Boom or Bust

I don't know what's going on with the women's draw out in the desert because I haven't been able to watch a match. We know that two of the top "stars", No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic and No. 3 seed Elena Dementieva, have crashed out in their first matches. At least ElenaD managed to win a set. She said something about not recovering from all the tennis she's played so far this year and is happy to get some rest before Key Biscayne. This from one of the fittest players on the tour.

Quietly advancing, however, is the American Angela Haynes who got into the main draw after winning two qualifying matches as a wild card. She announced herself at the 2004 US Open where she advanced to the third round and followed it up at Wimbledon the next year where she took a set from a woefully out-of-shape Serena Williams in the first round. Since all of that, her brother died tragically in a motorcycle accident, and she's been off the radar ever since. Ranked No. 151, she hasn't played in the main draw of a Slam since 2005.

Now, she's is in the third round of the 6th Slam, after defeating in straight sets No. 20 seed Sugiyama Ai, who's no walk in the part no matter how much of a veteran she's become. The American hasn't dropped a set in her four matches, including qualifying.

That AP image you see above is the only photo anyone bothered to take of the 24-year-old Black woman from Compton. No, I'm not accusing anyone of bigotry or racism, so calm down. But Haynes probably considers the BNP Paribas Open a home event, seeing as though she was raised less than two hours away. And she's clearly playing some of her best tennis under the radar. Perhaps the crafty lefty with the swinging serve can use this event to get her career back on track. She must seize the day. No. 12 seed Flavia Pennetta is her next test. Let's see how she holds up.