by Craig Hickman
David Ferrer defended a title. Novak Djokovic, too. Juan Martin del Potro returned to the winner's circle for the first time in his comeback.
Vera Zvonareva toppled the computer's top-ranked player to win her 11th title and Gisela Dulko took a singles title for the first time since 2008.
I don't typically watch any of the events on the calendar this week, finals included. Not even the one in the United States. The timing is all wrong. Not to mention sanctions.
Next up: Davis Cup.
Showing posts with label Gisela Dulko. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gisela Dulko. Show all posts
Day 1: Hot & Dry
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The sun hung high in the sky. The courts played like they do in Rome. Or, better yet, on the imported red clay of Houston in years past. Fast and slick.
I didn't see an awful lot of tennis, though I enjoyed thoroughly the Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 5-set victory over Daniel Brands.
KarenFed provides today's recap.
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Today was the first day of play in the 2010 French Open. There were not many upsets today. The only top seed to go out was No. 8 Victoria Azarenka who was taken out in straight sets by Gisela Dulko. All other seeds held to move on to the second round round.
The Women
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Venus Williams looked good in her straight-set win over veteran Patty Schnyder. A little shaky on serve but her ground strokes seemed to be holding up well and her net game as always was impeccable. Liked her outfit as it was different from the usual stuff the women wear.
Svetlana Kutznetsova started off slowly losing the first 3 games in the first set but steadied the ship and reeled off 9 straight games before Sorana Cirstea was able to get on the board again. That would be it as far as Sorana was concerned as Sveta took the match in straights. I just have to say that I think that Sven Gronefeld is way over rated as a coach as is the Adidas Player Development Program. Sorana has been slumping since last year and looking at her this morning she has no Plan B. This one is going back to the ITF circuit faster than you can say Sorana who?
Aravane Rezai v. Heidi El Bhaki was a one sided affair between the Madrid champion and the qualifier. Heidi is a Canadian player by way of Egypt. First time I saw her play. She has a good game but as with most young players she needs to work on her serve as well as her groundies. Solid forehand and good movement. Hope to see more of her as she is stunningly beautiful with a wonderful mocha complexion and a body that is reminiscent of Serena Williams circa 2001-2002. Slamming.
Maria Kirilenko v. Karolina Sprem was a looker. For some reason every time I see Kirilenko I am struck by how ineffective her game is yet she seems to get so much out of it. I also wonder about her supposed beauty until I do a double take and I am like, Whoa, she is really beautiful. She beat Sprem today in straights but the match was a lot closer than the score suggests.
There were a few women’s matches I would have loved to see: Andrea Petovic v. Elena Vesnina, Agnes Szavay v. Stephanie Foretz (there was a live stream but the camera was all the way on another planet), and Nadia Petrova v. Shuai Zhang (too busy to watch).
Another upset occurred today when Rome champion María José Martínez Sánchez (she of the ball did not hit my hand but my racquet gate) was ousted by Akgul Amanmuradova in straight sets. Didn't see one point of that match.
The Men
Robin Soderling looked good today. Let me say that another way. Robin Söderling looked damned good today. He was playing within himself and I can see how he took out Rafael Nadal last year. He played controlled, aggressive tennis. Very good effort by him today. His opponent was a French wildcard that I had never heard of. The French really need to stop giving wild cards to these players.
Marin Cilic - I am slowly but surely coming off the side car on this one. I just do not see him winning a major, not with the personality that he now has. He has to step it up if he wants to make me a believer. He beat Ricardo Mello in 4 sets. Most tennis fans thought Mello had retired.
The big upset of the day on the men’s side was clay court wunderkind Ernest Gulbis who had to retire in his match against Julien Benneteau. The fact that he retired had no bearing on the match. He would have been beaten regardless. Like Mike Tyson said, to be a champion you have to be able to do it day in and day out.
The last men’s match I watched was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga v Daniel Brands. Very good match that Tsonga won in 5 sets. There is something to be said for Tsonga who having never played a 5 setter before this year’s AO, has now won all 3 5 set matches that he has played. Good on you, Jo.
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Roland Garros 2010 Day 1 Open Thread
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Worn out from a convention yesterday, I overslept and then had to head right out to the field when I got up and take care of some important things.
Victoria Azarenka aka Nicole Vaidisova 2.0 was sent packing by Gisela Dulko, Julien Benneateau is having his way with Ernests Gulbis. So far. And Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is down a set to the unheralded Daniel Brands from Germany.
Fill us in on the other juicy details of the day.
Faces Of The Day
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Casey Dellacqua of Australia celebrates winning her second round match against Karolina Sprem of Croatia during day four of the 2010 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 21, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia.
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Australia's Lleyton Hewitt celebrates match point over Donald Young of the U.S. at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 21, 2010.
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Bec Hewitt watches her husband Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in his second round match against Donald Young of the USA during day four of the 2010 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 21, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia.
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Australia's Samantha Stosur waves after defeating Kristina Barrois of Germany at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 21, 2010.
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Argentina's Juan Monaco reacts after winning the third set against Michael Liodra of France during their Men's singles match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010.
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Gisela Dulko of Argentina reacts after defeating Serbia's Ana Ivanovic at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 21, 2010.
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Columbia's Alejandro Falla gives a thumb's up to the crowd after winning his match against Marcel Granollers of Spain at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 21, 2010.
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Italy's Alberta Brianti celebrates a point won against Germany's Sabine Lisicki. during their Women's singles match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010.
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Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus celebrates after winning his second round match against David Ferrer of Spain during day four of the 2010 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 21, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia.
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Men's Singles - Second Round
[1] R Federer (SUI) d V Hanescu (ROU) 62 63 62
[3] N Djokovic(SRB) d M Chiudinelli (SUI) 36 61 61 63
[6] N Davydenko(RUS) d [Q] I Marchenko (UKR) 63 63 60
[9] F Verdasco (ESP) d [Q] I Sergeyev (UKR) 61 62 62
[10] J Tsonga (FRA) d T Dent (USA) 64 63 63
M Baghdatis (CYP) d [17] D Ferrer (ESP) 46 36 76(4) 63 61
[18] T Haas (GER) d J Tipsarevic (SRB) 46 64 63 16 63
[20] M Youzhny (RUS) d J Hajek (CZE) 62 61 61
[22] L Hewitt (AUS) d [Q] D Young (USA) 76(3) 64 61
[26] N Almagro (ESP) d B Becker (GER) 64 62 36 46 63
[30] J Monaco (ARG) d M Llodra (FRA) 36 36 76(5) 61 63
[31] A Montanes (ESP) d S Robert (FRA) 46 67(3) 62 63 62
A Falla (COL) d M Granollers (ESP) 64 61 63
L Kubot (POL) d S Giraldo (COL) 64 36 63 61
[Q] S Koubek (AUT) d [Q] I Dodig (CRO) 76(4) 61 62
D Istomin (UZB) d M Berrer (GER) 75 63 64
Women's Singles - Second Round
(1) Serena Williams (USA) d. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 62 61
(4) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. Julia Goerges (GER) 63 61
(6) Venus Williams (USA) d. Sybille Bammer (AUT) 62 75
(7) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. Stefanie Voegele (SUI) 64 60
(9) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. Iveta Benesova (CZE) 60 63
(10) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 60 62
(13) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. Kristina Barrois (GER) 75 63
(16) Li Na (CHN) d. Agnes Szavay (HUN) 36 75 62
(17) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. Julie Coin (FRA) 63 64
Gisela Dulko (ARG) d. (20) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 67(6) 75 64
Alberta Brianti (ITA) d. (21) Sabine Lisicki (GER) 26 64 64
(22) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. (Q) Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) 64 61
(29) Shahar Peer (ISR) d. Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 61 64
(32) Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) d. Andrea Petkovic (GER) 61 64
Tathiana Garbin (ITA) d. Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 67(5) 62 60
(WC) Casey Dellacqua (AUS) d. Karolina Sprem (CRO) 76(4) 76(6)
Men's Doubles - First Round
[3] L Dlouhy (CZE) / L Paes (IND) d L Friedl (CZE) / D Skoch (CZE) 63 61
M Kohlmann (GER) / J Nieminen (FIN) d [4] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Mirnyi (BLR) 64 64
F Gonzalez (CHI) / I Ljubicic (CRO) d [6] F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK) 63 76(7)
I Karlovic (CRO) / D Vemic (SRB) d [9] C Kas (GER) / D Norman (BEL) 64 36 64
[11] S Aspelin (SWE) / P Hanley (AUS) d M Daniel (BRA) / D Koellerer (AUT) 61 62
J Benneteau (FRA) / S Darcis (BEL) d [13] M Llodra (FRA) / A Ram (ISR) 75 36 75
[14] M Damm (CZE) / F Polasek (SVK) d [WC] M Matosevic (AUS) / B Tomic (AUS) 62 61
J Isner (USA) / S Querrey (USA) d J Coetzee (RSA) / R Wassen (NED) 64 61
C Ball (AUS) / S Huss (AUS) d B Becker (GER) / F Mayer (GER) 76(6) 76(3)
E Butorac (USA) / R Ram (USA) d T Bellucci (BRA) / A Sa (BRA) 63 64
I Andreev (RUS) / E Korolev (KAZ) d S Stakhovsky (UKR) / M Zverev (GER) 61 76(6)
F Lopez (ESP) / R Schuettler (GER) d F Gil (POR) / K Vliegen (BEL) 63 62
F Fognini (ITA) / P Starace (ITA) d J Chardy (FRA) / M Gicquel (FRA) 51 ret. (Chardy - wrist)
S Bolelli (ITA) / A Seppi (ITA) d L Lacko (SVK) / M Russell (USA) 64 62
I Kunitsyn (RUS) / D Sela (ISR) d M Chiudinelli (SUI) / V Troicki (SRB) 64 62
Women's Doubles - First Round
Dushevina/Rodionova (RUS/AUS) d. (5) Petrova/Stosur (RUS/AUS) 36 64 61
(7) Kleybanova/Schiavone (RUS/ITA) d. Brianti/U.Radwanska (ITA/POL) 46 75 76(3)
(9) Vesnina/Zheng (RUS/CHN) d. Cornet/Fichman (FRA/CAN) 75 63
(10) Mirza/Ruano Pascual (IND/ESP) d. (WC) Basuki/Date Krumm (INA/JPN) 64 62
(12) Chuang/Peschke (TPE/CZE) d. Senoglu/Shvedova (TUR/KAZ) 60 75
(13) Dulko/Pennetta (ARG/ITA) d. Bondarenko/Bondarenko (UKR/UKR) 64 26 63
(14) Groenefeld/King (GER/USA) d. (WC) Golds/Mirkovic (AUS/AUS) 60 61
(15) Kirilenko/A.Radwanska (RUS/POL) d. Cirstea/Pavlyuchenkova (ROU/RUS) 60 67(4) 62
(16) Benesova/Zahlavova Strycova (CZE/CZE) d. Errani/Suárez Navarro (ITA/ESP) 62 61
Azarenka/Kuznetsova (BLR/RUS) d. Kanepi/Woehr (EST/GER) 76(5) 64
Olaru/Savchuk (ROU/UKR) d. Amanmuradova/Tanasugarn (UZB/THA) 46 61 62
Peer/Voskoboeva (ISR/KAZ) d. Rybarikova/Voracova (SVK/CZE) 62 75
Szavay/Vinci (HUN/ITA) d. Govortsova/Poutchek (BLR/BLR) 75 64
Jankovic/Perry (SRB/USA) d. Cibulkova/Krajicek (SVK/NED) 61 64
Czink/Grandin (HUN/RSA) d. Lisicki/Rezai (GER/FRA) 63 62
Razzano/Wickmayer (FRA/BEL) d. Kondratieva/Sevastova (RUS/LAT) 75 36 62
Gullickson/Uhlirova (USA/CZE) d. Dulgheru/Gallovits (ROU/ROU) 63 36 63
Borwell/Kops-Jones (GBR/USA) d. Hercog/Martic (SLO/CRO) 64 76(3)
Baltacha/Dekmeijere (GBR/LAT) d. Safarova/Wozniak (CZE/CAN) 75 62
(WC) Peers/Robson (AUS/GBR) d. Craybas/Spears (USA/USA) 63 75
My Youngster
I figured I'd wait till week two began for the entire draw before confirming her identity.
It was Azarenka, and she lost! LOL.
I told you. It is Cirstea. Craig is not much of a fan of Wozniacki. Melanie would be a very long shot.
I must say I'm surprised pompelmo was the only one who was certain and also the only one who stated aloud that I don't have a whole lot of good to say about Wozniacki. Agnes Szavay? Please. I got over her a long time ago. While I like Gisela Dulko and would have no problem with her in the final, she doesn't exactly qualify as a youngster, so I was surprised she was even suggested.
Ironically, I didn't get to see Sorana play a single point at this event. Ironically, she lost to Wozniacki. But while my youngster is out of the tournament, the spirit of my desire is still alive.
Petra Kvitova, Melanie Oudin, Wozniacki, and Yanina Wickmayer are still around. Are all in the Tier III half of the draw. And given that Nadia Petrova and Svetlana Kuznetsova are such headcases, any one of the youngsters could make her first Slam final.
Day 3: South American Surprise
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In their previous two meetings, she won exactly three games. That was then. Today, she outlasted the former Wimbledon champion on Centre Court. Argentine Gisela Dulko sent shockwaves through the tennis world with her 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 dismissal of No. 59 ranked and No. 24 seeded Maria Sharapova at SW19.
I say shockwaves because Mary Jo Fernandez, who's married to Sharapova's agent, sounded as though she was going to cry in the booth. Excuses fell like rain from the lips of those who called Sharapova a contender because she'd advanced to the quarterfinals of her first Slam back on her worst surface. But they completely ignored who she beat and how she beat them. Tennis needs Sharapova, dammit, and those with the power to create the propaganda would not be turned back. Now, suddenly, this is only her (fill in the blank) tournament back, etc, etc, etc....
But enough with the hype (excuse) makers.
How did Dulko do it? For my money, her coach sat her down with a tape of Amélie Mauresmo's deconstruction of an in-form former champion in the 2006 semifinals, and they studied it as though cramming for an exam.
Now, make no mistake, Dulko is no Mauresmo. One's a solid but largely disregarded player, the other a two-time Slam champion and legendary choker. And Dulko certainly isn't going to rush the net. But when the Argentine was blocking and chipping back Maria's first serves, using acute angles to pull Sharapova off the court to expose her lumbering movement, and drawing her into the net with short, off-pace shots, I was reminded of that 2006 match.
And where did she get that serve?
Most impressive, however, was Dulko's recovery from a complete mid-match collapse. Receiving serve at 6-2, 3-0, her timid groundstrokes started finding the net.
She lost the next 7 games.
She fell behind an early break in the third set and one would expect Sharapova to run out the match.
Not this time.
Dulko stayed composed, fought back, and broke serve late in the third set, survived a break point serving for the match, squandered match points serving for the match, and eventually closed out the upset when Sharapova missed something.
This blog is not quite as quiet as it was yesterday, but could you imagine the traffic if Roger Federer or Venus Williams lost in the second round to a solid but largely disregarded player?
My bias says our readership is the most savvy on the Internet. Our traffic today backs that up.
Sharapova is beloved by her die hard fans, as is any player, Madison Avenue, and the tennis story makers -- those who would like to create a compelling narrative about her when, really, quite frankly, there isn't one -- but she's not as needed on the tour as many would like to have us believe.
Nadia Petrova is sleeping better tonight.
North American Surprise
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Sam Querrey's father took a last-minute flight to London to see his son play on Centre Court. That alone choked me up.
I could have done without the pre-match ESPN studio interview -- players need to focus before matches, not do publicity -- could have done without that serving-for-the-second-set choke, and certainly could have done with out that serving-to-stay-in-the-match-fifth-set choke, but staying competitive in a match down two sets to love and pushing it to five was quite the Centre Court christening for the young American who not that long about seemed more interested in his Porsche than his tennis career.
Clearly, Querrey has worked hard on his fitness, movement, and footwork. Not sure he'll ever win anything big, because a killer instinct seems to be lacking, though he was one of my wild cards for this quarter. But today's performance was one for which he can be proud and Marin Cilic, the No. 11 seed who almost found himself down two sets to love, should consider himself fortunate his slightly older but less experienced opponent couldn't put the hammer down.
Face Of The Day
AP
Argentina's Gisela Dulko reacts in her first round match against Victoria Azarenka from Belarus at the Porsche Grand Prix tennis tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Wednesday, April 29, 2009. Dulko upset the pundits' answer for the missing-in-action blonde from Florida, ahem, I mean Siberia, 6-4, 6-3. And to think someone called Azarenka the favorite to win Roland Garros shortly after her Miami crown.
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Singles - Second Round
Gisela Dulko (ARG) d. (4) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 64 63
Singles - First Round
(3) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 61 61
(5) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. (Q) Andrea Petkovic (GER) 64 57 61
(6) Nadia Petrova (RUS) d. Zheng Jie (CHN) 64 57 64
Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) 62 60
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. Alize Cornet (FRA) 63 61
(WC) Sabine Lisicki (GER) d. Patty Schnyder (SUI) 64 63
Doubles - First Round
Spears/Sun (USA/CHN) d. (2) Hantuchova/Sugiyama (SVK/JPN) 46 62 107
Mattek-Sands/Petrova (USA/RUS) d. Jugic-Salkic/Poutchek (BIH/BLR) 60 75
Dulko/Pennetta (ARG/ITA) d. Parra Santonja/Sfar (ESP/TUN) 64 62
(WC) Petkovic/Woehr (GER/GER) d. Errani/Senoglu (ITA/TUR) 63 26 108
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Internazionali BNL d'Italia
Singles - Second Round
[1] R Nadal (ESP) d A Seppi (ITA) 62 63
[2] R Federer (SUI) d I Karlovic (CRO) 64 64
[Q] J Monaco (ARG) d [4] A Murray (GBR) 16 63 75
[5] J Del Potro (ARG) d V Troicki (SRB) 63 16 63
[6] F Verdasco (ESP) d M Fish (USA) 64 57 63
J Melzer (AUT) d [7] N Davydenko (RUS) 75 76(5)
[10] S Wawrinka (SUI) d [Q] M Youzhny (RUS) 63 76(5)
[12] F Gonzalez (CHI) d J Tipsarevic (SRB) 64 64
[13] T Robredo (ESP) d P Kohlschreiber (GER) 62 76(5)
[15] M Cilic (CRO) d C Rochus (BEL) 60 57 62
R Soderling (SWE) d [Q] V Crivoi (ROU) 61 67(2) 61
[Q] M Zverev (GER) d P Mathieu (FRA) 36 76(5) 60
[16] R Stepanek (CZE) d F Lopez (ESP) 62 61
[8] G Simon (FRA) d [WC] F Fognini (ITA) 67(6) 62 63
R Gasquet (FRA) d E Gulbis (LAT) 62 16 64
Singles - First Round
R Gasquet (FRA) d [9] J Tsonga (FRA) 76(2) 64
P Mathieu (FRA) d [11] D Ferrer (ESP) 63 26 62
[16] R Stepanek (CZE) d F Serra (FRA) 76(1) 46 75
Doubles- First Round
[WC] D Bracciali (ITA) / P Starace (ITA) d A Montanes (ESP) / T Robredo (ESP) 62 76(8)
[Alt] I Karlovic (CRO) / D Vemic (SRB) d F Cermak (CZE) / S Huss (AUS) 76(6) 57 10-8
J Blake (USA) / M Fish (USA) d S Aspelin (SWE) / W Moodie (RSA) 76(4) 61
M Melo (BRA) / A Sa (BRA) d R Lindstedt (SWE) / R Soderling (SWE) 75 62
Quote For The Day
"It was a very, very good match for me. I feel great after this fight. I think that was the most important for me because I was always down, first set, second set, and then in the tie-break. I just hung in there, and things were good for me at the end. I was really, really happy."--Gisela Dulko on upsetting No. 3 seed and 2008 runner-up Jelena Jankovic
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