US Open 2011 Preview

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Heavy rain falls on a tennis ball as Hurricane Irene heads up the east coast during previews at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 27, 2011 in New York City.



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The draws are out, the wind and rain will subside, and tomorrow, in the concrete jungle known as New York, the last Slam of the year will begin.



I tend to find men's tennis more compelling than women's, but for at least the fourth Slam in a row, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray are in the same half of the draw, while Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer reside in the other half. And while I haven't checked about, I bet the fanged Scot is most pundits pick to win the title.



Yawn.



Two-time defending champion Kim Clijsters is nursing an injury, so most will probably tell you that Serena Williams is the favorite in New York. No big surprise, but I agree. Unless there's a major upset, she'll face Victoria Azarenka in the third round. I'm sure that match will be hyped to the hilt, but I sincerely doubt it will live up to it. From what little tennis I've seen this summer, Serena is on a mission. I don't see anyone in the draw stopping her from claiming her fourth US Open crown and 14th major title. I'm not suggesting it's going to be a run to winner's circle without the loss of a set, but who would be shocked if it were?



As for a few of the rest: Will Juan Martín del Potro find his best form at his favorite tournament? How recovered is Robin Söderling? Are there any Americans other than Serena ready to thrill the home crowd with an appearance on the final weekend? Will the reigning Roland Garros and Wimbledon champions on the women's side get their groove on in Flushing Meadows, or will Li Na and Petra Kvitova have to be satisfied with a lone Slam title this season? Who's going to defeat the top-ranked player on the women's side? Which youngster on either tour has the best chance to steal the show?



I'm ready to find out. Are you?

Petra Kvitova, Dangerous

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It was her first Grand Slam final. She served out both winning sets to love, serving her first ace of the match on championship point. Her foe was a 3-time Grand Slam champion who won her first championship on the lawns of Wimbledon, blasting an anxious Serena Williams off the court in straight sets.

I fell in love with her the first time I looked into them there eyes. Them Bette Davis eyes. It was Fed Cup. 2007. A tie with the United States in the Czech Republic. It wasn't just that she wiped the floor with Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Alexa Glatch to win both her singles rubbers, it was the look in her eyes while she was doing it. Nevermind her great serve, her hard, flat ground strokes and champion-like reflexes, but there was a calmness and intensity at once that exuded from her eyes that made her dangerous in mine.

I just knew Petra Kvitova would be great. Knew it.

So when Serena drew her in the first round of the 2010 Australian Open, I feared her flawless, undefeated record in Slam first rounds would come to an end. Dangerous. Serena got through that match in a lopsided scoreline that didn't tell the whole truth about the points and games played.

So when Serena had to face her in the semifinal of Wimbledon last year, I figured she might fail to advance to defend her third Wimbledon title. Dangerous. Yesterday, after her 6-3 6-4 victory over Maria Sharapova -- in a match that was all about angles and ground missiles and shrieks and barks and breaks and nerves -- when asked about last year, Petra said she didn't believe she could beat Serena then, but knows she can now.

Dangerous.


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We have crowned a new Grand Slam champion. A young woman who can call both Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka, two players hyped to the hilt as future champions, her contemporaries. But Petra has gone about her business without any hype at all. And wouldn't you know it, she has leapfrogged her tennis generation to the Winner's Circle with something other than Hollywood good looks and an adoring press.

It's probably a blessing hardly anyone was looking. The biggest victory in her career to date is her fourth title in 2011. She has won an international (Brisbane, outdoor hard), a premier (Paris Indoors, hard), a premier mandatory (Madrid, outdoor red clay), and a Grand Slam on the lawns at Wimbledon. A woman for all seasons.



Dangerous was the first film for which Bette Davis, the greatest actress of her generation, won an Academy Award. She won another a few years later for her lead role in a film entitled Jezebel. I'm not so sure anyone would consider Petra Kvitova a fallen woman, though she's got plenty of power behind her throne, but if the Academy Awards are to film actors what Wimbledon is to tennis players, I'd bet the farm Petra's got another acceptance speech in her somewhere down the road.


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Wimbledon 2011: Women's Final Preview

by Mad Professah, contributing writer 

This year I correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals, 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals, 1 of 2 men's semifinals and 2 of 2 women's semifinals. 

Here are my predictions for the women's final at the Wimbledon Championships for 2011.

Maria Sharapova RUS (5) vs. Petra Kvitova CZE (8). For the first time since 2006 there will not be a Williams playing the final women's match at Wimbledon. Instead we have the now-veteran Maria Sharapova, at 24, seeking her 2nd Wimbledon crown and 4th major title overall. After she broke through as a teenage phenom to win Wimbledon in 2004 by blasting Serena Williams off the court in straight sets many hailed the blonde, blue-eyed Russian as the new Ice Princess of Tennis and her face quickly became the most photographed countenance in all of women's sports, leading to untold riches off the court in the endorsement jackpot. However, since those heady days, Sharapova has only won 3 major titles, like clock work, every even year: 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 U.S. Open and 2008 Australian Open. This put her in the company of past champions like Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati and Kim Clijsters and not legends of the game like Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert or Serena Williams. Sharapova's metronomic Grand Slam winning pattern was interrupted by an October 2008 shoulder surgery after which she suffered the indignities of failing to get past the Round of 8 in any major for two full calendar years due to intermittent serving difficulties.

However, now it's 2011 and  for the last month or so Sharapova has gotten back to doing what she does best: hitting the bejeezus out of the little yellow ball into the corners of the court followed by an ear-shattering "grunt." She came very close to completing the career slam in Paris but was outlasted by a steadier player, Li Na who went on to win the title.  

Her opponent is a 21-year-old first-time finalist from the Czech Republic, the same age the great Martina Navratilova was when she won her first of 9 Wimbledon singles titles. Whether Petra Kvitova will go on to as storied  a career as her fellow countrywoman is something we can not know now, but the two have a lot of similarities in their games. They both are big-serving lefties, with hard-hitting ground strokes on both wings and a willingness to approach the net. Martina was the consummate serve and volleyer, the dominant strategy of her era, while Kvitova is the epitome of the modern game, able to blast winners from any position in the court.

Sharapova has not dropped a set on her way to the final and hasn't had to play anyone very troublesome along the way, except for wild card Sabine Lisicki. The German had been playing some of the best grass court tennis of the year, dispatching Marion Bartoli (who had dismissed 2-time defending champion Serena Williams) and Li Na in two very exciting matches. The mouthwatering "Mean Girls" quarterfinal with Sharapova and "World #1" Caroline Wozniacki never materialized because Pocket Rocket Dominika Cibulkova dismissed the new It girl in the 4th round and was rewarded by being demolished by Sharapova in the quarterfinals. Hometown favorite Laura Robson was able to ride the crowd's enthusiasm to a first-set tiebreaker in the second round but Sharapova hasn't even faced a set point for the entire tournament.

Kvitova, on the other hand, has had to play 3 tough sets to go through World #5 Victoria Azarenka and had another tight 3-set match with Tsevetana Pironkova, the woman who dismissed Venus Williams, the best female grass-court player of her generation from Wimbledon, in two consecutive years by the same exact score!

Head-to-head the two have played only once with Sharapova winning easily (on clay before Kvitova made her breakthrough by reaching the semifinals of Wimbledon last year). The intangibles definitely favor Sharapova; she has won before, this is her 5th major final, it is Kvitova's first. However, if you look at their style of play you see that Sharapova has had 11 more double faults than aces (32 to 21) while Kvitova has 22 more aces than double faults (35 to 13). Summary: Kvitova's serve is a weapon, while Sharapova's is a liability.  Generally, on grass, the person with the better serve wins, unless the other person has better movement and better returning. Sharapova does have a better return than Kvitova: she will go for a direct winner on both first and second serves. Is Sharapova a better mover than Kvitova? Doubtful, though quite honestly neither of them are superb in this category. All-in-all, Kvitova has the game to win the title, and I believe she will.

MadProfessah's PREDICTION: Kvitova. 

Wimbledon 2011: Women's Semifinals Preview

by Mad Professah, contributing writer 

Here are my predictions for the women's semifinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2011. I predicted 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals correctly and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly. Last year I predicted 2 of 2 women's semifinals correctly.  

Maria Sharapova RUS (5) vs Sabine Lisicki GER . Sharapova appears to be returning to the form that has led her to win 3 major tournaments (2008 Australian Open, 2006 US Open and 2004 Wimbledon) so far after surgery in 2009 really deteriorated her game. Lisicki is a wild card has put on two amazing performances on Wimbledon Centre Court this year, dismissing 2011 French Open champion Li Na in the 3rd round and eliminating 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals. With both Williams sisters gone from the tournament (this was Serena's half) this is the most wide open Wimbledon in over a decade. If  you start to match up the two player's games Lisicki has the better serve, while Sharapova has the better return. 

Sharapova has the better second serve, or at least she goes for more, but this also makes it less reliable. Sharapova has 19 aces but also 19 double faults over 5 matches so far. Lisicki has 44 aces and only 13 double faults. Sharapova has a total of 126 winners while Liscki has 157, including an incredible 52 winners in the round before in her 3-set win over Bartoli. Lisicki is probably the better mover but Sharapova is faster than she appears and can do more with the ball when she gets there. Analyzing their groundstrokes you have to give a big advantage to Sharapova, especially on the backhand side, with the forehand side being a bit closer. On grass you have to give the edge to the better server (Lisicki) but all the intangibles (been in this position before, mental toughness) go to Sharapova.I would be delighted if Lisicki wins, but I think it's more likely she will falter than Sharapova will. I was very surprised that Lisicki had to play a 3rd set against Bartoli, after having 3 match points in the second set, but she shook that off to win 6-1. If she gives that opportunity to Sharapova to come back, the Russian will reach her 2nd Wimbledon final. PREDICTION: Who I think will win: Sharapova, Who I want to win: Lisicki.

Victoria Azarenka BLR (4) vs. Petra Kvitova CZE (8). This should be the more interesting match of the two because the higher ranked player is the one with the less experience being in the semifinals of Wimbledon. However, I'm sure in her own mind Azarenka feels like she should have won a major already. Azarenka is like a young Novak Djokovic in that early in his career the Serbian retired in a number of important matches and Azarenka is (in)famous for her withdrawals from multiple matches, especially this year.

They are both incredibly talented players and you totally expect them to win multiple majors. Djokovic has met (and possibly even exceeded) expectations but Azarenka is still waiting for her big breakthrough. If you look at each of the semifinalists' records to this point Azarenka has only had 10 aces to 9 double faults in 5 rounds. Kvitova has had 26 aces to 11 double faults. Interestingly, when you match up their games you see that Kvitova has the better serve and the better ground strokes. Azarenka is by far the better mover and I think the intangibles are pretty even. Kvitova disappointed me when she lost a 2nd set tie-break to Tsevetana "Venus-killer" Pironkova with some bad misses on attempted winners. Then again, like Lisicki, she won the deciding set pretty easily. This second match should be closer than the first semifinal with Kvitova, another left-handed female player born in Czechoslovakia like the great Martina Navratiilova, reaching her first (but probably not her last) Wimbledon final. PREDICTION: Who I think will win: Kvitova, Who I want to win: Kvitova.

Wimbledon 2011: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

by Mad Professah, contributing writer

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2011. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals.

Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) Dominika Cibulkova SVK (24) vs Maria Sharapova RUS (5). For the first time since 2006 Maria Sharapova is in a Wimbledon quarterfinal when there is no possibility of a facing a Williams sister in order to win the title. Her immediate challenge is to defeat a woman who is almost a full foot shorter but who has beaten her the one time they played in a major. Cibulkova embarrassed Sharapova 6-0 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the 2009 French Open. Amazingly, all four of their career meetings have been on clay, and  the two are locked at 2-all, with the shorter player having won the last 2 matches, including one this year. However, Sharapova is much more comfortable on grass than clay. Cibulkova is also coming off one of the best wins of her career by basically blasting the World #1 Caroline Wozniacki off the court with nearly 20 forehand winners in a 1-6 7-6(5) 7-5 victory. The match-up on paper looks like a clear win for Sharapova, but Cibulkova has beaten her before and believes in her game. The question will be if Sharapova believes in her game, especially her (second) serve. PREDICTION: Sharapova in 3 sets.

Sabine Lisicki GER  vs. Serena Williams USA (7) Marion Bartoli FRA (9). Sabine Lisicki had one of the most outstanding performances by a female tennis player this year when she saved 2 match points against #3 seed Li Na (the most successful player at the Grand Slam tournaments this year) to win 3-6 6-4 8-6 in the second round. Lisicki has yet to lose a match on grass this year, having won in Birmingham right before Wimbledon, but she had to write the All-England Lawn Tennis Club in order to get a wildcard to enter the tournament, which was granted. 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli  put on an incredible performance in the 4th round of Wimbledon to dismiss the 2-time defending champion Serena Williams by out-hitting and out-serving the 13-time major champion in two sets 6-3 7-6(6). Bartoli had more aces (10 to 8) than Serena and in most of the rallies was hitting the ball harder and more aggressively. Serena did not play her best, true, but Bartoli won the match more than Serena lost it. Head-to-head Lisicki leads Bartoli 2-1 including a win over the Frenchwoman this year but Bartoli's lone win was on grass at Wimbledon in 2008. Bartoli had 11 aces in the first 3 rounds and 10 in the fourth. I seriously doubt she can play as well two rounds in a row. The German wild-card is a real contender to win the entire tournament. PREDICTION: Lisicki in 2 sets.

Tamira Paszek AUT  vs. Victoria Azarenka BLR (4). The highest remaining seed is the hard-hitting (and ear-splitting) Belarussian who has reached her 5th career grand Slam quarterfinal at this year's Wimbledon but who has never reached a major semifinal. I expect that streak to end on Tuesday. Her opponent, Paszek had an impressive win over 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the 3rd round 3-6 6-4 11-9 after nearly four hours of play. Paszek had been long touted as a player to watch about 3 or 4 years ago but injuries got in the way and the 20-year-old is the furthest she has reached in a major since her breakthrough debut year in 2007. Azarenka has the power and mentality to dismiss most players outside of the Top 10. Paszek is not an exception.PREDICTION: Azarenka in 2 sets. 

Petra Kvitova CZE (8) vs. Venus Williams USA (23) Tsvetana Pironkova BUL (32). Pironkova must be Bulgarian for "kryptonite" because there is no other explanation for why the greatest women's grass court player of her generation would lose in two consecutive years to the same player, by the same exact score (6-2 6-3)! Last year Pironkova's stunning win was one round later and she followed it by losing a hideous match against Vera Zvonareva in the semifinals. The player in the other semifinal last year was Petra Kvitova who lost a high-quality affair to eventual champion Serena Williams. This year, Pironkova has to face the hard-hitting, fearless lefty who has the game to defeat anyone on the tour but didn't quite believe in herself enough. This year she has the belief that she can do it, and she can. PREDICTION: Kvitova in 2 sets.

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.


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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.

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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.

Fed Cup Photos

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Petra Kvitova, left, from Czech Republic is embraced by the team's captain Petr Pala, right, as she celebrates after defeating Daniela Hantuchova from Slovakia in their world group first round tennis match in Bratislava, Slovakia, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. Kvitova won the match 6-4, 6-2 and gave Czech Republic a decisive 3-0 lead.

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Aleksandra Krunic (L) and Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia celebrate after beating Sharon Fichman and Marie-Eve Pelletier of Canada during their Fed Cup doubles tennis match on February 6, 2011, in Novi Sad, Serbia. Serbia won the tie.


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US player Bethanie Mattek-Sands returns the ball against Belgian Kim Clijsters during the Fed Cup first round match on February 6, 2011 in Antwerp. Belgium won the tie.



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Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova (L) is congatulated by her former teammate Anastasia Myskina (R) as they celebrate a victory over the French duo of Alize Cornet and Julie Coin during their doubles match of the Fed Cup tennis match in Moscow on February 6, 2011. Russia won the tie.

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.

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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.

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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


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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.

Special Upsets

by Craig Hickman

Of course, the very day I only highlight one match to watch, Day 6 turned into a day of exciting upsets only the clairvoyant could see coming.

Upsets From The Left

Six left-handed players contested singles matches on Day 6. Ekaterina Makarova from Russia; the Czech trio of Iveta Benesova, Petra Kvitova, Lucie Safarova; the Austrian Jurgen Melzer and of course Rafael Nadal of Spain.

No. 2 seed Vera Zvonareva was able to fend off an upset from Safarova in three sets, while both lefty men, despite being pushed against the wall for at least a set, pushed through.

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Perhaps the biggest surprise was the three-set victory of Benesova over No. 16 seed Anastasia Pavyluchenkova. The 19-year-old Russian was the Brisbane runner up who'd never lost more than a few games to Benesova in their previous two meetings. But the 60th-ranked veteran destroyed her first two opponents to the loss of only five games. So when she took the first set routinely, it was clear she had come to play. Nastya fought back to take the second, but the lefty slice-served her way to a 7-5 victory.


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49th-ranked Makarova, who also dismissed No. 19 seed Ana Ivanovic 10-8 in the third in the first round, had beaten No. 13 seed Nadia Petrova the last two times they played. Her 8-6 in the third upset of the talented but mentally frail and heavily frilled Russian wasn't exactly a surprise. After the match, Makarova accused her compatriot of all kinds of gamesmanship. Must've made for an interesting locker room scene.

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Petra turned in the best and most fearless performance of the event so far on the women's side in dispatching No. 5 seed Samantha Stosur in straight sets. The 20-year-old No. 25 seed took the crowd out of the match early. With unreturnable serves, heavy ground strokes, deft touch, deceptively efficient court coverage, she went up 3-1. But her first serve deserted her and Sam made the first set a dogfight that ended in a 12-point tiebreak. Steve Tignor pointed out one of the things that makes Petra special.

Kvitova had come from behind to snag a 6-5 lead in the first-set tiebreaker. She got a second serve to her forehand in the ad court. I was sitting right down that line behind her, and I thought she would try to crack it straight ahead for an outright winner. It was tempting, it was open, and it’s what most top women players would have done. Instead, Kvitova swung her return into the middle of the court, without being tentative about it, and made the obviously quaking Stosur play. Kvitova won the point and the set.

What impresses me most about Petra is her composure under pressure. Facing three break points at 2-2 in the second set, she played three of the bravest points of the match. And she looked as though she enjoyed every moment of it. The woman who looks like a young Bette Davis with smaller eyes struck 35 winners total, 16 in the second set. Sam Stosur hit 11 winners, ZERO in the second set. Sam tried to slice, kick, spin, and shuffle, but Petra had an answer for everything. Simply stunning.

Upsets From The Youth


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I didn't get to watch most of the tussle between No. 13 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and 46th-ranked Alexandr Dolgopolov, but the 22-year-old man from the Ukraine with the androgynous face, frizzy hair, and stringy pony-tail, making his Australian Open debut, whipped the former finalist into submission taking the affair 6-1 in the fifth. Raise your hand if you saw that coming? Tsonga needs to get fit. Period.

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The story of the event belongs to 20-year-old Canadian qualifier Milos Raonic ranked No. 152 in the world. I return you to Tignor:

So it was with some surprise—and some surprise at my surprise—that I saw the spirit of Sampras rise again this afternoon in the blandest of places, Melbourne Park's Show Court 3, and in seemingly the most anonymous of players, 152nd-ranked Milos Raonic. A native of Montenegro (his uncle is the vice-president) who has lived most of his life in Canada, Raonic spent his youth poring over tapes of Sampras matches and building a game that was similarly based around a monster serve—“I’ve got a good shoulder on me,” Raonic says. You could see that his serve, which Raonic believes is already among the game’s best (he’s really not that cocky), allowed him to take a Sampras-like approach to his match with No. 10 seed Mikhail Youzhny.

“I feel like I serve like probably one of the top guys on the tour," he said. "It allows me to play more freely also on the return games, because I know most of the time I will be holding. So it allows me to take less pressure on myself, whereas I feel it also puts more pressure on the other guy.” (Confident, yes, Raonic does seem to be that—call it the civilized version of cocky.)

Even when Raonic was broken in the second and third sets, which he was more regularly than he might have expected, he played borderline-risky, opportunistic tennis on Youzhny’s serve. Raonic prefers to rip rather than rally on his forehand, and he loves to go for an outright crosscourt winner on his return from that side. He also put two backhands smack on the sideline to break Youzhny early in the third set.

But as big as he tries to hit, Raonic says he has a plan. When one reporter implied that he was enjoying the youthful freedom to crack the ball with total abandon, Raonic quietly protested. “I was trying to do what I thought was the percentage play," he said, "or if I felt I had an opportunity to try something riskier. But I wouldn’t say I was really just letting the ball fly off my racquet, not knowing where it’s going.” Indeed, Raonic doesn’t just bash to bash or rally to rally. He hits with purpose and aggression, and has to accept the errors that come with that aggression.

Read the whole piece for the whole story on the hunch-shouldered ball of dynamite from the North.

After his upset, ESPN conducted a studio interview. This young man analyzes his game and his opponents with the insight of the best commentator. He told us exactly what he'll do to beat David Ferrer in the next round. But perhaps his best weapon of all is his self-confidence. "I believe in myself," he told a drooling Patrick McEnroe and Darren Cahill.

You can have all the talent in the world but without belief, it means nothing.

Inaugural Champions

by Craig Hickman

Hat's off to the year's first crowned.


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Robin Söderling of Sweden is reflected in the winners trophy as he celebrates 6-3, 7-5 victory against Andy Roddick of the USA, during day eight of the Brisbane International at Queensland Tennis Centre on January 9, 2011 in Brisbane, Australia.

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I decided not to wait until the delayed match, so I watch the final live online. All I can say for Roddick is that if he doesn't commit to playing aggressive tennis, and I don't mean rushing the net for his transition game is still lacking, but hitting the ball hard and going for winners off both wings as he did, say, to win Miami last year, 2011 is going to be another Big Disappointment. It may be the first year in forever that he fails to win a title.

As for the Big Swede, there's no ball he doesn't want to crack open. The big wind ups, the flat shots, the improving accuracy. He, too, can improve his transition game, but he was in full control of the match from the first ball. He stood on the baseline, controlled the middle of the court, and made Roddick look as though he didn't even belong across the net.

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Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic holds the trophy after defeating Andrea Petkovic of Germany in the women's final at the Brisbane International tennis tournament, in Brisbane on January 8, 2011. Kvitova won the final 6-1, 6-3.

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I love it when one of my Gonad Award winners from the previous season impresses at the start of the new year. Petra's swinging serves, her bullet groundstrokes, her improved court sense and patience and movement. Her composure. I already knew she could outhit 99% of the women on tour, but now she's backing it up with consistency. 2011 could be a great year for her.

And then there's Andrea, another recipient of a Gonad, albeit an anti-Gonad to be sure, who fought her way into a final with her own blistering ground strokes and will. I won't know for sure if she's recovered from Roland Garros until she's in a similar position against a big name at a Slam. But she ralled from a 0-4 deficit in the first set of her semifinal against Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli, indicating she's got some mettle. The fans were clearly behind her in this final, but Petra was simply not going to be denied.


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Greta Arn of Hungary holds the winner's trophy after her 6-3, 6-3 victory over Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium in the final of the ASB Classic Women's Tennis Tournament at ASB Tennis Centre in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011.

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In a previous Drive By, I asked what Maria Sharapova was doing losing to Greta Arn. I got my answer watching this final.

Yes, Yanina was worn out from her 3-hour battle against Peng Shuai in the semifinals, but the 31-year-old veteran with a back story as compelling as Francesca Schiavone's showed the WTA that older can mean wiser and more courageous between the lines.

Most of the match was a baseline battle, but Greta knew when to attack the forecourt to secure a point. Despite her height, she moved effortlessly about, making it seem there was no ball she couldn't retrieve. Sticky Wicky simply had no answers as winner after winner whizzed by her slumping frame.

"I feel unbelievable. I'm so happy, I don't even know what to say. My dream come true," Arn said. "I just tried to do my thing. I played my tennis and took it one ball after another. I wanted to move her around because she had a tough match yesterday; she looks fit to me, but it seemed to work today."

Indeed.

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In other parts of the world, it was all about the Swiss. I didn't watch either final. I've absolutely no desire to see another single encounter between the top Swiss and top Russian and the Chennai tournament has never piqued my interest.


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Roger Federer of Switzerland holds the golden eagle trophy after defeating Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-3, 6-4 at the Qatar Open tennis tournament in Doha January 8, 2011.

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Swiss tennis player Stanislas Wawrinka poses with the winner's trophy after winning his match against his Belgian opponent Xavier Malisse, during the final match at the ATP Chennai Open 2011, in Chennai on January 9, 2011. Wawrinka won the Chennai Open title and defeated Malisse 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.

Her Big Break

by Craig Hickman


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The look of a broken player.

Serving down a break at 2-4 in the second set, Petra Kvitova faced break point. She swung her huge lefty serve into her opponent's backhand, and seemed surprised the ball came back. After all, for much of the match, her opponent wasn't handling that serve well at all. The surprising return led to an exchange that I described as the point of the tournament. The Wimbledon semifinal ingenue prevailed with a stinging volley winner.

Both players were whipped. Chests heaving, both let the crowd's extended applause wash over them. The longer it lasted, the better.

Petra fired another great second serve that came back with interest. The warriors were at it again. This time, Petra tried to end the point with a backhand crosscourt acute angle winner that landed half a foot wide.

She barked.

Despite her deceptively efficient movement and excellent anticipation, she doesn't yet appear fit enough for the long haul. Still fatigued from saving that break point, she tossed in a double fault.

It took the better part of two tight sets with enthralling tennis sans melodrama for Serena Williams to finally break the will of her opponent. After the changeover, the defending champion would serve for the match.

Soon as her second serve hit the tape, Petra dropped her racquet, her shattered determination captured in the photo above.

What a match.

Best thing I heard by any commentator during it came from Lindsay Davenport.

"Serena doesn't get enough credit for her strategy," said the Wimbledon champion and former world No. 1. "She's definitely a thinking player out there."

And so when Serena stopped attempting outright winners on her service returns and started striking them high and deep, she pushed Petra back, forcing errors instead of giving away points.

An adjustment that made all the difference.

Petra had no deep-Slam experience to rely upon, but her exquisite serve, raw talent and gutsy fight are a breath of fresh air on a tour populated with serveless top-10 players who fold at the first hint of success.

Petra did no such thing. She had to rally from a set down and save match points just to get here. No. Serena had to break her will in order to win. She broke it with her tennis.

Her name alone wasn't going to be nearly enough.

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