Safina and Kuznetsova to play in Rome final

Dinara Safina had a terrible time winning her semifinal match against Venus Williams. Serving for the match at 6-7, 6-3, 5-4, 30-15, Safina made the final game a microcosm of the entire match. She double-faulted--not the only time she would do that--which helped give Williams four break points. But every time she was close to being broken, Safina came up with blistering winners that gave her a chance to start all over at deuce. She blew a couple of match points, but was finally able to close.

Williams dominated the beginning of the match, though Safina was able to force a tiebreak in the first set. Williams won that set, and then went up a break in the second. Things didn't look too good for the world number 1 on paper, but we're talking about Thrill Ride here, and she was happy to turn the set--and the match--around, amid many curves, bumps and traps. That's how she operates. Not surprisingly, Williams' forehand became a deficit, and eventually, so did her backhand. In the end, Safina--despite lapses--was just too tough mentally.

The match lasted over three hours, and was one of the best matches I've seen this year--a true thriller.

Safina's opponent in the final will be Svetlana Kuznetsova, who has been playing superbly in Rome. Kuznetsova finished off a sullen, error-prone Victoria Azarenka, who never got past her (justified) displeasure over a bad line call early in the match. Kuznetsova won the match 6-2, 6-4.

Friday cat blogging--total relaxation edition

Peer wins match on one foot, and Lisicki retires

After she defeated Jarmila Groth today--6-2, 0-6, 6-3--in the Estoril Open quarterfinals, 7th seed Shahar Peer had to obtain crutches in order to walk off the court. Peer injured her ankle during the match, and is expected to withdraw from the tournament.

That wasn't the only injury: 4th seed Sabine Lisicki retired against Anna-Lena Groenefeld because of a right shoulder injury. I hope it isn't very serious; I am quite keen on seeing how Lisicki does on European clay courts.

Number 2 seed Maria Kirilenko was upset by 6th-seeded Ekaterina Makarova, and number 3 seed Sorana Cirstea was upset by Yanina Wickmayer. Top seeds Kirilenko and Cirstea were also upset in doubles by Julie Coin and Marie-Eve Pelletier.

Doubles upsets in Rome

Number 1 seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber were defeated in the quarterfinals in Rome today by 5th seeds Daniela Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama, 6-4, 6-1. Hantuchova and Sugiyama, you will recall, defeated Black and Huber in what is still, for me, the most exciting match of the year--singles or doubles--in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Black and Huber are looking a bit vulnerable these days.

The number 2 seeds also went out in today's quarterfinals. The unseeded team of Ipek Senoglu and Yaroslava Shvedova defeated Kveta Peschke and Lisa Raymond, 6-2, 6-4.

4th-seeded Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez received a walkover from Nadia Petrova and Dinara Safina because Safina's right ankle is injured. Had the walkover not occurred, Safina and Martinez Sanchez would have played each other twice today.

Safina, Azarenka, Kuznetsova, and Williams go to Rome semifinals

Top seed Dinara Safina came back from a set and a break down to defeat Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in today's Rome quarterfinals. Safina defeated Martinez Sanchez 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. Of course, a set and a break down is really nothing for Thrill Ride.

Victoria Azarenka is lucky that Kaia Kanepi double-faulted twelve times in their quarterfinal match. Azarenka was something of a mess in this match, in which the players held serve only twice in the opening set. The term "out of sorts" is probably used too much, but no description fits Azarenka's behavior today better. Azarenka, with a 7-6, 6-3 win, goes to the semifinals.

2007 and 2008 Rome champion Jelena Jankovic was taken out of the tournament today by Stuttgart champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-1, 7-6. Toward the end of the second set, Kuznetsova got tight and began making errors. It looked hopeful for Jankovic--I assumed there would be a third set--but Kuznetsova pulled it off.

I didn't get to see Venus Williams play Agnieszka Radwanska, but I understand that Williams was in extremely good form throughout. She must have been: She defeated Radwanska 6-1, 6-2.

Miscellany

Ana Ivanovic has withdrawn from the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open.

Ivanovic and Victoria Azarenka played tennis on a rooftop in Rome this week. Tennis on rooftops, tennis on top of cars--does anyone else find these stunts as silly as I do?

Iveta Benesova was not allowed to play her first round match in Estoril until she put on different shorts; the ones she was wearing were deemed too short.

Sabine Lisicki is now number 38 in the world. She jumped 25 places since she won Charleston.

Abigail Lorge says that Serena Williams has a 13.5% chance of winning the Grand Slam this year.

Dinara's identity issues

At the Australian Open, Dinara Safina told the press that she felt it was her shadow who was playing the matches, not she. After today's close call with Zheng Jie in Rome, she told the press that after she practices, she is a "completely different person playing on the court."

The world number 1 is once again upset with herself: "I just don't understand what's going on with me, what is it with my brain," she said, with her usual candor.