarova and her doubles partner, Bethan Mattek-Sands, advanced to the final of the French Open. Mattek-Sands, with partner Mike Bryan, has already won the mixed doubles title, so she's been pretty busy. But Safarova is also going to play in the singles final, which makes her the busiest woman of all.

Mattek-Sands and Safarova, the 7th seeds, claimed their spot in the final by defeating 2011 French Open champions Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 6-2, 5-7, 6-4. Also playing in the final is the 12-seeded team of Casey Dellacqu and Yaroslava Shvedova who upset 2nd seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals.

Serena Williams has won the French Open twice; Safarova has never before played in a major final. The Czech star has yet to drop a set in singles play (she's dropped only one in doubles, and that was to Hlavackova and Hradecka). Williams and Safarova have played each other twice on clay. Williams won both matches (one was a final), which were both played in Charleston.

Williams, who has been suffering with flu for several days (yes, idiots posting on Twitter, she's sick), said yesterday that she hoped the worst part of the illness would be over very soon. If she wins the final, it will be her 20th major singles championship.

Here are the players' paths to the final:

Serena Williams
round 1--def. Andrea Hlavackova
round 2--def. Anna-Lena Freidsam
round 3--def. Victoria Azarenka (27)
round of 16--def. Sloane Stephens
quarterfinals--def. Sara Errani (17)
semifinals--def. Timea Bacsinszky (23)

Lucie Safarova
round 1--def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
round 2--def. Kurumi Nara
round 3--def. Sabine Lisicki (20)
round of 16--def. Maria Sharapova (2)*
quarterfinals--def. Garbine Muguruza (21)
semifinals--def. Ana Ivanovic (7)*

*former French Open champion
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Thursday, June 4, 2015

Williams and Safarova: Who could ask for anything more?




I once saw Serena Williams win a major final while being wrapped like a mummy in bandages all over her body. I once saw her win an important match at the Australian Open when she had functional use of only one leg and one hand. So it was no surprise today when the world number 1 won her French Open semifinal while experiencing some really nasty flu symptoms that caused her to sweat profusely and stagger around the court. Williams defeated Timea Bacsinszky 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Serena Williams is a warrior in the classic literary sense. She has endured the ugliest racism, the most repulsive misogyny, a series of significant bodily injuries, the break-ups of significant relationships, her sister's murder, Venus's chronic illness, and a near-death illness of her own. And she has used all of these things to make her tougher and more resilient. She is simply amazing.

I'm going to say, however, what others seem to be shying away from because of their awe of Serena and their great regard for Bacsinszky: Bacsinszky blew it. She might not have won the match, but she could have made it a lot closer (or even won it?) had she not mentally collapsed in the third set. Was the collapse caused by the "not ready for prime time" fear syndrome? Or was it caused by the very sight of a resurgent Williams on the other side of the net? I'm going to go with the first answer because I don't think Bacsinszky was that afraid to face Serena--or anyone.

Timea Bacsinszky is a class act and it was a pleasure to see her make a run to the semifinals of a major. And there will be more of the same to come, I believe.




Williams' opponent in the final will be Lucie Safarova, who has yet to drop a set (in singles or doubles) at the French Open. Yesterday, someone Tweeted me that Ana Ivanovic would take Safarova out, and I was thinking "in what parallel universe?" Safarova is a woman on a mission, and it's been a long time coming. And Ivanovic, for all her talent, can handle only so much pressure. And pressure she got, almost every moment, from the aggressive Safarova.

The Czech star, for her part, displayed both the blessing and the curse of being a lefty. She served her way to success (as she has the entire tournament), but she got shaky when she realized she was about to advance to the final of the French Open. Serving at 5-4, Safarova double-faulted away her match point. But, like many players who are prone toward anxiety, Safarova found it an easier job to break Ivanovic in the next game than to hold her own serve.

After breaking, Safarova did hold her own serve, defeating Ivanovic 7-5, 7-5. The first-time major finalist hit 36 winners, 18 of them with her forehand, and 18 with her backhand. Lucie's body language tells the story: The lanky Czech now walks around the court with an air of confidence and competence; she looks like a different person.

We also got a champion today: Bethanie Mattek-Sands, with partner Mike Bryan, won the mixed doubles title, defeating Lucie Hradecka and Marcin Matkowski 7-6, 6-1 in the final. Mattek-Sands is still alive in women's doubles, too, with partner Safarova. The pair won the 2015 Australian Open.
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Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Fed Cup first round exciting before it's even played




The Draw Demon (I made that up, but you know how mysterious tennis can be) was busy in Paris today, putting together the draw for the opening round of 2016 Fed Cup competition. High on the Demon's World Group I prank list is France vs. Italy, with France serving as host.

Recall that last year, also during the first round, France came back from 0-2 to beat Italy and advance to the quarterfinals. Well, here we go again. Assuming everyone is healthy, Captain Mauresmo will have Alize Cornet, Caroline Garcia and Kiki Mladenovic on her team in the hope that they can pull off some more magic. Italy's team isn't that easy to predict. Again, if everyone is healthy, one can assume that Camila Giorgi will be on hand, and either Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci (or both). And perhaps Flavia Pennetta will show up again. At any rate, I predict another exciting weekend.

But the Draw Demon wasn't satisfied with just tossing France and Italy in together again: Romania will host the Czech Republic, the defending champion. This is as tough as it gets for Romania. Petra Kvitova, whatever kind of mess she might become in another event, can be counted on to slay in Fed Cup play. Oh, and then there's Lucie Safarova (more about her later), who has turned Fed Cup into her personal playground, also. And Lucie Hradecka and Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova--what a group.

Of course, Romania has Simona Halep, with backup from the likes of Alexandra Dulgheru and Andreea Mitu.

Also in World Group I, Germany will host Italy and Russia will host The Netherlands.

Here is the draw for World Group II:

Slovak Republic vs. Australia
Canada vs. Belarus
USA vs. Poland
Serbia vs. Spain

In other French news today, a couple of women advanced to the semifinals. One was two-time champion Serena Williams, who moved up another gear to defeat 2012 runner-up Sara Errani 6-1, 6-3. In the other semifinal match, Timea Bacsinszky defeated Alison Van Uytvanck 6-4, 7-5. It was a well-played match by both women. Bacsinszky hit 39 winners.

In doubles, 2011 champions Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka advanced to the semifinals by defeating 4th seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Flavia Pennetta, and Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova upset top seeds Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza.

In mixed doubles, Mattek-Sands and Mike Bryan advanced to the final, as did Hradecka and Marcin Matkowski. This means that Safarova, Hradecka and Mattek-Sands are very busy ladies as the tournament moves toward a conclusion.

In singles wheelchair competition, defending champion Yui Kamiji advanced to the semifnals.
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Monday, June 1, 2015

The Perils of Petra

When we last checked in on the pure-hearted but fragile Petra, she had been locked in a basement (perhaps in Radwanska Abbey) by her evil twin and beaten to a pulp by the deceptively cheerful Queen of Mexico, who left our poor Petra to subsist on nothing but a bagel and water.

Will Petra escape from the torture chamber in time to drag her evil twin's ass through the freshly mowed grass? Stay tuned....




The French Open 4th seed, Petra Kvitova, looking at a draw which gave her a fairly clear shot at once again challenging "The Serena" in the semifinals, looked more than ready and able during the first set of her round of 16 match against Timea Bacsinszky. But if we've learned anything by now, it's to not get our hopes up just because Kvitova does something like produce 71 and 67% first and second serve stats and win the set 6-2. 

Two things happened in the second set: Kvitova's opponent woke up and began to play the game that has served her so well this season, and--guess what the second thing was?!--Kvitova went to pieces. Bacsinszky won that set 6-0, then won the third set 6-3. And all credit to the Swiss player, who performed really well, but one must also consider that Petra went away. Again.

Kvitova's demise wasn't the only big news of the day, however. 2nd seed and defending champion Maria Sharapova was defeated 7-6, 6-4 by a spot-on, in-form Lucie Safarova.
 



And now I want to digress for a moment. The Internet was aglow today with fans scolding anyone who dared to mention Sharapova's illness as an "excuse" for her loss. And while such a move is unpopular, I'm introducing (how dare she?!) some rationality to this conversation: Every time an injured or sick player loses a match, there's a flood of causal reductionism about it. Yes, Safarova played superbly. Yes, Sharapova might not have played any better if she had been healthy. But things happen for more than one reason.

If you've ever had a cold or some related respiratory illness (and that, I think would include everyone), then you know that it makes you physically weak and mentally fuzzy. Can't we just say that Sharapova lost and that her illness was one of the reasons? Please. I mean, if I want to be assaulted by logical fallacies, I can just turn on television news.

Other things happened today. 2012 runner-up Sara Errani easily defeated Julia Goerges in straight sets. Alison Van Uytanck, still apparently unaffected by the gravity of her circumstances, defeated Andreea Mitu. Garbine Muguruza defeated Flavia Pennetta. Muguruza will play Safarova in the quarterfinals, and that has the potential to be a great match. Ivanovic gets Elina Svitolina, who has never beaten the Serb (but this is a much improved Svitolina).

2nd seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina advanced the doubles quarterfinals today with a victory over the Rodionova sisters. Also, Lucie Safarova is still going in doubles competition. She and partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands also advanced to the quarterfinals.
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