The Sands Trickle Away

Whoa, whoa, whoa, Lena, is this not a little bit premature?

Sure, Dementieva hasn't had a very good year this year. She's not the youngest by WTA standards, but she's really not that old either. Normally, I feel pretty supportive when players call it quits - even if they do decide to come back, like, five seconds later - but this one just does not feel right.

It feels reactionary. It feels like frustration. It feels like a mental breakdown, and it feels like the Elena Dementieva who has broken down so many times before. It is a very Elena thing to do but I don't think it's the right one.

Elena is at her best when she digs her teeth in and believes in herself. These incidences can be few and far between, but when they happen, they've made for fabulous matches. The greatest matches I can remember Elena playing are losses, actually - her loss against Henin at the Australian Open this year and then again last year at Wimbledon against Serena. They were both awesome matches because she didn't give up, even if she got defeated.

But maybe that's what drove her to it. Always the bridesmaid, never the year. And for most of this year, she hasn't even been the bridesmaid. But this is giving up. She's never going to get that Slam now, and she totally has the ability. She's not going to be able to defend her gold medal or anything of the ilk. This is... I think it's pretty poor form.

I would not be surprised if we see a comeback from Elena. But if we do, I don't anticipate success. The hourglass is trickling down and I think she might be wasting those last grains of sand with this stunt.

Short Statements on Skill

Well, we pretty much have our final four. We have Caro and Kimmie and Sam and Bepa. And really, they didn't have to do so much to get there.

The only really significant match of the round robin stages - that counted anything in terms of psychological winnage, in any case - was Stosur over Wozniacki. And then she had a bit of a comedown when she lost to Lena D, even if it was in a third set breaker.

But let's stay on topic here. This has been a stunningly dull world tour finals, even by WTA standards. It's just been a big fat pile of nothing, really. Looking forward to 2011, I really hope they can lift the standard, because it's really just a whole big pile of not good.

And that is all I have to say about that.

Sam She Is

I just realised that Sveta is not in Doha. I know she didn't have a good enough year to come anywhere close to making it, but it still makes me sad.

You know who is in Doha, though? And doing awesomely? That would be one Sam Stosur, who is kicking arse and taking names. She played the only competitive match of the day yesterday when she beat Francesca Schiavone, and today she pulled a really big coup by beating Caro Wozniacki.

Caro Wozniacki may be the #1 player in the world, but she is completely vulnerable to a zoning player. Well, anyone is vulnerable to a zoning player, I suppose, but she is super-vulnerable. Her game is all based around the fact that everyone else's game is based on risk - if she can keep the ball in play, eventually the coin will comes heads instead of tails, so to speak. But when her opponent is taking the risks and the majority of them are paying off... hello, trouble.

That's what happened today. This isn't the best I've seen Stosur play, but it was pretty damn good. Nearly everything she hit went in and she hit through Caro basically at will. She had the ol' serve forehand combo working like a dream. It was great stuff. And now she has total control over the Maroon Group with only one match left to play... and when you consider that that match is against the emphatically out of form Elena Dementieva, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see Sammy's path straight into the semis.

Vera Zvonareva is on top of the White Group for now, but Kim Clijsters is also undefeated - you'd have to think that it'll be the winner of that match who wins the group. Jankovic definitely isn't going through and I'm not so hot on Vika's chances either, so you have to think that it'll be Clijsters and Zvonareva going through here. Stosur and Wozniacki have to be the picks in the other group, unless Schiavone pulls out something a bit spesh.

I just realised something. Did Venus not qualify this year? or is she just not playing? What's the deal there? This must be the first Williams-less final in some time!

And The Razzie Goes To...

Are we here already? Is it really already the end of the year?

Well, not for the boys - they still have a few weeks left before the World Tour Finals, in which three spots are still up for grabs - but it's all going on in Doha for the ladies right now. Although 'all going on' might be misleading. The WTA hasn't exactly been known for its great matches of late, and in at least two of the matches today, we had no disappointments. Or big disappointments. I was trying to put a positive spin on it, but yeah... not positive. No way, no how.

Let's start with the least disappointing of the three matches, Stosur vs Schiavone. This wasn't the greatest match ever, but both Sammy and Frankie basically held up their ends of the 'I can play tennis' bargain, and we had a match. Sam got revenge for Roland Garros and some tennis was played. End of that story.

...and then we had Dementieva. Caro Wozniacki may be the #1 player in the world. She may beat people by big scorelines sometimes, but she rarely beats them into the ground. You rarely come away from a Caro match going 'wow, that was a two hoof beatdown.'

That was what today's match looked like. And it wasn't because Caro was playing well, it was because Dementieva was playing awfully. I hear Caro asked her 'are you all right?' at the net, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was something messed up in camp Lena D. And I wouldn't be surprised if we see an alternate tossed in.

And they might want to make sure they have a third alternate, because I'm pretty sure the second one will be taking Jelena Jankovic's spot. Awful as Dementieva's performance was, it had nothing on Jankovic's. JJ did manage to take one more game off Bepa than Lena did off Caro, but I'd argue that her quality of tennis was... completely non existent. Yes, I think that's fair.

So, in short, two of the worst matches of the year were played in Doha today, and that's saying something. Congrats to Bepa and Caro, and especially to Sam Stosur, who won the only match which was a match, but dear god I hope the quality is better tomorrow.

Leaving Normal

Of course when I talked about the relatively low upsettage in this tournament, there was going to be a wham-bam-thankyou-ma'am epic upset. Andy Murray, you are GONE.

This is a loss that Murray shouldn't have taken. Not after winning Toronto and the US Open series, and not after playing well in his first couple of matches. We knew the Stan Wawrinka match up was probably not the best match ever for him - we all remember that epic five setter under the lights at Wimbledon - but Stan hasn't been playing that great, and Andy should be better than that.

That is the problem with Andy. Right when he should be, he never seems to be better than that.

I would not be surprised if this match has as much of a psychological impact on him as that crushing by Federer in Australia. At least in Australia he made the final and managed one set of relatively good tennis, even though he lost it. Here, he just couldn't make it happen. Sure, Stan was zoning, but he wasn't redlining, wasn't zoning so hard that there was nothing Murray could do about it.

But nonetheless, Murray just could not do anything about it. And now you might as well send Rafa straight to the final.

Over on the ladies' side of the draw - I don't know if we'll see a better women's match this tournament than Stosur/Dementieva, because that one was an absolute cracker. I was listening to it at work and I was on the edge of my seat. I thought Sam fighting off one match point against Serena at Roland Garros was pretty good - here, she fought off four and played a superb tiebreak to beat Dementieva.

I don't think Sam stands a realistic chance against Clijsters right now. But she's played to her seed and achieved her best result at the US Open by a long way. Sam Stosur has a lot to be proud of - on a surface that is not her best, she has fought her way into the quarter finals. It's not getting anywhere near the coverage that, say, Jelena Dokic's run to the quarters in Australia did last year. And you know why? because this is becoming normal for Sam. And that is the best news of all.

The Spectacular Dullness of New Haven

So if Roger Federer made the final of both the biggest tournaments of the US Open series and won one of them... why is Andy Murray the winner of the series? Can anyone explain this?

Moreover, I'm pretty sure Marcos Baghdatis came second. Explanations, anyone? I just do not get it at all.

I'm really scraping the barrel for something to write about right now (duh), so I guess we have to talk about the lame tournament going on right now. That tournament is New Haven and it is spectacularly uninteresting, but let's see if I can dream up something to say.

Um...

The men's final is between Denis Istomin and Sergiy Stakhovsky, which should give some indication of the quality of the tournament. I wouldn't know who to pick there, because I don't know enough about either player - even though Istomin has been rocking that dark horse thing all year. The women's final is between Nadia Petrova and whoever wins out of Wozniacki and Dementieva.

There is a thought, actually. Why is it that nobody who is anybody on the men's side plays a tournament the week before a Slam - which seems to make sense, because you want to conserve energy, ra ra ra - but a bunch of the ladies do? The ladies who are anybody - because much as I would like to deny it, Wozniacki is anybody.

So... yep. There's a question. Answers, anyone?

The End of Elena?

Going to keep this one short today - I just had one of my wisdom teeth out and I'm kind of groggy what with all the Novocaine, so forgive me is this doesn't make too much sense.

What we're going to muse on today for a few short paragraphs is Elena Dementieva, WTA Ironwoman, she who has played 46 straight Slams, and she who might reportedly be skipping Wimbledon due to injury. Yes, that's right, Elena 'I will play even if my legs are falling off' Dementieva could be out due to injury.

Now, if I were one of Lena D's rabid fans, I would be a little worried about this. Even as someone who appreciates her rather mildly, I am worried about this. When you're as seemingly imprevious to injury as this woman is and then you get injured so badly you have to pull out of Wimbledon...

It's not exactly a secret that Lena D had a chance at Roland Garros - a really good chance. She made it all the way to the semis before this injury sliced her down. But now that this injury has sliced her down, do we now have to put a line through her name as a Slam contender? Is Elena damned never to win that first elusive Slam, never to succeed at the big dance?

I would be inclined to say yes. I don't know exactly the nature of her injury, but if someone as tough as her is hurt so badly she just can't get up again, something is seriously wrong. And Lena is not young in tennis years either.

Is this the end of Elena?

Momentous

I don't know if it can be described how significant this Saturday will be for women's tennis in both Australia and Italy. It may be the randomest Grand Slam final we've had in quite some time, but in many ways it is also the most momentous. No matter who wins, whether it be Stosur or Schiavone, this weekend is absolutely mammoth.

I cannot pretend to be unbiased. I'm pulling for Stosur in an absolutely massive way. I am very interested in the future of tennis in my nation (oddly enough) and Stosur is definitely our way forward. Added to which I absolutely love her game and I think she has everything it'll take to win this title. But even if she doesn't, what she has achieved her is massive. I mean, to beat Henin, Serena and Jankovic in a row? That beatdown she laid on Jankovic was nothing short of epic - whoever would have thought JJ would go out only having won three games? And whoever thought Sammy Stosur would be the one to come through that incredibly tough quarter she was in?

Schiavone's achievements are also incredibly huge - I have to give a lot of credit to Van from Tennis Talk Anyone? for calling this one, because I never would have picked Schiavone for the final. (I think I picked Pennetta to go deep - wrong Italian, I guess!) It was very sad the way that she came through yesterday - I'm sure she would have rather had the full triumph rather than come through on the back of Lena D's retirement. But nonetheless - she has played amazing this tournament.

Has she got what it takes to beat Sammy Stosur? Who knows? But for whoever comes through, this will be an absolute revelation.

I can genuinely say that I am very happy about this result. I have very different reactions to mens' and womens' tennis, I think - I am eternally biased in mens' tennis, being such a rabid Federfan, but with the women I'm not, and sometimes that makes it more exciting. Whatever happens from here on in is a good result. (I mean, Sammy would be a better one, but if she doesn't win, I won't cry myself to sleep or anything...)

I'm just so excited about this final. I don't think it's the final or the tournament was hoping for, but you know what? that kind of just makes it all the more awesome.

Hey Roland Garros, I Meant It - Get A Roof

Welcome to another odyssey in the adventures of Roland Garros and how much they need a roof. It is SO IRRITATING waiting till 4pm Paris time for play to start when you're in Australia and that means it's midnight. Yes, I'm whinging like a spoiled bratty little fangirl, but that is exactly what I am, so come on, Roland Garros. Get with the program and get a roof so I don't have to put everyone whose second round singles match got canned into the losers column. Remember Wimbledon in '07 when there were matches that took, like, five days? (Rafa, Yoker, I'm looking at you). YOU DO NOT WANT THIS.

Okay. Let's go.

The winners: Fabio Fognini. I know he only squeaked in by the skin of his very teeth and I should be putting him in this column, but this was such a spectacular victory, after all those shenanigans with the light and whatnot. Well done that Fog.

Also, Australian women's tennis in general. Sophie Ferguson may have lost, but both Jarmila Groth and Anastasia Rodionova won and won relatively easily as well. And if (fingers crossed) Sam Stosur gets through, that is three Aussie ladies in Round 3. And that is quite something.

I'd also like to mention Elena Dementieva. No one is talking about her, and I think this is a good thing. She is always over hyped in Australia and it never amounts to anything. I personally think she does much better with under hype... which is why it gets nasty when the last few rounds come around and everyone is hyped.

The losers: Well, Gael Monfils, obviously. Sucks to be you. 'Nuff on that.

We have to talk Ana Ivanovic here. I wrote a positively cheery series of posts about her a few weeks back, and yes, it was a blip. It is rare that a player has a blip of positivity rather than negativity, but it looks like what that was. I didn't expect her to beat Alisa Kleybanova but I expected her to do a little better than three games, which was, frankly, pathetic. Nothing more to say.

The disappointments: Agnieszka Radwanska. I honestly don't understand why she is seeded #8, because she never seems to be around when things get all second weekish in Slams. This said, I really like her game and I wish she, you know, won more. Very disappointing result. Yaroslava Shvedova is an excellent player - I saw her play at Hopman Cup, and was impressed - but Radwanska should certainly not be losing this tamely.

And much as I am parochially glad Anastasia Rodionova came through, I'm a bit disappointed in Vera Zvonareva as well. Is she still injured? She seems always to be injured. I didn't see the match, but this is really not a good result for her.

Oh, and Monfils. He should have been able to win that one.

The scraped-in-by-the-skin-of-teeth: The obvious choice is Fognini, but let's talk about those big seeds going four - specifically, the Andies. Andy Murray went four against the frankly over Juan Ignacio Chela and Andy Roddick went four against Blaz 'my name is awesome but no one knows who I am' Kavcic. Neither of them should really have gone four here.

And it wasn't really skin of teeth stuff, but I thought Jelena Jankovic was going to have a slightly easier time of it. Maybe her shiny yellow dress has made me a little over optimistic about her chances...?

One to watch: The selfsame Blaz Kavcic. I have no idea who this dude is, but if you can get through a round in a Slam and take a set off a top ten player, you've got a little something something going on. And also his name is totally awesome.

The Almost Positively Merry Story of Ana Ivanovic

Well, well, well. I am all astonishment. Not one, not two, but three wins in a row? Two consecutive wins over top ten players?

Admittedly, these top ten players have not been playing so well - this was hardly the Elena Dementieva that got beaten by Justine Henin in the second round in Australia - but still, Ana Ivanovic, I am feeling almost positive about you! And that is something I have not felt in a long time.

When was the last time Ana won a title? Actually, I have a vague recollection of her winning one last year, but it was a lone bastion of hope in a battlefield of despair. Here's hoping Rome - which must be counted as a personal victory, if not a tournament victory - does not turn out the same way. If Ana is rising, I want her to stay risen. Like a souffle.

Fear my simile.

In other news, Juan Martin del Potro is out for three to six months - I can practically hear him sliding down the rankings. I doubt many people will be backing him to repeat in New York. And speaking of people who have had some success in New York, some dude called Roger had his first clay court victory of the season. I am trying very hard not to care.

Dangerous Belgians

I rated Justine Henin 'hot' on the hot or not scale a few days ago, and I would like to raise that to 'absolutely smokin' hot'. Damn, that girl is playing well.

It's been all 'oooh, your comeback's not so great now, is it, haw haw haw' since JuJu lost to A-Kley in Indian Wells, which really doesn't take into account the fact that a) A-Kley had mad skillz and b) it was a third set breaker. JuJu is absolutely steamrolling her opponents at the moment. This is one lady you do not want to face across the net. Elena Dementieva, who has met her early on in two tournaments now, must be doing the Dance of Joy, because after this tournament, JuJu will be back inside the top thirty and thus will be no more a dangerous floater.

Speaking of dangerous Belgians, Kim Clijsters was absolutely fierce against Victoria Azarenka today. Sure, Vika crumbled like too-dry pastry in the second set, but it was the face of the Clijsters Onslaught, which is enough to frustrate any player to tears (or violence - just ask Serena). I really wouldn't be surprised to see a Belgian take out this tournament - I just couldn't tell you which one.

And you know who else is a genuine contender? Sammy Stosur. She put a bit of a beating on Jelena Jankovic today, which, considering JJ beat her last week pretty easily, is a job well done indeed. If Sam can keep her head and not have one of those random match meltdowns she can be prone to, she has a great shot at the crown here. Wouldn't that be a great way to open her account as a top ten player...?

Factoids for 700

Hey, guess what?! This is the offical 700th post on Tennis From The Backseat. Yes, I have dribbled on and on and on about tennis and I still have more to say. I don't know how informative or insightful that might stuff might be, but I'm going to keep saying it nonetheless.

Onto the real business of the day - I've been so wrapped up in the phantasmagorical victory of Ernests Gulbis over the weekend (hurrah!) that I forgot about all those other tournaments. And there are some interesting things there, so let's get started.

Factoid #1: Venus Williams has won more clay court tournaments than any other active player except Justine Henin.

I don't have too much to say about that except whoda thunk? V's never made a huge impact at RG (except that year she went to the final) - with those kind of numbers, I find that surprising. V ain't just no grasscourt gal.

Factoid #2: Elena Dementieva plays too much tennis. She should not be losing to Kleybanova.

This is not news. No wonder she has never won a Slam.

Factoid #3: This is the first time ever Novak Djokovic has defended a title.

I don't know whether to class this under 'fluke', 'maturing player' or 'deeply troubling'.

Factoid #4: Juan Carlos Ferrero has still got it.

He may have lost in the final, but JCF has still got serious game. He's now ranked #14 in the world. What is this, 2004?

Jodi's Epic Tennis Adventure 2.6 - Return of the Queen

I really do love the Australian Open. And Melbourne. And tennis.

That is all.

It was a traditional Australian Open summer day, warm and sunny. I am unsure whether I will ever scrape the layers of sunscreen off, but the tennis was worth it. And, in addition, one of my favourite Australian singers was performing - the incomparable Kate Miller-Heidke - and I got to sit and watch her with Dootsiez of All I Need Is A Picket Fence fame. Fun times.

I opened the day with a leisurely Nadal practice session and then spent most of the rest of it wandering the grounds, catching bits and pieces of various matches. I saw a bit of Yaroslava Shvedova's victory over Kimiko Date Krumm - boy, I do like both these players! And I spent a significant amount of time on Court 18, watching Nadia Petrova and Kaia Kanepi and then Andrey Golubev and Ivan Ljubicic.

The most notable thing about the Petrova match was the penultimate game, Petrova serving - this was the longest game I can ever remember, in any match, ever. Seriously, it had at least fifteen deuces, and Kanepi had at least ten break points. I am not exaggerating. The game itself went for about twenty five minutes. Petrova finally held and then broke Kanepi for the match. I was on Team Nadia, but I felt a bit sorry for Kanepi after that.

My latest love affair, Andrey Golubev, lost to Ivan Ljubicic, but it was a noble defeat. It was four sets and he showed a lot of the flair that has earned him a special place in my tennis esteem. I am sad I'm denied a third round showdown with Nadal, because I reckon that could have been awesome, but there is no shame in going down to Ljubicic. That Ivan/Rafa match should be a good one, actually - if Ivan can take down wheeler-dealer Golubev, he'll be a good test for the Raging Bull.

But as usual, it is all about the night session... which is still going on. Yes, I left early. It is one thirty in the morning. So sue me. Cilic and Tomic are locked at two sets all in a really fascinating match - even if Tomic doesn't win, he will take a lot of positives away from this match. He plays frankly weird tennis - I rememebr Courier saying of Tomic's first round win over Guillaume Rufin that he 'softshoed him off the court'. He doesn't hit the ball hard from the back of the court at all, though he can certainly accelerate through it when he wants. He gives the opponent a lot of different looks... he's got vague similarities to Andy Murray, though he's obviously not as good yet. When he gets some legs... Tomic is going to be something.

If only he could solve his Bad Dad problems.

But why am I rabbiting on about Tomic?

Today was all about Justine.

I saw that Henin/Clijsters match in Brisbane. This one wasn't as good, but it wasn't far off. Justine... wow. Look out.

She had some service yips, especially at the beginning - a lot of doubles thrown in there. That, combined with the excellence of Demetieva's returning, gave me some pause. But given as Elena's serving wasn't so great either, meant it all worked out okay. And that backhand... OH THE BACKHAND.

Let us spare a thought for Lena D. This was a tough, tough draw for her. And she didn't play badly - not at all. You don't play two sets that go for almost three hours together if you're not fighting, if it's not tight tight tight. But let us face facts. Lena is good. She's very good. Even if she's never won a Slam, she is a good, good player.

But Justine, even after spending two years sitting on a couch eating chocolate, is great.

And so it is onwards and upwards for the pocket rocket Belgian delight, and it is another entry into the Grand Slam annals of woulda shoulda coulda for Elena Dementieva. The tennis gods have not smiled on her, just as they never seem to smile on her at Slams. To see Justine lurking in your draw... wow.

Justine is back. She came OH SO CLOSE with Kim, and now she's pulled it off with Lena. Watch out, ladies. Queen Justine is back.

Jodi's Epic Tennis Adventure 2.1 - Look At Me, I'm Lena D

It seems that I've been chasing Elena Dementieva across the country for the past two weeks, and you know what? there are worst players to chase. After a bad bad start at the Hopman Cup where she got whaled on by Sabine Lisicki ('bad bad' said, Lisicki can whale on anyone if she has her day) she played some lovely stuff - including the match I saw her play against Laura Robson - and she followed it up tonight.

I was at the Medibank International tonight watching the women's final. I only just got there in time for the 7.30 start and worried I was going to miss the beginning, but the men's semis ran long, so all was well. (Gasquet/Baghdatis will be the final in the men's draw, which I will see tomorrow. There are worse finals - and I was expecting a lot worse!) Considering Serena/Elena at Wimbledon was the women's match of the year, but both are capable of fizzling spectacularly, I wasn't really sure what to expect. I had a hunch in the Dementieva direction, but Lisicki was at the back of my mind...

It certainly wasn't an Epic Clash OMG. It was more towards the fizzle end of the spectrum, but I don't think it was true fizzle. Serena looked out of sorts, especially as the match went on - but I don't think it's because she wasn't trying. There's just something about Dementieva's game that troubles her. Sometimes she can steamroll over it (Australian Open semis last year, for example) but sometimes it just sort of gets to her.

This is, I think, why that Wimbledon semi was so epic tonight, and why Lena D won tonight. If I had to say exactly what it was that irks Serena, I think it's the fact that Dementieva is extraordinarily aggressive off the return of serve. She certainly was tonight, that's for sure - she was hitting the ball hard and flat right back at Serena a lot, and it was fast fast fast. This, coupled with Dementieva's speed, meant it was really hard for Serena to get cheap points off the serve and one-two punches... and when Serena started dumping serves into the middle of the net, you knew she wasn't exactly on the 'I Am Extraordinarily Invested In This Match And You Will Have To Shoot Me To Win' Bandwagon.

This has been a pretty confused rambling - sorry, I'll try and be more concise. Let's start with Serena. In this match, she didn't play great and Dementieva did. Because Lena D is a good player with the capacity to trouble Serena a lot and this tournament is not a Slam, Serena lost the match. When it comes to the Australian Open, I don't think this damages Serena's chances one bit. However, it's not an odd numbered year...

For Lena D... she is looking as good as I have ever seen her, is steelier than usual with few, if any, signs of the mental fragility that has been her downfall in the past. This does not mean, however, that they will not come out at the Open, but that remains to be seen. She's moving well, returning very very well and the serve... is not the creampuff it used to be. It's still not great, but she hit some service winners off it.

However. However however however.

The reason, in my opinion, that Lena folded so badly against Serena in Australia last year was that she had just played too much tennis. She'd won Auckland and Sydney and then through to the semis of Oz, which was something like fifteen matches. That is a lot lot lot, and more than I think she would have expected to play.

This year, she played Hopman Cup. No points or anything, but a good warm up. Three singles matches, three mixed doubles matches. Plus a tournament win in Sydney. Hopman Cup is low key, but she's still played a lot of tennis coming in. And then...

...she's probably going to play Justine Henin in the second round in Melbourne. And if I had to pick someone to get through that match, it would be JuJu. Sorry, Lena.

That said, I think Lena is a good investment bet for the Open - if you were the gambling type and wanted to back a dark horse that might pay out big. She's certainly capable of beating anyone, I think - like I said, she's playing as well as I've ever seen her. But will she? Time will tell. She's got all the elements in her game to win a Slam (even though that serve will never be great). But her draw is most emphatically not a cakewalk, and if she wants to lift that first Slam trophy, she's going to have to go through a pint-sized-in-reality-but-huge-in-mentality Belgian.

As to the actual experience of the tennis on this first night - Ken Rosewall Arena is a nice arena, but it's not as atmospheric as either of the venues I was in last week, I feel. It's too big to be intimate, too small to be spectacular, in a way. That said, I still had a great time and look forward to going back there for the men's final tomorrow!

Lena Under The Radar

It's the day before Jodi's Epic Tennis Trip Mk 2 starts - I'm flying off to Sydney tomorrow night for the men's and women's finals of the Medibank International before heading down to Melbourne for the first week of the Aussie Open. And boy, am I excited!

I'm even more excited now that we should have a half decent women's final for me to watch. I was a bit worried for a moment there that we'd have Aravane Rezai vs an exhausted Victoria Azarenka. Dementieva, to her credit, never gave me a moment's worry - she disposed of Azarenka quickly. But Rezai really should have won that match against Serena - and Serena should not have had to pull a Houdini to get out of it.

To Serena's credit, she did pull the Houdini, and I wouldn't be surprised to see her win the final tomorrow (though I really do have my money on Dementieva - she's definitely been the steadiest player all week). These two girls were responsible for the Best Match Evah of 2009 on the women's side (though in my humble opinion, it didn't have anything on Clijsters vs Henin in Brisbane - I WAS THERE I WAS THERE). And here's hoping they can pull out another big one tonight.

I've seen a lot of Dementieva in the last couple of weeks - I saw her play live at the Hopman Cup, and I was sitting quite close to her. There's things you can tell in real life that you can't off a telecast, and let me tell you, Dementieva is looking good. I don't want to pull the big claims and say that oh yes, Lena D will win her first Slam in Australia? but you know what? she has a pretty good shot. I think it's in her favour that Clijsters/Henin, with a side of Serena, will take the spotlight. Lena does her best work when she's under the radar, in my opinion, and I'll be interested to see how she performs.

I'll also be very interested to see how Serena performs when she runs up against a Belgian, but that will be a whole other story.

The men's final is on Saturday, and will feature either Gasquet or Benneteau against either Baghdatis or Fish. (Fish has just beaten Peter Luczak in a tight one - Lleyton Hewitt totally crashed out to Marcos Baghdatis after being up a set and a break). Personally, I'm pulling for Gasquet/Baghdatis - that could be totally entertaining, and good for both of their respective comebacks as well.

Before I go, a shout out to my boys John Millman and Matt Ebden in Melbourne, who are both through to the final round of qualies. If we can get just one of these boys through to the main draw, that will be awesome... but you know what? I reckon we can get both.

Jodi's Epic Tennis Adventure 1.3 - Back to the Future

Little Laura Robson is a revelation. Well, I say little - she's probably got a good half a foot on me, if not more. But she is just fifteen, and I find that unbelievable. Instead of whinging about high school, gazing at posters of boys and singing that annoying Taylor Swift song about being fifteen, she is travelling around the world playing tennis.

And she is damn good.

I was lucky enough to be there to see her play Elena Dementieva on Friday at the Hopman Cup after a lovely second night in Perth, and although the second set was a bit of a Dementieva 'no, this is how you hit groundies' clinic, in the first set, Robson seriously troubled her. She managed to break her twice - Dementieva doesn't have the bestest serve ever or anything, but she's #5 in the world, and Robson is fifteen. Fif-frigging-teen.

And then yesterday she beat Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, a match which I didn't see, but which I wish I had. She is going to be epically awesome in a few years. Just you wait.

But back to my day there. I was on the other side of the court this time (non-umpire side) in the lower deck and I had a great view. It was really interesting to analyse the way the Dementieva and Robson games matched up, because Robson is going to grow into a similar player, I think. They're both heavy groundstrokers - Elena has the experience that comes with age and practice and stuff, but Laura (fifteen! fifteen!) definitely held her own. Where I really noticed the difference is where their shots landed in the box. Dementieva hits very deep, and although Robson was clearly trying, some of her shots were more in the service line area, particularly if she was on the defensive. But she has time to work on this. On account of she is fifteen.

Murray was totally clinical in his dismantling of Igor Andreev and it was excellent to watch, even though Andreev is clearly not in form and not looking at all threatening for the Australian Open. (Meanwhile, Muzz, losing to Robredo? WTF?) But the real match of the day was the mixed doubles. I wish there was more of this played, because it is SUCH a good spectator sport. Murray was quite paternalistic towards Robson at the beginning, trying to do everything himself, but she soon proved she was quite capable and he let her alone, to his credit. Robson held her own in forehand rallies with Andreev admirably, and Dementieva's hands at the net were great, and... yeah, this was a really good match.

That said, I kind of wish the Brits had lost, because I would have loved to have seen the scheduled Kazakhstan/Germany match, mostly because of my newfound love for Andrey Golubev. And also because it would have delayed my trip to the airport, where I had to spend a very long time before my plane to Brisbane left. And let me tell you, Perth airport is not an especially interesting place.

All in all, I loved my time in Perth - even the time I spent sitting next to a guy who kept persisting in trying to explain things like let rules to me even though I had already said I was a tennis blogger and that I knew all the rules, thank you very much. (A classic mansplainer - spew.) It's sometimes hard to watch tennis when people around you are talking about tennis to each other, pretending they know what they talk about when they obviously don't.

But there is nothing like watching real live tennis. Nothing at all.

I don't know if I will go back to the Hopman Cup next year - Perth is a long, long way away from everywhere, and is pretty expensive. However, the year after, I am so there. I want to see it in the new stadium!

Anyone-Can-Win (Because Everyone-Can-Lose)

We've had our first three matches in Doha. In a tournament which is anyone-could-win because everyone is certainly capable of losing, any result is, by nature, interesting. But there was one I thought was especially interesting, and that was Venus being beaten by Dementieva.

In terms of ability, this is hardly surprising. Both Venus and Elena are exceptionally talented, and Elena, when she's firing, can take just about anyone. Look how much trouble Serena - an in-form Serena - had taking her out in Wimbledon: far more trouble than she had taking out Venus, that's for sure. But one always associates the Williams fire with Venus, the desire to win the big ones, plus the fact that she's the defending champion, and Elena is usually classed among the headcases. Because, you know, she is one.

But Elena didn't go all headcase on us today - and, I would like to point out, she fought her way back from the brink of defeat. From one set down, she won the second set breaker eight points to six and then roared away in the third. That shows admirable grit and, given that Elena isn't usually a player one associates with grit, a nice surprise. Well done.

In the other matches, Serena triumphed over Sveta in two close sets and Azarenka pummelled Jankovic into submission. I was really hoping Sveta could pull her match out but I guess Serena probably had a wee score to settle after Roland Garros which might have fired her up a bit. Azarenka making mincemeat of Jankovic is not surprising to me. I really don't think Jankovic belongs here this year. It should be Clijsters, man, it should be Clijsters. (Not that Azarenka has been especially impressive of late either, but she looked good today... all the compliment I'm prepared to pay her).

I'm going to be very interested to see who brings the goods to the table and qualifies for the semis in both groups. Like I said, it's anyone-can-win because everyone-can-lose, so no matter who wins, I think it's going to be a little surprising. What I do hope is that someone, you know, wins the tournament, instead of just not losing. Let's end the WTA year on a high!


Today's Results

Sony Ericsson Championships (Doha)

Victoria Azarenka def. Jelena Jankovic, 6-2 6-3
Serena Williams def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 7-6 (8-6) 7-5
Elena Dementieva def. Venus Williams, 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-2


St Petersburg Open (St Petersburg)

Jeremy Chardy def. Petru-Alexandru Luncanu, 6-2 6-2
Igor Andreev def. Potito Starace, 6-4 6-2
Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Evgeny Korolev, 6-4 6-3
Horacio Zeballos def. Yuri Schukin, 7-6 (11-9) 6-3
Illya Marchenko def. Fabio Fognini, 6-4 6-1
Michail Elgin def. Mikhail Kukushkin, 6-3 6-3
Andrey Kuznetsov def. Marcel Granollers, 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (8-6) 6-4
Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. def. Robby Ginepri , 6-2 1-0 retired


Bank Austria Tennis Trophy (Vienna)

Radek Stepanek def. Lukasz Kubot, 6-4 6-1
Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Dieter Kindlmann, 6-1 6-3
Feliciano Lopez def. Andreas Haider-Maurer, 6-4 6-4
Jurgen Melzer def. Marco Chiudinelli, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (12-10)
Michael Berrer def. Steve Darcis, 6-3 6-2
Jan Hajek def. Andreas Seppi, 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-3
Marin Cilic def. Alejandro Falla, 6-2 6-3


Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon (Lyon)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Kevin Kim, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5)
Ivan Ljubicic def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 6-3 6-4
Benjamin Becker def. Paolo Lorenzi, 6-2 6-3
Albert Montanes def. Fabrice Santoro, 6-4 6-4
Michael Llodra def. Lamine Ouahab, 6-1 6-2
Marc Gicquel def. Jerome Haehnel, 6-1 6-4
Kevin Anderson def. Simon Greul, 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-3)
David Guez def. Rajeev Ram, 6-2 6-4

Doha And Other Thorny Puzzles

So Doha has not yet started, but can I just say - Dinara Safina may not have been in spectacular form lately, but she was rocking that dress she was wearing at the draw ceremony. She looked gorgeous. I'd dearly love to see her do well - ideally, win - in this tournament, to at least make some of these catcalls of 'worst #1 ever' go away, because despite everything, I still believe in Dinara. So here's looking at you, Dina, in your rockin' dress and awesome shoes - cheering for you!

One group does seem to be a lot stronger than the other - though it might just be because it contains both Williams sisters. We have Dinara, C-Woz, Jankovic and Vika in the White Group, and Serena, Venus, Sveta and Elena D in the Maroon Group. I don't want to go making predictions, and it's mostly because I genuinely don't know who to pick. I wouldn't say any of these ladies has shown especially amazing form lately - Sveta is the only one coming in off a win, and much as I think she's awesome, her headcaseness cannot be denied - and for every good point I can think of for all of them, I can think of a few bad points as well.

For starters, Dinara: she's got the game, she's got the grit, but she's been all over the place since Wimbledon, if not earlier. I certainly believe she can win this tournament, but whether I believe she will or not is another story.

Serena: Hasn't played much lately. Hasn't done much of anything since the infamous semi against Clijsters in New York. This tournament isn't a Slam, and I don't know how much she's going to bring to the table.

Venus: Same deal as Serena when it comes to the tournament not being a Slam - but she did win it last year, and I'm sure she'd be eager to defend. But same as Serena again in not having much done much of anything since New York, though at least she doesn't come in with a monkey on her back like her sister does.

Dementieva: She played awesome at the beginning of the year. She played an awesome match against Serena in Wimbledon, where something resembling a serve was sighted. Unfortunately, it hasn't been seen since, and the odds on it showing up here...?

Wozniacki: I could say something about her being vanilla and boring, but she did make it to the US Open final, an achievement which cannot be discounted, even in a weakened field. However, she retired hurt last week, and injury lurks around her.

Azarenka: I don't like her attitude. And while she started off the year strongly, with that Miami title, she crashed out early in New York and I can't remember her doing a lot before that either. And I don't like her. So there.

Kuznetsova: If she's on song, I would just hand her the trophy now. She can beat anyone when she has her day, and she won a Slam this year, and she's coming in off her win. However, will it be her day, or will Captain Headcase rear his ugly head?

Jankovic: Really shouldn't be here, in my opinion. Hasn't won enough stuff to merit it - crashed out immediately after qualifying for here last week. I don't see her suddenly becoming awesome again and destroying the field. Would have given the spot to Clijsters.

So who's going to win?

...you got me.

I'd like to say Dinara. I think this might give her some confidence and a bit of validation for being back in that #1 spot. However, I'm going to go out on a limb and pick Kuznetsova this time. She is capable of roundly thrashing every player here, if she plays to the best of her ability. So it's not a question of her ability, but whether she can bring it to play. And you know what? I think she can.


Today's Results

St Petersburg Open (St Petersburg)

Karol Beck def. Viktor Troicki, 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-4
Bjorn Phau def. Stanislav Vovk, 6-3 6-2
Denis Istomin def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-4 6-4


Bank Austria Tennis Trophy (Vienna)

Nicolas Almagro def. Peter Luczak, 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-1
Daniel Brands def. Robert Kendrick, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5
Victor Crivoi def. Jan Hernych, 6-3 6-3
Wayne Odesnik def. Lukas Rosol, 6-2 5-7 7-6 (8-6)
Frederico Gil def. Stefan Koubek, 4-6 6-4 6-4


Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon (Lyon)

Juan Monaco def. Josselin Ouanna, 6-3 6-2
Julien Benneteau def. Alberto Martin, 7-6 (7-1) 6-1
Florent Serra def. Christophe Rochus, 6-3 6-3

In Defence of Dinara

There are three players in the women's top ten who are widely considered to be Slamless wonders - Jelena Jankovic, Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina. Elena's been around for about 7957934875 years and though she's reached the odd final, she's never taken the prize. Jelena made the US Open final last year and has been ranked #1, but no cigar. Dinara is the current #1 and has made three finals, but has only ever come away with the cookie tray.

All three players - maybe Dementieva a very little less, but certainly Jankovic and Safina, as they've both spent considerable time ranked #1 - are thought to need a Slam to validate their careers. And Safina, given as she's crumbled in three Slam finals and is the current #1, is bearing the brunt of that pressure at the moment, but you can bet the other two feel it as well.

Everyone's been ragging on Dinara Safina this year. Why is she #1? they ask. She has no spine. She crumbles in finals. She relies too much on her coach, who is the captain of her anti-cheer squad. Bitch bitch, moan moan. I read an article yesterday called 'What Makes A Champion? Don't Ask Safina'. She may be #1 at the moment and the #1 seed, but no one is picking her to win this tournament. Dementieva and Jankovic would both have been picked above her.

All three of these players played today. Two lost, one won. And guess who it was that won.

Dementieva lost, rolled over by American teenager Melanie Oudin on Arthur Ashe. And then right after her, Ashe saw Jelena Jankovic go down in a third set breaker to Yaroslava Shvedova.

Safina struggled. She went three sets against a player which her ranking states she should beat easily, Kristina Barrois. Similarly, she came heartbreakingly close to losing to young Aussie Olivia Rogowska in the first round. And everyone's picking on her for not playing that well.

But you know what no one's picked up?

She still won.

She was down a break and nearly a double break in that final set against Rogowska. And sure, Rogowska was nervous, and is not yet the player Dinara is, but Dinara stuck it out. She didn't give up, which must surely be tempting at that point. She held her nerve. She gritted it out. And she won.

She's not playing that well at the moment. I'm not going to deny that. Her serve is all over the place and she's missing shots she should make. But that can be fixed. She can play her way into this tournament. As long as she gets that W on the board, that's all that matters. Because there is one thing that has not deserted her, and it's the thing that has left her in the past on the big stage.

She hasn't lost her steel.

When she started coming up in '08, when she had that big win in Berlin and made the final of Roland Garros, that was what got her there. It was her determination, the 'you'll have to shoot me to win' mentality. And when she's been in the Slam finals, that's what's left her - most evident in that 'why am I such a chicken?' moment at Roland Garros this year.

But right now? She's playing bad, and she's still finding a way to win. And that, I feel, says something very important about Dinara Safina. That is the quality of a champion.

Roland Garros this year, when she made the final, she pretty much cruised there. If she makes it to the US Open final this year - and with Jankovic and Dementieva out of her section, her chances are improving - she will have had to fight to get there. I'm not saying she'll win it - but I bet that she'll show up.

So while most everyone else is condemning her, I still believe in Dinara Safina. Her brother yesterday came out vociferously in her defence and I back him up 100%. Dinara does have what it takes. Because she loves the game and she's got grit - and there's fight in here, and if nothing else, that is what she has brought to the table this tournament.

So there it is. I am a Safina believer. And I think she just might do me proud.


Today's Results

US Open (Flushing Meadows)

Men's Draw

Nikolay Davydenko def. Jan Hernych, 6-4 6-1 6-2
Fernando Verdasco def. Florent Serra, 6-3 6-0 6-3
Robin Soderling def. Marcel Granollers, 2-0 retired
Tommy Robredo def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-2 4-6 6-2 6-4
Tommy Haas def. Robert Kendrick, 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7-3)
Sam Querrey def. Kevin Kim, 7-5 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-4
Jesse Witten def. Maximo Gonzalez, 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 7-5 6-2
Marco Chiudinelli def. Mikhail Youzhny, 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 6-3


Women's Draw

Dinara Safina def. Kristina Barrois, 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-3
Melanie Oudin def. Elena Dementieva, 5-7 6-4 6-3
Yaroslava Shvedova def. Jelena Jankovic, 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (8-6)
Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Anastasija Sevastova, 6-4 6-2
Caroline Wozniacki def. Petra Marticm 6-1 6-0
Nadia Petrova def. Julie Coin, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)
Sara Errani def. Patty Schnyder, 7-5 6-2
Zheng Jie def. Alize Cornet, 1-6 6-3 6-3
Anastasia Rodionova def. Sabine Lisicki, 6-3 3-6 7-5
Sorana Cirstea def. Stephanie Dubois, 6-4 5-7 6-4
Gisela Dulko def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-4 6-0
Yanina Wickmayer def. Peng Shuai, 2-6 6-1 6-4
Kateryna Bondarenko def. Shenay Perry, 6-1 6-1
Petra Kvitova def. Tathiana Garbin, 6-1 6-3

A Lot To Be Proud Of

Who would have thought Elena Dementieva had so much fight in her?

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Certainly not me. I'm very sorry, Elena, for saying such mean things about you, for calling your draw a cakewalk and for suggesting that you would crumble under the Serena pressure. This was one of the best women's matches I've seen in a long time. 8-6 in the third... you really don't see that often - not at Wimbledon, not if Serena's playing, unless she's playing Venus.

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Venus had a much easier time of it. I predicted that she would steamroll Safina, and she... steamrolled Safina. I didn't see the match - I fell asleep - but a scoreline like that tells a story. Still, I don't know if that result will be anywhere near as disheartening as the French Open final for her. People expected her to win that one - no one expected her to beat Venus.

*

And maybe that was part of the problem. No one believed in her - not even herself.

*

Clearly not a problem Dementieva had. I'm still a bit gobsmacked about this performance of hers - it totally came out of left field. She went out there, believed she could do it and went for it. Sure, she came up a little short in the end, but that was some performance. That is a lot to be proud of. And yes, another opportunity to get into the final of a Slam went begging, but Elena served warning notice - we can't keep counting her out.

*

So even though we have the all family final, Elena for me was the big winner today. She's been raised significantly in my estimation. Well done, Elena!

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Today's Results

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The Championships (Wimbledon)

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Women's Draw

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Serena Williams def. Elena Dementieva, 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 8-6

Venus Williams def. Dinara Safina, 6-1 6-0