Face Of The Day

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The face of the new World No. 1, Novak Djokovic, who fought off Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-7(11), 6-3 to advance to his first Wimbledon final. On Monday, he will rise to the top of the rankings regardless of Sunday's outcome.

Dissent Of The Day

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Aldo Liguori, head of global public relations for Sony Ericsson and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour CEO Stacey Allaster pose with Serena Williams after she was presented a trophy to commemorate finishing the year as number 1 in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings after the final of the Sony Ericsson WTA Championships at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex on November 1, 2009 in Doha, Qatar.

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Just thought I'd share with you all this email I received in the middle of the night.

Dear Mr. Hickman,

I will try to be civil in this e-mail. I just wanted to let you know that I have finally had enough with your blog and will look for a replacement. I am a tennis player and also a fan of the sport in general. I love to watch the sport when I can, and when I can't I always try to follow what is going on. A while ago I picked your blog as one that seemed to be updated regularly enough with good information, so I favorited your site.

Well let me just tell you that I am taking your site off my bookmarked list. If Serena Williams had a penis (which she probably does) you would be continually sucking on it 24/7. I'm tired of your blatant bias towards the two sisters who are probably the least likable characters on the tour, especially Serena. You call everyone who doesn't like them a racist or a hater (I am neither yet despise them both) yet you just love to trash the pretty white girls on tour. Your comments are immature, embarassing [sic], and just plain dumb. Williams Tennis Association? Better than all the rest? You are clueless. Another thing I didn't like was your jab at the Bali Championships. Mediocrity? Please. I hope to hear a response from you, but I know that you probably won't have anything to say to backup your jibberish [sic] that you post all over your site. I hope you enjoyed Serena's last good year. Too bad it is officially OVER.

Here is my response, sir:

Search the blog for racist. Funny. This is the only post that has to do with the sisters that includes the word.

Search the blog for hater. Funny. This is the only post at all that includes the word.

And I guess pretty is in the eye of the beholder, but My Youngster takes the cake.

Have a great day!

Serena Clinches No. 1

DOHA, Oct 28 (Reuters) - American Serena Williams will end the year as world number one for the first time since 2002 after Dinara Safina withdrew from the WTA Championships with a back injury on Wednesday.

Williams, who began the elite year-ending tournament 155 points behind the Russian in the rankings, won her opening match on Tuesday against Svetlana Kuznetsova, guaranteeing enough ranking points to overtake Safina even if she lost her remaining contests here.

With each victory in the round-robin phase at the $4.5 million tournament earning 230 points, Safina began her first group match against Jelena Jankovic 75 points adrift.

She earned 70 points just for taking to the court against Jankovic but was forced to retire after just two games clutching her lower back before announcing in a news conference that she would take no further part in the tournament.

Inflated

A reader writes:

US Open series title to [Sam] Querrey proving that the title has limited to no value in the real world, wallets notwithstanding, when just playing tournaments and getting at least to the quarters will win you the title, as no real competition showed up week in, week out. Sounds like the basis of Safina's being No. 1, doesn't it?

Just an observation.

All About Rafa

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Spain's tennis player Rafael Nadal plays golf during a charity tournament, on 18 July, 2009, in Llucmajor, on Mallorca Islands.

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JULY 29 | 2009 TVE: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH RAFA NADAL

Lorenzo Mila and Rosana Romero from TVE (the leading news channel in Spain) interviewed Rafa Nadal yesterday at his summer house in Porto Cristo.

During the show, Rafa spoke about his days away from the tennis courts, about his recovery, his return to the tennis circuit, but most importantly, how he is...

So how is Rafa Nadal?

“Good, the truth is that I feel good. But also, I have to wait and see how I continue to recover because I’ve only been back training for a week and a half and you always feel a bit better anemically. You start with lots of hope, but again, the real test would be to see how I go when I really push my knees and I think that is likely to happen in the upcoming days. So I hope it’s all good,” said Rafa.

What happened?

“What happened was that I was in a lot of pain for a while, when I came back from Miami and I was training in Manacor, I started to feel a strong pain, especially in my right knee. It was a different kind of pain [to what I’ve experienced before], so I took off the bandages in my knees,” he explained…”and everyone thought that it was because I felt great, but the problem was that it didn’t hurt there anymore, now it hurt in the superior end of the knee cap. And well, the bandages weren’t helping me at all and that’s when it all started to get worse, little by little.”

Rafa said that he should have rested after Rome to play at his best in Roland Garros, but he wanted to play the Masters Series Tournament in Madrid, which turned out to be a big mistake. At the same time, he admitted that he had “been playing almost every day with an anti-inflammatory and I had too much pain to play well at both tournaments that were important for me, Roland Garros and Wimbledon."

"I decided it was best to stop and recover," because "you lose the drive to go back to train and compete, because you are not with the same energy, little by little it destroys you," he explained.

According to Rafa, it is "knowing how to overcome difficult situations or face them with a positive mindset and learn to enjoy suffering," that has kept him going. "It is a virtue that I’ve always had, I like to suffer, I have learned to enjoy suffering and I believe that is what helps me."

At the same time, the support and love he has received from his fans and family has been the one highlight out of this painful experience. “Without doubt, the best memory in the last two months has been the support I have received from everyone. From my website, where they’ve sent me tons of messages. I have nothing but gratitude for their gesture”.

So what has Rafa been doing in the last two months?

"I have spent more hours on the couch these past two months than in the past four years", he confessed.

This time away from competition has also allowed Rafa to follow other aspects of the sport today, politically and economically, "I've been able to follow many things, to see how colleagues have won some very important things, such as Contador at the Tour of France, or Pau Gasol in the NBA when he won 'the ring'. Of course I'm interested in the [economic] crisis and also in politics, but I never like to talk about those things".

The four-time Roland Garros champion said that his "dream" is to return to the ATP for the August 9 start of the Montreal Masters Series event, "I would like to come back in Montreal in a week and a half. I [will] have to force the knees and just see how far I can go."

"My main objective is not to regain the number one ranking. My main goal is to be well and happy to be playing tennis," Rafa said.

"I’m mentally ready to return now!"



(Thanks, Savannah)

Top Five

Under the radar, on the strength of his overall season in which he has made the second week of all the Slams, a semifinal and a final, Andy Roddick re-entered the Top 5 this week for the first time since the week of November 12, 2007.

Quote For The Day

"To become No.1 it's not just winning the Grand Slams, it's how you compete the whole year. I won last year four tournaments ... I beat almost all the top-10 players so I think I deserve that spot. Yes, I didn't win a Grand Slam but I was in two finals and in one semifinal in one year. Many people can't achieve that in a career. (When) Amélie Mauresmo became No.1 she hadn't won a Grand Slam and nobody told her anything. I don't know why people tell me and Jankovic that we should have won a Grand Slam. It's overall how you compete. I still have time to win a Grand Slam. I think that will come."

--Dinara Safina, changing her tune a bit on being world No. 1

(Thanks, Pamela)

Serena, Next Time...

... keep your tongue tied.

That's all.

The Top 10 - ATP

Our very own Karen emailed this to me:

This is my first ever time attempting to write a post about tennis and let me first start out by saying that my only experience with tennis is my love of the game, watching it on TV, reading other people’s analysis and my amateur game. As such, anything that is posted here is from my own observations and therefore should not be accepted as expert opinion. This post is to promote dialogue and to let us as fans take an analytical look at the makeup of the ATP and WTA Top 10.

ATP

1. Rafael Nadal – perhaps the most mentally tough player ever seen in tennis. Other strengths: forehand, movement, speed. Weaknesses: backhand and health. There is the perception that if Nadal remains healthy there is nothing to prevent him from winning at least 15 slams and over 20 Masters Series shields. But can Nadal remain healthy, giving his grinding style of play? Some say that Nadal has improved his game and is no longer a grinder, but after watching him at this year’s Australian Open, and during the back-to-back Masters events in the US, I wonder if he will be able to accomplish this feat. I say no.
2. Roger Federer – what has not been written about Federer? I admit that he is a favorite of mine and as such I am hopeful that I can remain objective. Strengths: serve and forehand, all-court game, variety. Weaknesses: backhand, age and health. Roger is 27-years-old and there is the perception that he may never reach Pete Sampras’ mark of 14 majors. Has his time passed to win more majors and Masters shields? I say no. History may prove me wrong.
3. Novak Djokovic – Novak has been performing much better during this year’s clay court tourneys, having reached the finals of Monte-Carlo and Rome. Strenghts: forehand and down-the-line backhand. Weaknesses: health and mental fragility. Novak is already the winner of a Slam and has reached the semis or better of each of the Masters events played this year. That is no mean accomplishment. Will he be able to sustain that momentum heading into the Roland Garros and defend his points from last year? At the present time, I would say yes, as he has been consistent this year. As to whether he will add to his majors collections, I think his best bet may come at another run Down Under.
4. Andy Murray – Murray has been called the tactician of the ATP. He has been lauded as being a thinking man’s player. Strengths: backhand and facility in changing the direction of the ball. Weaknesses: second serve and mental lapses. For my money I do not see Murray winning a major anytime soon for he has not proven that he is capable of withstanding a run over 2 weeks, playing best-of-5 set matches. As a friend of mine said until he wins a big one he will be forever known as a 3-set player.
5. Juan Martin del Potro – yes, he really is ranked this high. For now all I can say is that this young man has a big serve and that's about it. He has not proven himself in the majors, neither has he proven that he can take out the big guys when it matters at the Masters events. I do not see him winning a major at all.
6. Andy Roddick – Slam champion and owner of a four Masters. Strengths: Serve and forehand. Weaknesses: Backhand, transition game, mental fragility. Andy has retooled his game with different coaches, the latest being Larry Stefanki, who has encouraged his charge to lose weight, which has made him leaner and fitter than he has been in years. Is Andy capable of holding up a major for one last time in his distinguished career? I say age and getting married might take some of the hunger out of Andy. He has a young wife, and I am sure that not only will he be concentrating on perhaps starting a family with her, but also perhaps cutting back on his Davis Cup duties. If he does win another Slam, it will be Wimbledon.
7. Fernando Verdasco – Unfulfilled potential. Strengths: first serve and forehand. Weaknesses: Mental fragility. He's already into the latter stages of his career and no amount of off court training on the body can help what is not in the mind. No majors.
8. Gilles Simon – I didn't even hear of him until 2008. I have watched him play and all I can say he reminds me of Lleyton Hewitt circa 2000, but certainly not as good. Classic counterpuncher who frustrates his opponents into errors. Nothing major and no majors.
9. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – a big bundle of talent. Strengths: serve, forehand, transition game. Weaknesses: Prone to injuries, inconsistency. Last year's surprise Melbourne finalist fell off the radar when he endured an abdominal injury. Has been more consistent upon his return to win his first Masters shield in Bercy. Has wins over Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray. If he's going to have another Slam run, look anywhere but his home Slam. He's got the game to win a major and wouldn't need a Top 5 player to have an off day to do so.
   
10. Gael Monfils – another Frenchman with unfulfilled potential. Strengths: Great movement, great serve. Weaknesses: Prone to injuries. More entertainer than professional tennis player. Had his chance last year to at least make the finals of Roland Garros, but fell to Federer in the semis. Even if he stays healthy (and that's a big ask) I just do not see him winning any majors or Masters shields events.

My WTA analysis is forthcoming. But I realized that the ATP Top 10 is no better off than the WTA for boasting players with the ability to win majors.

Quote For The Day

"It’s a great honor to reach the No. 1 ranking and it is a dream that every girl who has ever wanted to play professional tennis shares. It is even extra special for me since my brother Marat was able to reach the No. 1 ranking and I am happy to share this achievement with him. There’s no question that while I am very proud of my results over the past year, I would have liked to reach this achievement in a different manner. I hope to prove to everyone over the coming months that I merit the honor of being World No. 1."--Dinara Safina

Spotlight: Dinara Safina

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Overall, I've got a positive impression of Dinara Safina. I like her personality. I like her fight. I'm lukewarm about her tennis. I have enjoyed many of her recent interviews.

Steve takes a closer look at her in Looking Out For No. 1. Here's the introduction:

The crowd is dozing, the second set is dragging, and the woman across the net isn't giving Dinara Safina anything to work with. Peng Shuai shovels one ball down the middle after another—no angles, no pace. It's time for the top seed to take matters into her own hands. This, of course, means that she must let out an unintelligible, or perhaps Russian, scream that turns into a full sentence—maybe a paragraph—of anger. The sleepy Southern California afternoon is punctured. The audience, collectively stunned out of its torpor, gives the players the biggest cheer they receive all afternoon. Safina wins the next two points, the game, the set, and, eventually, not without more struggle and a few more self-lacerations, the match. After yesterday's upsets, the tournament needs its No. 1 seed. Safina, not at her best, has obliged.

Marat's little sister has made a name for herself. That she could become the No. 1 player in the world on Monday by making the final in the California desert leaves me a bit downcast. Color me Old School, but I need my world No. 1's to have hoisted a Big One.

But the rankings are the rankings. Let's see how she holds up under the pressure of seeing the mountaintop for a second time this season.

New Money, Same Problem

MMT examines the new rankings point on both tours and reveals a few twists.

Recently Jelena Jankovic hit back at stinging criticism from Roger Federer on the state of rankings at the WTA. In essence, he repeated what most have said about Jankovic’s stint as the No. 1 player in the world – that it made no sense.

Jankovic was none too pleased, but a quick look at the distribution of points across categories of tournaments on both the WTA and the ATP tours demonstrates some very strange possibilities. Federer would do well to consider this the next time he chats with the ATP President, as he himself could wind up in the unenviable position of looking a bit silly for his ranking as well.

There are nine 1000 Series events, excluding the year end championships, on the ATP Tour, each of which is worth 1000 points to the winner. Each grand slam is worth 2000 points – 9000 vs. 8000 points – which means that a player could win the calendar slam, another could win every 1000 series event, and the winner of the calendar slam would have to find another 1000 points (all other things equal) to obtain the No. 1 ranking?

Huh?

Read the rest...

Remember This Guy?

He's a semifinalist in Moscow.

Former World No. 1 Marat Safin (pictured) snapped a four-match losing streak against three-time champion Nikolay Davydenko, currently No. 5 in the ATP 2008 Race, with a 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4 victory Friday for a place in the ATP Kremlin Cup semifinals against Mischa Zverev.

Seventh seed Safin struck 17 aces and saved four of seven break points in recording his 23rd win of the season (23-21 mark). The 28-year-old, who finished runner-up in Moscow to Davydenko in the 2006 final, is making his 11th appearance at his hometown event. He has a 16-10 tournament record. Safin improved to 48-45 against Top 10 opponents in the South African Airways ATP Rankings and will be hoping to capture his first title since the 2005 Australian Open (d. Hewitt) this week.

Davydenko, who is close to securing one of four remaining berths at Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai, dropped to 17-3 at the tournament. The two-time defending champion and 2004 winner (d. Rusedski), won 36 of 106 points on return of serve and hit six doubles faults. He dropped to 49-17 on the 2008 season.

Fall. The silly season of tennis.

Former No. 1's Pay Tribute to Rafael Nadal

The ATP has gone all out to underscore Rafael Nadal's ascension to the top spot by showcasing the remarks of a few former No. 1's including a few of the sports greatest champions:

ROGER FEDERER: "Rafa played great to get it. That's what I expected and hoped for, many years ago when I got to No. 1, that if ever somebody were to take it away for me, he would have to play an incredible tennis schedule, win the biggest tournaments, dominate the game basically, and then like this he can take No. 1. So I think Rafa totally deserves it."

STEFAN EDBERG: "Nadal is a great player with incredible charisma and fighting spirit, who deserves the No. 1 ranking. Especially after winning one of the greatest Wimbledon final ever following the French Open win. Federer is one of the best players ever to play the game and his record of 237 weeks at No. 1 is incredible. A tribute to his sportsmanship as well!"

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: "I believe becoming No. 1 in the world is the biggest glory of an athlete. Nadal deserved to be in the No. 1 position since a few years. Federer definitely helped him to become a better player. Nadal's achievement is well deserved and I believe he has the capability to hold the No. 1 position for a long period, a feat that I'm sure he is very determined to accomplish."

ROD LAVER: "Nadal's had a terrific Wimbledon, winning a tough five setter against Roger. He is a worthy new No. 1. Federer’s consistency for three years dominating all opponents is one of the great efforts in open tennis. Hopefully Nadal can continue his winning ways through 2008. The US Open will be a huge test for both of them."

JOHN McENROE: "It makes you realize that Federer is a human being, after compiling four of the greatest years in the history of Open tennis. Nadal’s made some great improvement in the last year or so and he’s followed it up with some wins at other events [beyond clay]. He deserves it."

CARLOS MOYA: "When Rafa becomes No. 1 he will totally deserve it. He's been close for three years. But until now, Federer has been playing out of this world. He's more human now, and Rafa has improved a lot. I can't say that I really helped Rafa so much - maybe a bit when I was 24 and practising with him. That motivated me; you don't want to lose to a kid. He's helped me to be a better player by his intensity in training and his desire. He knew he could ask me questions and I could answer him. I don't know what it means, but of the three guys who have been No. 1 from Spain, two are from Mallorca."

PETE SAMPRAS: "He's a great fighter and I'm impressed with him. He's had the best year and he's clearly number one. He's 22 and think about that. It's incredible what Nadal's been able to do and I think he's going to get better and better if he can."

These remarks are including in the overall tribute that includes this great video.



At the end of it all, there's this:

COUNTRIES AT NO. 1
Nadal is the 24th player to hold No. 1 in the history of the ATP Rankings (since 1973) and he is the third male player from Spain to hold the top position. Here is a breakdown of the 12 countries at No. 1:

United States 6 (Connors, McEnroe, Courier, Sampras, Agassi, Roddick)
Australia 3 (Newcombe, Rafter, Hewitt)
Spain 3 (Moya, Ferrero, Nadal)
Sweden 3 (Borg, Wilander, Edberg)
Russia 2 (Kafelnikov, Safin)
Austria 1 (Muster)
Brazil 1 (Kuerten)
Chile 1 (Rios)
Czech Republic 1 (Lendl)
Germany 1 (Becker)
Romania 1 (Nastase)
Switzerland 1 (Federer)

I guess it's no surprise that the United States is atop the list, though I never gave it much thought. But I must say: to see Roddick's name alongside the others warmed my heart just a bit, especially given the tailspin he's in right now. I know this is all about Rafa, but I just had to say this. As Guga said, becoming No. 1 is arguably the most coveted accomplishment of an athlete.

Again, congratulations to Rafa and his legions of fans, one of whom we know very well.

Screenshot: ATP Salutes the New World No. 1

Imagine my surprise when I typed in the ATP homepage and got this. The page automatically defaulted to the ATP index page after 10 seconds. You can click on the image above and see if it still comes up. I've no idea how long it will run.

Anyone know if this has ever been done before? I mean, I know January 2004 was the last time there was a new world No. 1, but I don't recall Andy Roddick or Roger Federer getting this kind of ATP love when they took over the top spot.

This is not a complaint, mind you. After being No. 2 for more consecutive weeks than any player in history, the gesture seems appropriate.

But I was still surprised.

Congratulations Rafa, indeed.

Tuesday Tirade: Three Days Early

by Savannah



Remember Kim Clijsters? You remember her, the young woman who recently retired to pursue the joys of motherhood with her basketball star? Sure you do. But do you remember when she reached number one without benefit of a Slam victory and how universally welcomed it was because Saint Kim, as she was known in some circles, was just such a nice person and tried so hard? She did eventually win a US Open so people shut up about her.

Then there was Amelie Mauresmo. She also reached number one sans a Slam victory but she was AMELIE, so while there was some grumbling by purists, no lynch mobs were formed (figuratively speaking of course) and she too eventually won a Slam. That stopped people talking about her being as mentally tough as a piece of Baccarat crystal.

So why the uproar about Jelena Jankovic? I mean it is funky that she's never reached a Slam final or won anything other than Roma. Roma is no Mickey Mouse tournament (No pun intended. I'm not discussing the ATP in this post.) but every time Jelena gets to the threshold she has one of her meltdowns and for a few minutes the world ceases to spin on it's axis. Things return to normal when she gets up on her feet and scampers off to the next tournament where the pattern is repeated.

So let's look at how Jelena put her name in the record books. It started with Justine Henin leaving the sport for awhile. Retired you say? Uh huh. She'll be back next year. Larry Scott may not have lost any sleep about her retiring but he took care of his product. Moving on.

That catapulted Maria Sharapova into the number one spot. She immediately got the vapors and found it more pleasant to gallivant around Europe with her close personal friend than to play tennis. This happened after she bit the hand that's been feeding her and allowing her to live large. Again, not the subject of this piece. Again moving on.

The next woman to sit on the WTA throne was the fan boys' wet dream Ana Ivanovic of Serbia. She promptly proved her fitness for the crown by stinking up the joint in London but because no one seemed to want the scepter and crown she retained the No. 1 ranking. She disappeared from the scene citing "fatigue" and the "stress" of adapting to the number one spot but during her sabbatical found time to traipse off to Mallorca.


When she reappeared in Montreal it was with a taped thumb. Maria managed to show up in Montreal too. She complained of a shoulder injury. She's seemingly had this shoulder injury since forever. Maria, wearing a get up that probably made HFPY swoon fought her way to a three-set win in her first match and then had an MRI which apparently showed that she had a torn rotator cuff. That's her story and she's sticking to it. A torn rotator cuff is not something that is taken lightly by any athlete. Being an American and therefore born with more than a passing acquaintance with baseball and it's vagaries, torn rotator cuffs usually lead to surgery. A few weeks off resting with your BFF is not going to heal it. Do you come back at 100%? Depends. Not the adult incontinence product you sillies. It depends on the athlete.

But I'm digressing again. So Ana is in Montreal bravely carrying the WTA banner into the fray. Then she runs into Tamira Paszek a seventeen year old who suffered a devastating defeat in Melbourne against -- you got it -- Jelena Jankovic. She'd been in a tailspin since then but somehow found her mojo again when playing the world No. 1. It took three sets. I only saw some of the last set because I found a live stream. Ana sucked. She was spraying balls all over the court and just seemed not to have a clue what to do out there. Of course it was the thumb which was lightly taped. I say lightly because I had seen Nenad Zimonjic play with a heavily taped and supported broken wrist. Now that's an injury. He did manage to win the doubles championship at Toronto last week...sorry. The ATP just keeps shoving it's way into this conversation doesn't it?

It won't happen again.

What was our heroine doing while all of this was going on? Losing of course. Her loss at Montreal seemed to take her out of the running for the top spot. This put the weight on that bastion of mental toughness Svetlana Kuznetsova. Everybody likes Sveta. She's so cool with her love of gangsta rap and living in Spain. She's everyone's friend. She's the 2004 US Open Women's champion. Gee, 2004 was an Olympic year too huh? Anyway with a win Sveta would move into the running for the top spot. All she had to do was beat a young woman named Dinara Safina. And no I'm not going there. I think Mr. DeVillier's comments about Dinara's older brother being a fave of boys and girls and children of all ages should stand on its own. Sorry.


So Sveta and Dinara play this match last evening. Sveta, who when she is on is one of the best players ever, seemed more interested in getting up close and personal with the court. That's where she spent most of her time. Meanwhile Dinara, who has apparently taken up primal scream therapy to get the tension out, managed to hold herself together and win in three sets.

And that my friends is how Jelena has been put in the position of becoming world No. 1 on August 11. I hope you followed all of that because I don't ever want to have to type anything this sorry ever again. There are those of us who have been saying for a few years now that the WTA product is weak. No amount of hype about swimming pools or cup cake draws can hide that now. Where is the sport that Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles and Steffi Graf put on the road to greatness? Where are the players like Venus Williams,
Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis? At least the Brits have their bought-and-paid-for Laura Robson to look forward to. Alize Cornet of France, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, Aleks Wozniak of Canada, Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal, and Tamira Paszek who has already been mentioned all hold the promise of being bright and shining stars of women's tennis. Can Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia force herself into the conversation? They're all tough as nails and somehow I don't see any of them wanting to be known as mentally fragile.


Of course where the WTA will be two or three years from now is anybody's guess. Does Jelena deserve the number one ranking? No, but she is the only one left standing, or should I say cowering. I don't think we'll see Maria until the YEC where she will have a miraculous run. Until then it's going to be a game of hot potato between the top ranked women. Of course Dinara and her primal screams might decide it's time for the Safin family to reclaim it's past glory. And we know little sister is not scared of her countrywoman from Siberia.