Made My Day

by Craig Hickman

The 2011 Sony Ericsson Open is now history. Before play was officially underway, Kim Clijsters, Andy Roddick, Caroline Wozniacki and Ryan Harrison supported the Greater Miami Tennis and Education Foundation as part of Cliff Drysdale's fundraiser at the Ritz-Carlton of Key Biscayne inside the tennis center that bears his name.

Last year, Clijsters and Roddick considered the same event their good luck charms as both went on to win the Sony Ericsson Open. I guess it's true, then, that lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place. But the defending champions had a great time. Seeing tennis players doing what they love to do without the stress of a match was a beautiful thing.

The Ritz-Carlton of Key Biscayne is more like a palace than a hotel. I couldn't help but thinking we were approaching royalty as we drove into the gated grounds. Perfectly designed and manicured landscaping all around, we finally found the tennis center valet. Once on the courts, I was able to see what Serena Williams once said about green clay being slower and grittier than the crushed red brick used in Europe and South America. It almost looks like gravel. On one of the outside courts, I recognized former Miami runner-up Guillermo Cañas playing a double's match with other members.



The staff at the Ritz-Carlton gave customer service new meaning. Attentive, genuinely nice, they made us feel at home. Perfect weather, live musicians, an open bar, passed hors d'oeuvres, and the chance to test-drive Cadillac's new models would have attracted anyone who wanted to support a worthy cause.

Even with the great atmosphere and fun tennis exhibition, the event highlight came at the end when I approached Drysdale, who'd kept the proceedings efficient and light-hearted with his infectious personality and wit. He's practically a stand up comedian.

"Just in case I never have another opportunity to say this to you, I just wanted to let you know that you are the voice of tennis for me. Didn't matter where I was in the house, if I heard your voice on the television, I knew tennis was on. I enjoy your commentary, your humor, and the personality you bring in the booth is always a perfect foil for your colleagues."

His face lit up more than it naturally does. "Wow. Thank you so much for telling me that. You have made my day," he replied with an outstretched hand. Next thing I knew, he touched the side of my face as though I were his son. He made my day, too.

Michelle, the media relations director who invited us to cover the event, insisted that I pose with Drysdale for a photo. As we posed, I told him of my sister's home in South Africa and JD, who's originally from the Netherlands, asked him if he spoke any Afrikaans, the Dutch dialect spoken by the Nederlanders who settled there centuries ago. Personal connections make every experience more memorable.

The entire event benefited the Greater Miami Tennis and Education Foundation and like last year, kids from the foundation attended the event as ball boys and girls. They earned that privilege based on their report cards, attendance, leadership and other factors. The $13,000 raised will benefit these socially and economically challenged Miami children, will help them learn tennis and valuable life skills by participating in free, affordable GMTEF tennis and education programs throughout the school year, as well as during the summer.

Next year's event promises to be even better.

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Video Highlights

Circle Closed

JD Blom

Roger Federer talks to the press at the Sony Ericsson Open on March 23, 2011 in Miami, Florida.

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He looked a bit like Kim Clijsters during and after her loss to Victoria Azarenka the other night: detached. Like parents who realize their children are more important than the thrasing they just endured between the lines.

Or perhaps, in Federer's case, he simply was demoralized. It was a bit sad to witness. Rafael Nadal made it seem far too easy. Same way he did 7 years ago.

If Rafa is indeed in Raja's head, it had to have happened instantly. I remember there were murmurings that Raja was sick that calm, humid night in Miami 7 years ago. I don't remember where those murmurings came from as I was posting about on tennis forums all over the place, but they seemed there to comfort those who needed to believe the outcome of the match would have been different had Raja been 100% healthy. A year later, the next time they played, Rafa took the first two sets from Raja in the Miami final, though he ultimately lost the match.

And so it was this storied rivalry began with Rafa winning the first four sets. Talk about setting a tone.

Tonight, safe to say, the circle closed.

Will they ever play another important match? Will Federer settle for third or fourth best? Will he win another Slam? Who can see the future?

Savannah said that 2011 would be all about Roger Federer.

I'm beginning to see her point.

Of War And Radiation: Kim Clijsters Speaks

by Craig Hickman


JD Blom

Tuesday morning at the Sony Ericsson Open, Caroline Wozniacki, Kim Clijsters, Vera Zvonareva, Samantha Stosur, Francesca Schiavone, Jelena Jankovic, Li Na, and Victoria Azarenka made themselves available for the WTA All-Access Hour.

But it was Clijsters who spoke most candidly about recent world events. Probably because she was sharing her thoughts and feelings in her native tongue to journalists from her country. Something about being around your people that opens you up. What follows is translated from Flemish by JD Blom.

Q: When you are looking at the world events of Japan and Libya do you think about what is happening to the world and Jada’s future?

KC: Certainly. As soon as I heard that there was a radioactive cloud on its way to the west coast, normally I would not have worried about that, because you think it’s so far away. But this time I was “Let’s get out of here as soon as possible,” and also with Jada you think about it differently. When I was younger I used to worry about stuff, like when we had to go to Australia or Tokyo, and the war in Kuwait (sic) was going on and then on your flight map you could see that we were flying over Iraq and Iran and I had quite a bit of fear. I want to follow world affairs, but I do know that when Jada is walking around I don’t want her to see those things. But Brian looks at it quite differently. He knows what is happening and feels badly about it but it does not affect him as much as it affects me.

I was like, “We need to get those pills.” I went to all the natural food stores to look for products with natural iodine like seaweed, spirulina, and kelp. I bought it all. And Brian just laughs at me. He is like, "If the government says it will not have any influence no problem," but I think they are lying. Of course, they say that because they can’t evacuate the whole west coast. But I won’t be fooled. Even in Belgium my sister and aunt called me saying, “You gotta leave because the cloud is coming, or you can just put Jada alone the plane and we’ll pick her up here at the airport.” What a panic. It was a bum. Do you really think it can get here in Indian Wells? I didn’t even want to imagine it.

Q: Then there’s the Toray (Pan Pacific Open) in Tokyo in October.

KC: I won't go. And I won't go to Beijing either.

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The world No. 2 retired from her fourth-round match in Indian Wells against Marion Bartoli citing a shoulder injury. She's now happy to report that her shoulder and her wrist are improving and she's ready to defend her title in Miami.

Cross-posted to Tennis Panorama News

Confessions

Savannah has the story on the recently-retired former world No. 1 who admitted she, well, cheated on the grandest stages of tennis.

Petra Kvitova Pummels Kim Clijsters To Win Paris Indoors

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Shortly after the Australian Open, I read a journalist say something to the effect that all he could see in Petra Kvitova was a good swinging serve and not much else. In that writer's defense, Petra exited Melbourne with an erratic lackluster performance against Vera Zvonareva. Consistency is not Petra's forte. Not yet, anyway.


Reuters

But after saving a match point in the second round, the young Czech with the Bette Davis eyes blasted her way into the finals of the Open GDF Suez where she waxed Monday's new world No. 1 in straight sets. Beat her like she stole something. Now I see why Petra considers Paris Indoors her favorite tournament. The No. 4 seed struck 10 aces and at least 17 winners off the ground in a 6-4, 6-3 drubbing. An all-court display of power tennis that left the defending one subdued.

Wonder what that writer sees in her now.

Getty

Elsewhere, No. 4 seed Daniela Hantuchova beat No. 8 seed Sara Errani to win the Pattaya Open. Guess it was a good day to be the No. 4 seed on the WTA.

Bold Statements, Propaganda, and New Sponsors

What she said.

Clijsters Beats Li For Australian Open Title

Getty

I'd love to post a long, insightful write up about this final, but it's not necessary. Kim Clijsters' experience and Li Na's lack of the same propelled the Aussie's favorite adopted daughter to the title 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Despite waking up with a stiff neck and dropping the first set behind a rash of errors, Clijsters rallied against the unraveling first-time Slam finalist who let everything but the night sky distract her from focusing on the finish line.

Technically, these two mature-in-age tennis players player a similar game. But Li should never ever take a ball out of the air. Never. In umpteen attempts to put the ball away before letting it bounce, she won a mere two points. (Or was it three?) She gets low marks for overheads/swinging volleys, high marks for stubbornness. One of her amateurish attempts came on set point in the second set when she hit a timid swinging backhand volley right back to Clijsters who blasted it down the line to seal the set. To add insult to injury, the floater she struck was sailing wide.

We all knew what the outcome would be from there, and so it was.

At least Li made Clijsters serve for it, and serve for it she did. She hit three first serves and three groundstroke winners to earn three match points. She missed a first serve on her first one, but Li missed a forehand to give Clijsters her fourth major title and first outside New York.

Australian Open 2011 Women's Final Preview

BY MAD PROFESSAH


Getty

Front pages of newspapers in Beijing on January 28, 2011 show Chinese tennis player Li Na celebrating her win over world number one Caroline Wozniacki in the Australian Open semifinals on in three tough sets. China's tennis chief Sun Jinfang hailed Li Na, the first Asian woman to reach a Grand Slam final, as a 'pioneer' and national sports hero on a par with NBA great Yao Ming and star hurdler Liu Xiang.


AP

Belgium's Kim Clijsters answers questions at a press conference at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 28, 2011.

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Li Na CHN (9) vs. Kim Clijsters BEL (3). This is an historic match: the first time a player from Asia has competed for a major title in singles. There are potentially 1.3 billion people in China who will be personally invested in the result of this match and learn the name of their compatriot: Li Na. In some sense this can be considered performance pressure that no other player has ever experienced. However, Li is used to being a trailblazer so perhaps she will not be overly affected. Clijsters is in her 8th career major final (losing the first four and winning the last three!) and her second consecutive major final following her 2010 US Open title. The two have played 6 times, with Clijsters winning 4 times, including twice in grand slams. However, Li Na won the last match they played, the final of the Sydney International, exactly two weeks to the day before the 2011 Australian Open women's final will be completed. Li Na made history there by becoming the first Chinese player to win a top Tier title on the women's tour; she beat Clijsters 7-6(3) 6-3 despite the fact that the Belgian was up 5-0 in the first set.

I find it hard to believe that Clijsters will blow a lead of 5-0 in the final (and also hard to believe that Li Na will be in such a large hole). The two play similar styles but the 3-time US Champion does everything better than the 1st-time finalist. They both have huge forehands, dangerous backhands and are excellent movers. Additionally, Clijsters is quite good at the net (although Li is not afraid of approaching the net she is not very effective when she gets there) and has a serve that should win her some free points.

The only hope for Li is if Clijsters goes through one of her patches of bad play, or for some reason gets nervous as she nears winning her first major title outside of New York.

PREDICTION: Clijsters.

Australian Open 2011 Women's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's semifinals at the Australian Open this year. I correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals.

AP

Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) vs. Li Na CHN (9). Wozniacki is the #1 ranked player in the world despite not having reached a single major final in 2010 and only once in her brief career (2009 US Open). The nubile, flaxen-haired 20-year-old from Denmark is sometimes called the "Golden Retriever" by some tennis observers due to her style of play resembling a human backboard. Wozniacki is in her first Australian Open semifinal while her opponent has reached this far in the tournament for the second consecutive year. In fact Li has won the first 10 matches she has played in 2011 and is surfing a wave of confidence while Wozniacki is hearing an increasingly louder chorus of whispers doubting her ability to ever win a major title. Li on the other hand is hearing the call of history: can she become the first player from China to compete for (and win) a major title, especially the grand slam of Asia/Pacific, the Australian Open? I say, yes, and probably this week. The match-up between the two players is interesting: Li has great power on both wings and is also an excellent mover; Wozniacki has the ability to frustrate her opponents by forcing them to "win" a point several times through relentless defense. Head-to-head Li leads 2-1 and beat Wozniacki in the fourth round here last year in straight sets as well as a few weeks before in Sydney. A year later I see no reason why the result should be any different. PREDICTION: Li.

Reuters

Vera Zvonareva RUS (2) Petra Kvitova CZE (25) vs. Kim Clijsters BEL (3). I expected Kvitova to come through this match just like she had against #5 Samantha Stosur whom she dismissed easily in straight sets in front of a hometown crowd. However, Zvonareva showed incredible defense and consistency to eliminate the Czech lefty 6-2 6-4. Zvonareva has always been one of my favorite players to watch and her rise to the #2 ranking in the world via two consecutive major final finishes is a delight. Clijsters has been the clear favorite to win this year's title since Serena Willliams announced she would not be defending her 2010 Australian Open title. She is the only player of the final four remaining in the tournament who has won a major title; Clijsters has 3 US Open titles (2005, 2009, 2010). With Elena Dementieva's retirement Zvonareva is probably the best player on tour not to have won a major. Head-to-head Clijsters leads 6-3 but 5 of these wins were before Clijsters' "retirement" in May 2007. The two played 4 times in 2010 and Zvonareva won 3 of those matches, losing the most important one in a rout: the 2010 US Open women's final (6-1 6-2). None of those matches were finals, where the mental pressure is a larger factor and this poses a disadvantage to the more mentally fragile player. In a semifinal the mental pressure is less which should help Vera play some of her best tennis. It is also true that Clijsters does have a tendency to go through bad patches which complicates what should be easy wins. I suspect something like that will happen in this match as well, but in the end, Clijsters will find a way to prevail. PREDICTION: Clijsters.

Australian Open 2011 Women's Quarterfinals Preview

BY MAD PROFESSAH


Reuters
From top row left to right: Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, Vera Zvonareva of Russia, Kim Clijsters of Belgium, Francesca Schiavone of Italy. From bottom row left to right: Li Na of China, Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic and Andrea Petkovic of Germany.

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Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the Australian Open this year.

Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (23) Francesca Schiavone ITA (6). After the historic marathon match between Svetlana Kuznetsova and Francesca Schivaone, most observers expected the quarterfinal involving the "winner" to be scheduled last in order to increase the likelihood of a competitive match. Unfortunately, the powers that be have decided that the World No. 1's quarterfinal would not be a featured night match, opting for a women's doubles quarterfinal instead. There are very few men's 5-set matches that have lasted the 4-hours and 44 minutes of "Franlana." After the titanic first round match between David Nalbandian and Lleyton Hewitt was won by the Argentine, it resulted in the "winner" retiring meekly after playing about a set and a half of tennis 48 hours later. Schiavone finished her match around 8:05pm on Sunday and is scheduled to play her match against Wozniacki on Rod Laver Arena following the all-Swiss Federer-Wawrinka quarterfinal which will not be before 12:30pm on Tuesday. That is much less than 48 hours of recovery time. I know that the Italian has already proved that "Impossible is Nothing" with her incredible 2010 French Open win but I think that asking her to be 100% (even 50%) for her match with Wozniacki less than 48 hours after playing the longest women's grand slam match in history is a hill too high for even this dynamic athlete to climb. PREDICTION: Wozniacki in 2 sets.

Maria Sharapova RUS (14) Andrea Petkovic GER (30) vs Li Na CHN (9) Victoria Azarenka BLR (8). I really like the play of the veteran Chinese player (so much so I named my dog after her!) and am very excited that she is playing even better than last year, where she reached the semifinals of this tournament, losing to the eventual winner Serena Williams. Li Na has been a trailblazing icon of Chinese tennis; she is the first Chinese player to reach the Top 50, Top 40, Top 30, Top 20, Top 10 and to win a Tier 1 title (when she defeated Kim Clijsters in Brisbane earlier this year). She dismissed what some people thought was a legitimate contender to win the title in Victoria Azarenka in straight sets. Li has excellent power on both wings and is currently brimming with confidence since she is undefeated so far in 2011. Petkovic is no slouch and has improved upon her best result in a major (4th Round at the 2010 U.S. Open) at this year's 2011 Australian Open. I think it is highly unlikely she will prevent Li Na from attempting to improve her best result in a major and become the first Chinese player to reach a major final. PREDICTION: Li in 2 sets.

Agnieszka Radwanska POL (12) vs. Kim Clijsters BEL (3). Kim Clijsters is simply the best player on hard courts still left in the tournament, as evidenced by her three consecutive US Open titles. She does have a tendency to go off sometimes, and can get frustrated by counter-punchers. She had a surprisingly tight match with the diminutive Alize Cornet of France in the third round. Aggie Radwanska is the epitome of the kind of player who could give Clijsters fits, since she plays a game resembling the late, little lamented Martina Hingis. Clijsters had a pretty good record against Hingis and the one time she played Radwanska (more than 5 years ago) she won that match as well. I suspect this match will either be a 2-set blowout or a seesaw 3-setter where none of the individual sets are very close. PREDICTION: Clijsters in 3 sets.

Samantha Stosur AUS (5) Petra Kvitova CZE (25) vs. Vera Zvonareva RUS (2). Petra Kvitova is the most dangerous player in the draw. She is a very confident, powerful lefty with tremendous power on both wings and she's an excellent mover with a good serve. She's also undefeated for 2011; in fact she's only lost one set all tournament, to the hard-hitting and crafty Italian Flavia Pennetta. Kvitova dismissed the host country's great hope Samantha Stosur in straight sets with no regard for the audience.Vera Zvonareva has defeated every player she has faced in her half of the draw in the last two majors she has played (Wimbledon 2010 and US Open 2010) and has done an admirable job of turning around her reputation as "head case" by embodying consistency. But when consistency meets power, I usually put my money on power. Zvonareva has also lost only one set so far in the tournament (to hard-hitting young Serb Bojana Jovanovski) and almost lost another one to the hard-hitting lefty Lucie Safarova from the Czech Republic. I'm pretty sure that streak will end when she faces an even harder hitting lefty Czech player. PREDICTION: Kvitova in 3 sets.

Li Na Makes History

by Craig Hickman


AP

Li Na became the first Chinese player to win a Premier event on the WTA tour. The first Chinese player to ever break into the Top 10 and the first to compete in a Slam quarterfinal (Wimbledon 2006), the independent and spirited fighter is poised to make more waves at the Australian Open next week. Last year, she and compatriot Zheng Jie both advanced to the semifinals Down Under. Surely Li will be looking to go at least one step further. She has a draw she can work with, to be sure.

She looked down and out against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals but fought through. In a blink, she was facing a 0-5 deficit in the finals. Then, almost like clockwork, Kim Clijsters performed one of her characteristic disappearing acts, stinking up the joint with error after error, and in another blink, the set was level at 5-5.

The rest is history.

"I've played here many years. Every time I saw the name of the champion and I would think, 'Oh, when will my name be there?'" Li said. "Also, when you walk to center court, you can see many pictures of champions over there. So after today I talked to me team, saying we will come next year and see my picture.

"But now Sydney is over and I have to focus on Melbourne. After these two hours, I just have to forget everything and start the next day."

The week's other winners.


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Gilles Simon of France holds the trophy after beating Viktor Troicki of Serbia 7-5, 7-6(4) in the 2011 Medibank International final at Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre on January 15, 2011 in Sydney, Australia.


AP

David Ferrer of Spain celebrates with his trophy after his 6-3, 6-2 victory over David Nalbandian of Argentina at the final of the Heineken Open men's tennis tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011.

Does the Spanish David play the flute?

AP

Jarmila Groth of Australia celebrates her 6-4, 6-3 victory over Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States at the Hobart International women's tennis tournament in Hobart, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011.

Is that a trophy, a splay of organ pipes, or some dried driftwood with a shield affixed?

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On to Melbourne....

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World No. 1?

by Craig Hickman


AP

Humph.

Moose, over on TAT, asked it best:

So you are #1 in the world. Your prep for the Aussie is an Exo loss to Kim an Exo loss to Vera, a first round loss at Sydney to Domi Cibulkova in straights.

Are you concerned?

Best (Women's) Tennis Matches of 2010

BY MAD PROFESSAH

Here are my picks for the "best" (most memorable) tennis matches by women in 2010. These are basically the matches that had the most impact on me while they were occurring, feature some of the best play, had the most impact on the rest of the year or would be ones that I would most likely to watch again in the future. You can see my previous lists: Best Women's Tennis Matches of 2009 ,Best Women's Tennis Matches of 2007, and  Best Women's Tennis Matches of 2006.

1. S. Williams USA d. J. Henin BEL, 6-4 3-6 6-2, 2010 Australian Open final, Melbourne.

The finals of the 2010 Grand Slam tournaments (Australian, French, Wimbledon, U.S.) are often contenders for the most memorable matches of the year, due to the historic and reputational stakes at play depending on the result which sometimes (but not often) leads to high-quality tennis. The set up for this match was Justine Henin's return to professional tennis after a "retirement" of just over 18 months. The two had never been friendly and Henin had beaten Serena Williams in three consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals the last year they had met in 2007. Williams had won this tournament 4 times before (always in an odd year) and had never been able to successfully defend an Australian Open title. She had also had a near-death experience on her way to the final against Vika Azarenka; it was unclear if this would strengthen or weaken her confidence. What resulted was a match for the ages; Henin (inexplicably) decided to radically modify her game and go for broke on her return-of-serve and basically hit the ball as hard as she could whenever she had the opportunity. She also repeatedly rushed the net. Williams was placed into the unusual position for her of facing someone who was being even more aggressive on court. It was a high-stakes gamble for Henin which in one 10 minute period towards the end of the second set appeared to be paying dividends when the Belgian was able to win 4 games in a row (barely losing a point). However, in the third set Williams steadied her game and Henin's match inexperience with her own new service motion led to her downfall as the double faults and missed serves began to pile up, allowing Serena to win her 5th Australian Open title and 12th major title overall.

2. S. Stosur AUS d. S. Williams USA, 6-2 6-7(2) 8-6, 2010 French Open quarterfinal, Paris.

This was the match that decided the 2010 Roland Garros title. I am absolutely convinced that if Serena Williams had won this match she would have gone on to win her second French Open title. Amazingly, Williams actually possessed a match point late in the third set but hit an attempted winner down-the-line (instead of cross-court!) an inch or two long. Samantha Stosur had been widely regarded as a very talented doubles player but not really much of a singles threat at a major prior to this tournament. In fact, Williams had easily beaten Stosur in straight sets in Australia earlier in the year. However, in the 2010 clay court season Stosur had the most match wins of anyone on tour and her universally respected serve had become more of a weapon as her confidence increased in direct proportion to her match-win total. Always an excellent mover and possessing a great top-spin forehand as well as a both a slice and two-handed backhand, Stosur's Achilles heel had been her mental toughness. However, after beating Justine Henin, the 4-time French Open champion in the round before, Stosur showed that she had made significant progress towards erasing those doubts and took the rightful place her talent indicated in the Top 5 of Women's Tennis and a perennial threat to win major titles in the future.

3. K. Clijsters BEL d. V. Williams, 4-6 7-6(2) 6-4, 2010 U.S. Open semifinal, New York City.

A major tournament is always diminished by the absence of the #1 player in the world, even if they are not the defending champion. Serena Williams' absence at the 2010 US Open loomed over the tournament like the very dark stormclouds which disturbed play in the later rounds. Serena's absence led to speculation that it could help her sister Venus Williams to her best performance at a non-Wimbledon major tournament since 2003. Venus was not at her best physically but had a dream draw until she ran into defending champion Kim Clijsters after winning 5 matches relatively easily. The result was another curious showdown between Venus and Kim (but not as curious as 2009's 6-0 0-6 6-4 quarterfinal result) where the Belgian was able to come out on top by simply playing the big points better even though Venus basically dictated play for most of the match. Venus failed to respond to the call of history when the big moments showed up (2nd set tiebreak and 4-all in the third). Clijsters went on to win her 3rd US Open title in three tries and has a remarkable winning streak in New York dating back to 2005. Hopefully she can broaden her success to the other majors before she leaves the tour again in 2012.

4. K. Clijsters BEL d. J. Henin BEL, 6-3 4-6 7-6(6), Brisbane International final, Brisbane.

This was the first match that I saw in 2010 that I knew would end up on this list of the most memorable of the year. Despite their public protestations to the contrary, it is clear the "Belgian sisters" Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin do not like each other and that became blindingly clear in as this match progressed. Henin was playing in one of her first matches back on the tour, and Clijsters was coming off her 2009 US Open win. Clijsters easily won the first set and was cruising up 4-1 in the second when suddenly the wheels fell off and she couldn't buy a first serve or keep the ball in play. Henin, always one to take advantage when seeing an opponent in distress, easily won the 2nd set and was up a break in the third when Kim woke up from her "walkabout" and resumed playing high-quality tennis. In fact, the third set contained some of the best tennis played by any two women on tour all year. Clijsters came back from down a break (twice!) at 3-1 and 5-3 but fought back to take the match to a third-set tie-break. Henin was not done, saving 3 match points in the tie-break before finally succumbing. The length of the rallies, brilliant shot-making, and impossible defense were breathtaking and made this tennis fan very happy that both of these great champions had un-retired and returned to the Tour.

5. F. Schiavone ITA d. S. Stosur AUS, 6-4 7-6(2), 2010 French Open final, Paris.

No Italian woman had ever been in the Top 10 of the women's tour and certainly never in the final of a major championship. At nearly 30 years old, who would have expected Francesca Schiavone to lose the first set she played at the 2010 Roland Garros tournament and then never lose another, eventually holding the Coupe de Suzanne Lenglen after outplaying a stronger, bigger (and arguably more talented) player in the final? But that's exactly what happened and the tennis world was the better for it. By winning Schiavone again demonstrated why we watch sports: you never know what could happen; impossible dreams can come true. Schiavone ended the year at World #7.

6. V. Zvonareva RUS d. K. Clijsters BEL, 3-6 6-4 6-2, 2010 Wimbledon quarterfinal, London.

This year's Wimbledon was an odd tournament for me because I was actually in London for the final 5 days of the tournament (but only had tickets to the men's final). Anyway, because of this I actually saw much less of the latter round matches than usual (but still predicted the winners with better than average accuracy). Vera Zvonareva had her great breakthrough in 2010 at last, when her other, more famous Russian contemporaries (Dinara Safina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova, Elena Dementieva) either flamed out, wimped out or limped away from the court. That Zvonareva was talented was never in doubt; she's an excellent mover, has a world-class two-handed backhand and great hands at the net. Similar to Samantha Stosur, it was her emotional fortitude that had been tested and found wanting (her 2009 meltdown to Flavia Pennetta is legendary). Somehow, this year, on the grass of Wimbledon, trading backhand after backhand with Kim Clijsters, Vera found a way to play through the mental tumult by realizing the game of tennis is actually quite simple: just hit the ball into the court more times than your opponent. Surprisingly, it was the 2-time major champion who wilted first, handing the Russian just her second major semifinal berth of her career. Vera did not squander this opportunity and made it all the way to her first major final where she ran into an unstoppable force named Serena Williams. It's not clear that this tournament's winner was ever in doubt when both Williams sisters were in the draw, but this match at Wimbledon was a crucial turning point for women's tennis for 2010 when Zvonareva proved that she had reached the very pinnacle of women's tennis, ending the year at World #2.

7. S. Williams USA d. V. Azarenka BLR, 4-6 7-6(4) 6-2, Australian Open quarterfinal, Melbourne.

Serena Williams was down 6-4, 4-0 against the hard-hitting Victoria Azarenka when suddenly both players realized that Serena Williams, the 4-time defending Australian Open champion could lose this match. This realization had immediate and opposite impacts on both players. Azarenka started playing more tentatively (and was probably impacted by the fact that it was almost exactly a year before that she had had Serena in a similar position on this same court after easily winning the first set when Vika was forced to retire from the match due to the extreme heat). Serena on the other hand was enraged with herself and basically willed herself not to lose, slowly but surely making up the huge deficit against Azarenka point by point and game by game. Everyone watching the match was pretty convinced that the 2nd set tie-breaker would be determinative. If Vika won, the match would be over (obviously) but if Serena could come back to even the match score the mental and physical advantage would be hers. The tie-break was a taught, nervy affair but Serena was the more aggressive player and won the tie-break and went on to win the match. She was never really in much danger of not defending her title after that moment.

8. S. Stosur AUS d. E. Dementieva RUS, 6-3 2-6 7-6(2), 2010 US Open 4th Round, New York City.

The latest finish of any professional women's match of all time was an incredible slugfest between two great players who have never won a major title. This match was what Pam Shriver calls a "barn burner." On both sides of the net one saw world-class ground-strokes, excellent net play, incredible movement and mental anguish. Both players became tentative on their serve and both players blew leads which should have been insurmountable. This was really Dementieva's match to win. She broke Stosur impressive serve four consecutive times in the second set and in the third had a match point at 5-3 on her own serve as well as three more on Stosur's serve in the next game. Amazingly, almost all of these match points were decided by winners by Stosur who kept on going for her shots, despite being pummeled by powerful ground-strokes from the Russian. After that excitement it was only fitting that it came down to a 3rd set tiebreak, where surprisingly, it Dementieva's game which broke down first and she lost the match on a series of forehand errors at 1:36am.

9. E. Dementieva RUS d. L. Safarova CZE, 6-7(5) 6-1 6-4, Open Gaz de France Suez final.

In a curious twist of fate, Elena Dementieva won what was her last career tour title in front of Amelie Mauresmo, who had won this final hometown title the year prior to retiring at the end of 2009. This year it was Dementieva's turn for one last hurrah as she faced a determined Lucia Safarova who played "out of her head," aiming for the corners and regularly connecting to send winners screaming to the baseline out of reach of the Russian. There were some incredible, hard-hitting baseline rallies until finally Safarova's inconsistency caught up with her and she succumbed to the greatest player never to have won a major championship. I wonder who Dementieva will be watching win this title from the stands in 2011?

10. S. Williams USA d. V. Zvonareva, 6-3 6-2, 2010 Wimbledon final, London.

It's not very often that the Wimbledon final is not one of the top 5 most memorable matches in the final but that's exactly what happened this year. The reason why this match is even on this list because it was the very last match Serena Williams played in 2010, and it demonstrated how dismissive she could be of the player who ended the year ranked World #2 and had an envious second half of the year, with two consecutive Grand Slam final appearances, something no woman has done since Serena in 2008. There was never really any doubt who would win this match, or the 2010 Wimbledon title. Hopefully, Serena will return early enough in 2011 to make another impressive mark on the majors next year.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

S. Williams USA d N. Li CHN, 7-6(4) 7-6(1), 2010 Australian Open semifinal, Melbourne.

K. Clijsters BEL d. C. Wozniacki DEN, 6-3 5-7 6-3, WTA Championships final.

S. Kuznetsova RUS d. A. Radwanska POL, 6-4 6-7(7) 6-3, Southern California Open final.

V. Zvonareva RUS d. C. Wozniacki DEN, 6-4 6-3, 2010 U.S. Open semifinal.

C. Wozniacki  DEN d. M. Sharapova RUS, 6-3 6-4, 2010 U.S. Open 4th Round.

K. Clijsters BEL d. S. Stosur AUS, 6-4 5-7 6-3, 2010 U.S. Open quarterfinal.

J. Jankovic SRB d. S. Williams USA, 4-6 6-3 7-6(5), Rome semifinal.

J. Jankovic SRB d. V. Williams USA, 6-0 6-1, Rome quarterfinal.

K. Clijsters BEL d. J. Henin BEL, 2-6 6-2 6-3, 2010 Wimbledon Championships 4th round.

S. Stosur AUS d. J. Henin BEL, 2-6 6-1 6-4, 2010 Roland Garros 4th Round.

K. Clijsters BEL d. V. Williams USA, 6-1 6-2, Sony Ericsson Championship final.

P. Kvitova CZE d. K. Kanepi EST 4-6 7-6(8) 8-6, 2010 Wimbledon Championships quarterfinal.

J. Henin BEL d. E. Dementieva RUS, 7-5 7-6(6), 2010 Australian Open 2nd Round.

Clijsters: WTA Player Of The Year

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Kim Clijsters of Belgium fields questions from the media after her win over Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the singles final on day six of the WTA Championships at the Khalifa Tennis Complex on October 31, 2010 in Doha, Qatar.

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Nothing surprising here, except that I believe the WTA got it wrong. More on that in the upcoming Gonad Awards.

Clijsters Beats Wozniacki To Win 2010 WTA Tour Championships

2009 and 2010 US Open Champion Kim Clijsters of Belgium beat World #1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-3 5-7 6-3 in Goha, Qatar to win the season-ending WTA Championships on Sunday. Clijsters won her 3rd tour championship in 2 hours, 20 minutes, following up on wins in 2002 and 2003, by coming back after blowing a 4-1 lead in the second set. 

Altough she will end 2010 ranked World #1, Wozniacki still has not won a major championship and still has not beaten Clijsters, losing in straight sets the only other time they have played on tour, in the 2009 US Open final.

Clijsters was happy to win, saying:

"I felt like it was never going to end," said the Belgian. "It was a really tough battle with some great shots, great tennis and great fitness. I'm glad that I won, obviously it's disappointing for Caroline but I don't know how many more years I'm going to keep doing this. She has a great future ahead of her."

Clijsters ends the year at World #3, just behind 2010 Wimbledon and US Open finalist Vera Zvonareva and ahead of 2010 Australian Open and 2010 Wimbledon champion Serena Williams at #4 and Venus Williams at #5. In 2009, Serena beat Venus to win the tour championships and ended the year ranked #1.

Déjà Vu

Reuters

At least we had two Slam finals on the women's side worth watching this year.

I'd be curious to see the ratings for this prime time final.

Vera Zvonareva never showed up. Kim Clijsters was in cruise control the whole time.

Meh.

US OPEN 2010: Women's Final Preview

By MadProfessah

Kim Clijsters BEL (2) vs Vera Zvonareva RUS (7). For the second consecutive major championship this summer Vera Zvonareva will be playing in a Grand Slam final which she has almost no chance of winning. At Wimbledon in London it was a final against the defending champion Serena Williams, at the US Open in New York she will be playing against the defending champion Kim Clijsters.Vera has defied expectations before, particularly taking out last year's finalist and this year's top-seeded player, Caroline Wozniacki. The Great Dane's dismissal was a surprise to some, but not to yours truly, who watched some of Vera's early matches and realized that she had the weapons to dismiss the young counter-puncher.

Clijsters leads Zvonareva head-to-head 5-2, but surprisingly the two victories by the Russian have occurred in the last two matches the two have contested, including a 3-set win at Montreal en route to the final where she had lost to Wozniacki. Clijsters played an excellent, tough-minded match (one of the best of the tournament) to defeat 2-time U.S. Open champion Venus Williams in 3-sets. Clijsters lost the first set, and was up a break in the second set, lost that lead but still managed to win the set when Venus played an awful tiebreak (4 double faults!). However, at 4-all in the third set, Clijsters played an amazing topspin lob winner on breakpoint and coolly held serve to collect the W. There's not much to stop her from doing so again, and becoming the first person since Venus to defend her US Open title.

MadProfessah's prediction: Clijsters in 2 sets.

US OPEN 2010: Women's Semifinals Preview

by MadProfessah

Here are my predictions for the women's semifinals at the 2010 US Open. I previously predicted 4 of 4 women's quarterfnals correctly.

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Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) vs. Vera Zvonareva RUS (7). Interestingly, these two have a tied career head-to-head (2 and 2, 1 on 1 on hard courts), with Wozniacki winning the last time these two played in the final of the Rogers Cup 6-3 6-2 in Montreal during the Dane's great run through the US Open Series this summer. They have both been in one major final (Wozniacki US Open 2009, Zvonareva Wimbledon 2010) with Zvonareva being in 3 major semifinals to Wozniacki's 2. Can Zvonareva play real big babe tennis more consistently than Maria Sharapova was able to? I say yes. There's a reason why Zvonareva is ranked #8 in the world.. Then again Wozniacki is ranked #2 in the world and is the top seed here, thanks to the absence of World #1 Serena Williams. Even though I was convinced by her performance against Sharapova that Wozniacki is "for real" I still have a feeling that Vera will not go away quietly. Regardless, I think the eventual titleholder of this year's event will not come from this semifinal. PREDICTION: Zvonareva in 3 sets.

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Venus Williams USA (3) vs. Kim Clijsters BEL (2). Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters have played each other twelve times and their career head-to-head is tied at 6-all. However, on hard courts Clijsters leads 4-3 with Clijsters winning every hard court match the two have contested since 2005. Additionally, Clijsters has won 19 matches in a row at the US Open dating back to 2005 (she did not play the event in the years 2006 through 2008). Venus has not really been tested (despite 2010 French Open champ Francesca Schiavone's best efforts), and has somehow managed to make it to the semifinals of the US Open (for the first time since 2007, when Justine Henin took out both Serena and Venus to win the title over Svetlana Kuznetsova) without losing a set. That will almost certainly change on Friday, especially since Venus' mobility is clearly sub-optimal. These two played one of the most bizarrely lopsided matches of all time (6-0, 0-6, 6-4) won by Clijsters on the way to the title. It is very likely Clijsters will become the first player in 9 years (since her opponent did it in 2001) to defend her US Open title. PREDICTION: Clijsters in 3 sets.

2010 US OPEN: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

by Mad Professah

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the 2010 US Open.

Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) Maria Sharapova RUS (14) vs Dominika Cibulkova SVK Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (11). The top seed and last year's US Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki had never won a big match against a "Big Babe" like Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Venus Williams or Kim Clijsters and I doubted that she would even win 5 games against the 2006 US Open champion. But Wozniacki showed that she is not just an incredible retriever but has the consistency of a backboard. Sharapova didn't help her cause by throwing in 10 double faults. That being said, Wozniacki has made a believer out of me by dismissing Sharapova 6-3 6-4. The tall Russian was pounding away, shrieking as she pounded the ball nto the corners but almost every rally over 10 strokes was won by Wozniacki as eventually, Sharapova went for too much and committed an error to concede the point. I still believe that a "Big Babe" who is actually comfortable at the net would still be able to overpower Wozniacki, but it is doubtful that she will face someone who matches that description before the top seed reaches the final for the second consecutive year. However, I still don't see how the Danish youngster wins that final against someone with more power from the bottom half of the draw. PREDICTION: Wozniacki in 2 sets.

Vera Zvonareva (7) RUS  vs. Kaia Kanepi EST (31) Yanina Wickmayer BEL (15). It's odd how the 2010 Wimbledon finalist is silently making her way through the draw, even though she has reached the quarterfinals without dropping a set. The hard-hitting Kanepi is in her second consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal and will presumably manage the occasion better than her meltdown in London. Especially since she managed to win a match where she was down a bagel set and a break against last year's semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer. Zvonareva's birthday is Tuesday and she has been playing a more mature brand of tennis which will take her deep into the draw. PREDICTION: Zvonareva in 3 sets.  

Venus Williams USA (3) vs.  Francesca Schiavone ITA (6). Venus Williams has only lost 3 sets in the 7 matches she has played against the 2010 French Open champion, and never lost to her. However, after Schiavone became the first Italian woman to win a major title ever, she has made the phrase "Impossible is Nothing" seem like reality. Venus has not dropped a set in the tournament yet, but she should have lost one to a determined Shahar Peer in the fourth round, and if anyone can exploit what is her obviously sub-optimal mobility, it is Schiavone with her clay-court toughness and European flair. Happily, Venus' unreported injury is making her more aggressive and more likely to approach the net in order to shorten the points. That, and a decidedly gentle draw should give her a fighting chance to reach a non-Wimbledon final, her first since the 2003 Australian Open. I do think that the thought that she will not have to face her sister in order to win the tournament should give Venus some extra motivation and confidence to try to do so. PREDICTION: Williams in 3 sets.

Kim Clijsters BEL (2) vs. Samantha Stosur AUS (5). Clijsters is on an 18-match winning streak at the US Open, having last lost a match in New York in the 2003 final(!) to Justine Henin. She is absolutely devouring the draw and she has to be considered the favorite to repeat as Champion here. However, the very talented Sam Stosur, who played one of the best women's matches of the year to eliminate Elena Dementieva in the 4th round stands in the Belgian's way. Stosur has finally broken through into the top of women's tennis and is a legitimate Top 5 player. I sort of think of her as the female Robin Soderling, since none of the players ranked above her will be very pleased that they picked the short straw and have to face her in order to reach the final. That being said, Stosur till has not quite made the leap to actually winning a major title, and I suspect it will be that lack (and Clijsters' preternatural defensive skills plus her offensive artillery) that will result in Clijsters' victory. It could be a scorcher of a match though, in the words of Jim Courier "a real popcorn match." PREDICTION: Clijsters in 2 tight sets.