Club Up-And-Comer

You know who I like watching? I've talked about her before, but not enough, clearly. Dominika Cibulkova. If she doesn't get into the top ten this year - especially considering the WTA is in the state it's in at the moment - I will eat an item of my own clothing.

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It seems the popular up-and-comer to tip as a Slam winner at the moment is Victoria Azarenka - and fair enough, too, because she has been pretty damn solid in a field of flakes and has been the only person to have established something vaguely resembling dominance over Serena this year. (She was winning at the Open until she came down ill, and she took her out conclusively in the Miami final.) I may have objections to Azarenka's personality, founded on an incident that took place in Brisbane where she proved herself to be, for lack of a better phrase, a nasty tempered little bitch, but I don't think anyone would deny her ability.

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But there are a couple of others sitting behind her in Club Up-And-Comer - one is Caroline Wozniacki, of whom I have not seen enough to comment, and the other has to be Dominika Cibulkova. I saw her play live at the Australian Open this year and she is amazing - and I'm not going to forget the masterclass she gave Dinara Safina in the Hopman Cup final. She's tiny, quick and can hit it hard - girl's got skills. I'd been hoping for a bit more from her in the hardcourt season, but that breakthrough might be yet to come. But the clay season... it is going to be really interesting to see which way the cookie crumbles in this season.

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I think Cibulkova's game will translate wonderfully to clay - and probably Azarenka's too. Serena's doesn't, especially... as we can see from her first round loss in Marbella to Klara Zakopalova (though that might have something to do with injury.) Now that the Henin monopoly on Roland Garros is over, it's anyone's game. I wouldn't put much money on Ana Ivanovic defending her title, and with Jankovic looking like Maria Sharapova's 'cow on ice', I wouldn't put much money on her either.

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What I would really like to see is Dinara Safina going all the way. We're nearly up to the part of the season where she began her charge last year, and I would dearly love to see her do it again. So come on, Zeljko, whip her into shape. Far be it from me to offer actual technical advice, but fix her goddamn serve. Dinara's got all the weapons... and she's made two Slam finals now. Time to claim one for her own.

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But the reality is that if Victoria Azarenka or Dominika Cibulkova win it... who would be surprised?

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Today's Results

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Grand Prix Hassan II (Casablanca)

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Albert Montanes def. Santiago Ventura, 5-7 6-3 7-5

Victor Hanescu def. Ivan Navarro, 6-1 6-0

Frederico Gil def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 6-4

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Potito Starace, 6-4 7-6 (7-1)

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US Men's Clay Court Championships (Houston)

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Wayne Odesnik def. Jurgen Melzer, 6-4 6-0

John Isner def. Paul Capdeville, 4-6 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-5)

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Andalucia Tennis Experience (Marbella)

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Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Virginia Ruano Pascual, 6-2 6-3

Sorana Cirstea def. Andreja Klepac, 4-6 6-1 6-1

Roberta Vinci def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-3 6-3

Klara Zakopalova def. Serena Williams, 6-4 3-6 6-1

Kaia Kanepi def. Sílvia Soler Espinosa, 6-4 6-2

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MPS Group Championships (Ponte Vedra Beach)

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Dominika Cibulkova def. Anastasia Rodionova, 6-1 6-3

Alona Bondarenko def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 4-6 6-4 6-3

Elena Vesnina def. Patricia Mayr, 1-6 6-3 6-2