Small Signs of Life

Ana Ivanovic won a match today.

I can barely remember a time when saying that was not out of the ordinary - a time when Ana Ivanovic was a regular feature in the second week of Slams, when she was in the final, hell, when she won freaking Slams. We talk a lot about people not actualising their potential and never winning a Slam when they totally have the potential too... perhaps we should be applauding Ana for getting there at all. When I can go on for this long about Ana winning a single match, well...

To be fair to her, she did beat Victoria Azarenka, which makes this victory a whole lot bigger. I thought Vika was playing a lot better of late - she made a final recently, did she not? - but maybe not. Or maybe she was tired, but I don't know if that really washes too well. I think it's very telling that Ivanovic not only beat Azarenka, she beat her after losing the first set. I'm not going to mention words like 'resurgence' - because it's still only one match - but that is nothing but a positive sign for Ivanovic.

Now. Back it up.

And Dinara Safina won a match today as well. In straights. She beat Roberta Vinci, who isn't exactly top ten but who definitely does not suck, so that is a really positive result. I'm just really hoping she didn't come back too soon, what with all her back problems. I'd be really sad if she screwed herself up again.

Oh, and quick follow up from yesterday - Jelena Dokic's epic fifteen match streak has come a little too late to catapult her into the main draw at the US Open, which is a real shame. However, I know Australia has a reciprocal wildcard arrangement with the USTA, and please please PLEASE Jelena deserves that wildcard. I know she's had a bunch of chances but PLEASE she deserves it. And just to prove it's fate, do you know what she's ranked now? #82. Exactly what Yen-hsun Lu and Tsvetana Pironkova were ranked when they made their runs at Wimbledon - and, I believe, what Andrey Golubev was ranked when he won his title and jumped into the top fifty. IT'S A SIGN.

Potential

Looks like I won't be eating my couch - as predicted, Rafa Nadal took out Novak Djokovic, though Djokovic gave him a tougher time than I would have expected. As usual, I didn't see the match - stupid crappy television in Australia and stupid Canberra not being a metropolitan area - but it looks like Djokovic gave Rafa a bit of a tougher time than I would have expected. Or maybe he just played out of his skin for a set. Or maybe Shmafa turned up. Who can tell these things?

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This is insane. We talk about the pressure people put on Federer (which is also insane) - but how about the pressure people put on Nadal, especially on clay? He loses one set and I'm all like, 'oh no! what happened?' and I bet I'm not the only one. Is Nadal too going to become the victim of his own successes one day, when his knees give on him or he loses a bit of an edge and he starts to come back to the field one day? People have started to talk about the unrealised potential of Federer (personally, I think thirteen Grand Slam titles and four years of domination is a pretty decent realisation, but whatever) - will we one day talk about Nadal the same way?

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I guess that one we'll only ever get the answer to in time.

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Though speaking of potential, one girl brimming with it is Sabine Lisicki, and I am claiming a big Star victory here - she is the first of my female Stars to win a title! This allows her to join Marin Cilic in the exclusive Stars-who-have-won-titles club... yeah, I know it sounds lame, but I'm proud. I picked her out when she was a wee slip of a thing (she first caught my notice when I saw her beat Dinara Safina in the first round of the Australian Open in 2008) and now she's all winning a title. She beat Caroline Wozniacki pretty comprehensively in Charleston... and that isn't just some tiny schlep tournament either. I'm not sure how the new system of tournament rankings works for the women, but I'm pretty sure it was Tier II in the old system, and that is a pretty massive victory for someone winning their first title!

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Our last weekend winner was Roberta Vinci, whom I have only seen play once and so about whom I can make little comment... other than this. She was quite flamboyant but nothing extraordinary when I saw her play. She was unseeded, her opponent in the final, Maria Kirilenko, was the #6 seed. In fact, this holds in Charleston as well - Lisicki was the #16 seed, Wozniacki the #5 seed. The top seeds are not coming through in the WTA. They're just not winning any more. And yet they're at the top of the rankings. What does it take to dislodge a member of the top ten who is not performing?

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Today's Results

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Monte Carlo Rolex Masters (Monte Carlo)

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Rafael Nadal def. Novak Djokovic, 6-3 2-6 6-1

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Family Circle Cup (Charleston)

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Sabine Lisicki def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-2 6-4

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Barcelona Ladies Open (Barcelona)

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Roberta Vinci def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-0 6-4

Close Encounters of the Female Kind

The day of close matches. Seriously, how many nailbiters were there today? Largely, these were on the women's side, and it's a rare day that I prefer women's tennis over men's, but oh! there were some exciting matches today! Dinara Safina and Hsieh Su-Wei was a gun of a match - I'm so glad Dinara pulled that one out, otherwise Russia would have lost the tie! Ana Ivanovic and Roberta Vinci was enthralling - Vinci had match points, but Ivanovic had other ideas... But the real cracker for me was Amelie Mauresmo against Julie Coin. That tiebreaker... I wasn't going for either of them, and I was still biting my nails.

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So maybe Julie Coin isn't just a onetime Ivanovic-beating fluke after all, eh? She may not have triumphed against Mauresmo, but she damn near did - and she has some awesome skills. I was much more impressed with her than I was with, say, Ivanovic. I wasn't keen on Ana at all last night. Looks? Check. Massive groundstrokes? Check. Netplay? Check. Serve? Check, except... seriously, she has the worst balltoss in the entire world. The commentators were discussing it, but I think I should reiterate - BADNESS. It'd go to the right, to the left, over her head... anywhere except where it was meant to go.

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Back to Hopman Cup, and Marat backed it up! I was impressed. Dinara needs to snap back into it - she could so easily have lost her match - but onya, Marat. Unfortunately, they still bite at doubles, but I guess you can't have everything...

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And Ernests couldn't back it up. Which is sad. But he still beat Djokovic - who has pinched some other well-deserving player's wildcard into Sydney. But the flag is still flying for the Stars - Kei Nishikori upset Tomas Berdych. I would love Kei to go deep!

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And Kolya is out of the Australian Open. It's horrible, but I doubt anyone will notice he's gone...

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Today's Results

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Harry Hopman Cup (Perth)

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Germany 2, USA 1

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Sabine Lisicki def. Meghann Shaughnessy, 4-6 6-0 6-4

James Blake def. Nicolas Kiefer, 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (9-7) 4-6

Lisicki/Kiefer def. Shaughnessy/Blake, 6-3 3-6 10-7 (match tiebreaker)

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Russia 2, Chinese Taipei 1

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Dinara Safina def. Hsieh Su-Wei, 4-6 6-2 7-5

Marat Safin def. Lu Yen-Hsun, 7-6 (8-6) 7-5

Hsieh/Lu def. Safina/Safin, 4-6 6-3 10-8 (match tiebreaker)

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Brisbane International (Brisbane)

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Men's Draw

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Jarkko Nieminen, 0-6 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-5)

Fernando Verdasco def. Mario Ancic, 6-2 6-3

Kei Nishikori def. Tomas Berdych, 7-6 (9-7) 6-3

Radek Stepanek def. Michael Llodra, 7-6 (7-2) 6-3

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Ernests Gulbis, 6-3 6-4

Florent Serra def. Jurgen Melzer, 6-4 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Ana Ivanovic def. Roberta Vinci, 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 6-1

Amélie Mauresmo def. Julie Coin, 5-7 6-2 7-6 (13-11)

Sara Errani def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 6-3

Olga Govortsova def. Sesil Karatantcheva, 6-0 5-7 7-5

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Chennai Open (Chennai)

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Lukas Dlouhy def. Nikolay Davydenko, walkover

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Qatar Exxonmobil Open (Doha)

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Rafael Nadal def. Karol Beck, 6-1 6-2

Roger Federer def. Andreas Seppi, 6-3 6-3

Andy Murray def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-2 6-4

Andy Roddick def. Arnaud Clement, 6-3 7-5

Gael Monfils def. Nicolas Devilder, 7-5 7-6 (7-4)

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Kristof Vliegen, 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-4

Victor Hanescu def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-2 6-4

Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Alexander Peya, 7-5 6-3

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ASB Classic (Auckland)

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Elena Dementieva def. Marina Erakovic, 6-2 6-3

Caroline Wozniacki def. Jill Craybas, 6-4 7-5

Edina Gallovits def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-3 6-3

Ayumi Morita def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 7-5 6-2

Shahar Peer def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 6-3 4-6 6-2

Elena Vesnina def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-4 6-3

Aravane Rezai def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-2 6-3

Anne Keothavong def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-2 6-4