The Final Eight

by Savannah


via @Getty

They're all there now. Some of the eight women who qualified for the WTA YEC in 2015 had a "long strange trip" to get to Singapore but I'm sure the WTA wants to let bygones be bygones. Fans of women's tennis shouldn't though but maybe now is not the time to talk about that.

The women have been grouped as follows:

Red Group

Simona Halep

Maria Sharapova

Agnieszka Radwanska

Flavia Pennetta

White Group

Garbiñe Muguruza

Petra Kvitova

Angelique Kerber

Lucie Safarova

Unlike Maria Sharapova who said she didn't understand how potential competitors could wish Serena Williams luck in her quest for the career year Grand Slam I wish all of the women well and hope they bring their best tennis to this tournament.

For fans this will be a chance to get a look at the post Serena era of the WTA. We know that Flavia Pennetta, 2015 US Open Champion, is retiring. I don't think Pova is retiring any time soon no matter what crap her people put out or imply but she is part of the old guard. Eliminating those two from the WTA of the future we have a collection of almost there's, women who have not and will never be superstars inside or outside the world of tennis. Petra Kvitova has won Wimbledon twice and pretty much flopped everywhere else with a few exceptions. Angelique Kerber just doesn't have 'that thing" Aga Radwanska, the most "feminine" of the group just doesn't have a game that is must see for a casual fan. Lucie Safarova is a fan favorite but again her charisma doesn't translate outside of tennis world. Neither Halep or Muguruza score highly on the charisma quotient.

Despite all of that the two most intriguing players in this tournament will be Simona Halep and Garbiñe Muguruza. Halep is 0-5 vs Sharapova, 4-4 vs Aga, and 1-4 vs Flavia. She'll be lucky to get out of her group with "guaranteed" wins only vs Aga, who has a lot to prove here.

Muguruza has never played Kvitova it seems. She's 3-3 vs Kerber and 0-1 vs Safarova. I do think that with Garbiñe her year has to be divided into pre and post US Open. She seems to be thriving under new coach Sam Sumyk and despite the head to heads with others in her group she has a good chance to make it out of her group and into single elimination play. She's not the same player she was earlier this year.

I think you can make the argument that Sharapova has been set up to win this event. Halep forgets how to play tennis when she's across the net from her. Flavia will be a bit jet lagged after her sojourn to Moscow and back to Singapore and has a 2-3 head to head with Sharapova, and Aga is 2-12 vs Sharapova.

There is nothing to say about Kvitova. If the player who shows up at Wimbledon makes an appearance she could dominate her group except for Muguruza. If the player who shows up every where else shows up it could be embarrassing.

In the end this is a lack luster field but they played well enough in 2015 to make the cut and appear at their sports championship event. They may not be the most charismatic group. They may not play a style of tennis that will make a casual fan sit up and take notice, but here they are. How they got there, how the WTA ruined it's image with the shenanigans at the end of the year should and will be discussed in another post. For now I've decided to praise these women for their achievement. There was a women's tour outside of Serena this year and I think it was very gracioius of her to step aside to and let someone else get the lime light don't you? There will be women's tennis after she retires too. Let's all sit back and see what we can expect from women's tennis in the years to come.

© Savannah's World 2015 All Rights Reserved except where otherwise indicated.

The Future Is Now

by Savannah

I'm really just dead. I need some weeks off where I don't think about tennis and can kind of regroup. I've had a long couple of years."

Serena Williams said it all during her post match presser April 1 after losing to Jana Cepelova. I pride myself on having heard of most players in the top 100 but I never heard of Ms Cepelova before last night. Serena did not blame the quick turnaround from Miami to Charleston saying she's done it before and she didn't blame the thigh that was heavily wrapped during a medical time out.

"I'm going to go on a vacation, for sure. I need some time off. I just need to take a deep breath and regroup, and I think it will actually help me for the rest of the clay court season coming up."

It took tennis fans to say what Serena didn't. Serena has carried the WTA tour on her back for the last two years. She's played tournaments large and small bringing the smaller events larger audiences and of course more money. But watch the haters come out of the woodwork to criticize her for not playing Fed Cup for the United States. Nothing Serena does is ever good enough for some.

So where is the WTA going now? CEO Allaster sees the future in Asia and is doing everything in her power to set up new events or move existing ones to that part of the world. The WTA has also picked it's new Queen, Eugenie Bouchard. Forget the fact that the player a lot of fans are watching right now is Simona Halep. Halep speaks little to no English so that will hamper her in becoming well known in the immediate future. The German women, who looked to be ready to storm the top ranks of the sport have fallen off and look to be a collection of head cases.
Players like Dominika Cibulkova, Agnieszka Radwanska, and Angelique Kerber (yes Kerber plays for Germany but is ethnically Polish and lives in Poland) are the players trying to force Serena, and Li Na out of the top positions. Yeah I'm going to pay big bucks to see these women. I'm not saying this to be a bitch I'm saying it because none of them has the "it" factor. Aga's game is an acquired taste. Domi is a ball of action and a fighter and may be the only one who comes close to that "it" factor, that star factor. Kerber's game is the cure for insomnia. It used to be Aga who would send me to never never land but she's actually been improving her aggressiveness. Halep does a lot of things very well and when focused she will find a way to beat you. But she doesn't light up the court.

I haven't forgotten Victoria Azarenka. She's found a life outside of tennis. She's also been injured and came back too soon trying to meet the demands of the tour. I don't look for anything from her until late spring into summer. And don't forget she is not a fan favorite thanks to the shenanigans that she engaged in early in her career. As for Maria Sharapova I get the feeling the jig is almost up with her. She can intimidate some of the up and comers or those who's time has come and gone but no one in the top five is really afraid of her. Her biggest claim to fame right now is a candy and all of her endorsements not her game.

I'm going to skip the US women. I'm tired of talking about them. Their play speaks for itself.

So with the WTA's major talent pool seemingly centered in Eastern Europe right now it's focus is on Asia. After Li Na who is there? Instead of looking for ways to strengthen European tournaments the WTA is getting rid of them. Too bad. If nothing else the WTA may be forced to promote women's tennis instead of a single person. Yeah, I'm not holding my breath either.

The Fed Cup/Davis Cup Crisis

I've always argued that the format for Davis Cup and Fed Cup didn't need changing. Patriots would always turn out and play for their country and all was right with the world. I was wrong. I see that Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic and Nishikori Kei of Japan, both top players for their country, will not play in the tie between the two nations. I don't know any Japanese player who is anywhere near Nishikori's level. Meanwhile the Czechs will rely on Radek Stepanek who is more of a doubles player now. Fed Cup is having similar issues.

What should be done? I have no idea. It seems that both of these competitions are evolving into events featuring the up and coming. The big boys and girls need to be ready for main tour events and may deign to play Davis Cup or Fed Cup when their country makes them an offer they can't refuse. The reason this is somewhat alarming is that players are maturing much later now and their quality of play is much, much lower than Challenger level at times. If fans know they're going to an exalted Challenger instead of an event featuring the best countries have to offer attendance will go down and the stars will feel justified in not playing events that throw off their training schedules not to mention their yearly schedule. Look at what the WTA did after the first round of Fed Cup this year. How do you hold Premier Mandatory events after Fed Cup which every top player is under pressure to play?

The tours are going to have to sit down with the ITF and work something out. Berdych has suggested every two years. That's a nice starting point for discussion.

End Note

My sister is responding very well to treatment. She can follow commands now and is awake large parts of the day. She will be moved to a long term care facility shortly. This is very exciting news. Now if I can get rid of this bug I picked up...

There Can Only Be One, and other Tales from Istanbul

by Savannah


via WTA

We're down to the last two players in Istanbul. Serena Williams will play...Li Na? But, but wasn't Victoria Azarenka supposed to be across the net from Terror Fabulous (still my favorite nick name for her) on Sunday? Oh yeah, she showed up looking and playing as if she hadn't touched a racquet since we last saw her. Sure she had time to appear in Stefan Gordy's latest video but that put no stress on her back...not the kind you get from playing tennis anyway but could it be she was more severely injured in the fall at Wimbledon than has been let on? I mean Maria Sharapova is still injured from her falls right? Oh it's her shoulder? Nevermind.

And after all the shit they went through to get Angelique Kerber into the final eight at Istanbul she didn't show much did she? I mean she did beat a totally disinterested Agniezska Radwanska in what was the most bizarre match of the tournament for me. Kerber's finger wag was just annoying.


AFP/Getty Images

Sara Errani, who will be on my list of worst ever top ten player for a long time won a match from someone else who had no interest in beating her, Jelena Jankovic, avoided ignominy in a way I guess. I mean if your opponent shows absolutely no interest in winning her match you have to win right?

It was obvious that JJ wanted to conserve both mental and physical energy for her match against the World Number One and she put up the best fight of anyone this week.

Serena looked to be in pain although she says she hit the wall and there was no visible taping it was Serena in tears on court à la Sabine Lisicki against Marion Bartoli. The difference is that Serena found a way to win despite being out of sorts for whatever reason.

In my opinion Jelena Jankovic should be the come back player of the year. She was going nowhere fast until her brother showed up as her coach. She's gone from counter puncher to aggressively trying to win points. She's cut out the clowning somewhat - I mean she did do a bit of her schtick during her match against Errani but then Errani...oh never mind. Anyway there was none of that versus Serena today.
It seems that JJ is back from her disastrous association with Ricardo Sanchez and looks to be in great shape mentally and physically. She's going to make a lot of people very nervous down under in January. And while I snarked about Alicia Molik and Kevin Skinner singing Marko's praises I agreed with them. You know they're going to try and put some teenager from Britain in there but if you've watched her play the end of this year JJ is number eight with a bullet.

I haven't said much about Petra Kvitova have I? There really isn't that much to say about her. Her physical condition is not the best. I mean the gut isn't hanging as far over the top of her skirt as it was earlier this year but it's still there and they did show her using her inhaler during a break at one point. Still I think her biggest problem is between her ears. She needs a steady diet of players who aren't used to winning in order to be ready for the big matches. When she's playing women who are used to winning and want to win she has trouble playing well back to back. The comms said her physical condition is what her camp says they'll be working on during the off season. Let's hope they don't have her playing a shit ton of exhibitions in the Czech Republic like they did last year.

There will be one more match on the main tour before the farce that is Bulgaria begins. Shouldn't they play that before the YEC? I'm just being that person again? Shrug. Deal with it.

WTA YEC Round Robin Groups

by Savannah

Red Group

Serena Williams

Agnieszka Radwanska

Petra Kvitova

Angelique Kerber

White Group

Victoria Azarenka

Na Li

Sara Errani

Jelena Jankovic

There it is. The Red Group is the stronger of the two in my opinion. The weakest link in that group is Angelique Kerber, who has the worst head to head of almost everyone in the tournament except for Sara Errani. Think I'm wrong? A fan was good enough to put together a chart or two comparing stats. The first chart compares all time H2H's.




Still not convinced? Lets look at the 2013 H2H between the same players.



Thanks go to the fan on Tennis Forum who put these together. I'm not this good with computers.

Looking at these charts I have to wonder what the rush was to get Kerber in.

Still a tournament like this exists in its own reality. Anyone could get hot. Someone can falter. Should they just play the final now? Some think so but as the saying goes one never knows do one?

Judgement, Responsibility and Decisions

by Savannah

Sports associations of all kinds usually wait until the end of a yearly cycle, their season, to make changes. It's always been presented as a meeting where a group of people steeped in all the lore of their sport sit down and after a review of the season, good and bad, decide to make changes, or not to make changes, to assist in the promotion of their particular sport.


© EPA

That is why what happened in Linz, Austria is so perplexing. Over at 10sballs.com I found the clearest explanation of what happened.

First top seed, Petra Kvitova pulled out on Saturday with a lower back injury. Under WTA rules, once the qualifying had started, only a Lucky Loser could replace a non wild card such as Kvitova.

Kerber, who is just a handful of points behind Jelena Jankovic in the Race to the WTA Championships, wanted in after she lost in the quarters of Beijing. Apparently, she had applied for a wild card a week before Linz was about to start, which is within the rules.


But the only way that the tournament could get Kerber into the main draw on Sunday just before Monday’s order of play was to released, was to have one of its other wild cards withdraw, which very rarely occurs.

Apparently, Tournament Director Sandra Reichel approached No. 337 ranked Lisa -Maria Moser of Austria, and asked her to withdraw. Moser then did so for “personal reasons.” Had she withdrawn for medial reason, the tournament would not have been allowed to replace her with anyone but a Lucky Loser.

Moser was given a wild card into doubles in which the tournament described in an official statement as “a small compensation.” That statement indicates that tournament took an end-around when it came to tour rules

“Angie is totally happy, Reichel said. “And for me, this is of course also great of still being able to invite a top 10 player at such short notice. ”

(...)

However, Ana Ivanovic, who was the second seed at the bottom half of the draw but was moved into the top section as the No. 3 seed, wasn’t thrilled. She is now in second seed Sloane Stephens half of the draw.

Kerber is the top seed, but is in the bottom half.

“One of those things when you realize you’re powerless… No matter what they say! #linzdraw” Ivanovic tweeted.

As a top 10 player, Kerber normally would not be allowed to play her third WTA International Series event, which Linz is, but she is being allowed to do so because when she played the Washington DC International Series tournament this summer she did so because the Premier Level event in Carlsbad, California, was oversubscribed.

All together now: WHAT. THE. FUCK?!

Here's the original draw:

[1] STEPHENS, Sloane USA vs RYBARIKOVA, Magdalena SVK
PETKOVIC, Andrea GER vs MEUSBURGER, Yvonne AUT
WC MOSER, Lisa-Maria AUT vs VOEGELE, Stefanie SUI
KNAPP, Karin ITA vs [7] HANTUCHOVA, Daniela SVK

[4] FLIPKENS, Kirsten BEL vs WICKMAYER, Yanina BEL
PLISKOVA, Karolina CZE vs SCHIAVONE, Francesca ITA
BEGU, Irina-Camelia ROU vs QUALIFIER
BECK, Annika GER vs [6] CIBULKOVA, Dominika SVK

[8] ZAKOPALOVA, Klara CZE vs VEKIC, Donna CRO
GOERGES, Julia GER vs QUALIFIER
SVITOLINA, Elina UKR vs BARTHEL, Mona GER
QUALIFIER vs [3] SUAREZ NAVARRO, Carla ESP

[5] CIRSTEA, Sorana ROU vs WC MAYR-ACHLEITNER, Patricia AUT
QUALIFIER vs QUALIFIER
CADANTU, Alexandra ROU vs WC KLAFFNER, Melanie AUT
NICULESCU, Monica ROU vs [2] IVANOVIC, Ana SRB

Here is the new draw:

[2] STEPHENS, Sloane USA vs RYBARIKOVA, Magdalena SVK
PETKOVIC, Andrea GER vs MEUSBURGER, Yvonne AUT
ZAKOPALOVA, Klara CZE vs VOEGELE, Stefanie SUI
KNAPP, Karin ITA vs [8] HANTUCHOVA, Daniela SVK

[3] IVANOVIC, Ana SRB vs WICKMAYER, Yanina BEL
PLISKOVA, Karolina CZE vs SCHIAVONE, Francesca ITA
BEGU, Irina-Camelia ROU vs QUALIFIER
BECK, Annika GER vs [7] CIBULKOVA, Dominika SVK

[5] FLIPKENS, Kirsten BEL vs VEKIC, Donna CRO
GOERGES, Julia GER vs QUALIFIER
SVITOLINA, Elina UKR vs BARTHEL, Mona GER
QUALIFIER vs [4] SUAREZ NAVARRO, Carla ESP

[6] CIRSTEA, Sorana ROU vs WC MAYR-ACHLEITNER, Patricia AUT
QUALIFIER vs QUALIFIER
CADANTU, Alexandra ROU vs WC KLAFFNER, Melanie AUT
NICULESCU, Monica ROU vs [1] WC KERBER, Angelique GER

Now let's look at the current standings for the WTA YEC in Istanbul, the last year it will be played in that city.

Serena Williams (USA) 12040
Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 7676
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 5890
Li Na (CHN) 5120
Petra Kvitova (CZE) 4370
Sara Errani (ITA) 4190
Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 3860
Angelique Kerber (GER) 3505
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)3300
Sloane Stephens (USA) 3185
Roberta Vinci (ITA) 3170

Jelena Jankovic is officially into the YEC since Maria Sharapova's withdrawal was made official on Monday.

Once again, WHAT. THE. FUCK???!!!

As it stands now if Kerber wins she's into the YEC because she's played one more International tournament than everyone else. She wasn't scheduled to play this week and Caroline Wozniacki, 205 points behind Kerber, isn't scheduled to play until next week in Luxembourg. If I'm Wozniacki I've got Stacey Allaster on blast. As you all know I've dragged Sunshine a lot in this space but this is some totally shady shit and Allaster has so far been silent.

My question is simple. Since the precedent has now been set that you can change a draw AFTER it's been made AND throw out a player who had previously been part of that draw and demote a seed to unseeded what stops a player, any player, from demanding that same right? The part about it being okay since she played her second International because Carlsbad was oversubscribed is bullshit. WTA players have already spoken out about it.

I say shame on you WTA. Someone at the top should've said no to this scheme. And what happens if after all this Kerber loses early? But why should we care? The TD is happy that "Angie" is happy. I'd be too if I'd bogarted my way into an event, got the top seeding, got placed in the BOTTOM half of the draw AND got a cakewalk draw while my biggest opponents slug it out in the top half.

And the WTA had been doing so well...

With Ranking Comes Responsibility

Tennis is an individual sport. The man or woman who is ranked at the top of the heap basks in media spotlight and gets perks only hinted at in the "tennis press". But with that rank comes responsibility. You are the face of your sport world wide. It's not like being a star baseball player like Yasiel Puig and it's a little less than being Lionel Messi in football. But tennis outside of the United States is a major sport and the kids trying to claw their way to the top look to the top ranked players for guidance in how to conduct themselves.
That is what a number one ranked player in tennis is supposed to do.

So you can imagine my surprise when the following quotes came out of Beijing, China. Emphasis mine. Via ASAPSports

Q. Two days ago we received a statement from Viktor Troicki, from his agent, I don't know, saying you have been the first one to sign a petition about a new rules for the doping process. Can you say if it's right and can you tell us more details about the protocols about that?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, the whole case around Viktor is just very unfair towards him. I believe that he's innocent. He hasn't been charged for being positive on any kind of substance. He was just accused of failing to provide the blood test that day.

You know, I know him since I was eight years old. We grew up together. He's one of my best friends. There is no doubt in my mind that he's innocent. I supported him from the first moment.

I think that knowing that now it's coming up, the date, 9th of October he has an appeal in Lausanne. I hope that he's going to be discharged and he's going to be able to play, because he's definitely not guilty.

What happened in that room on this day, for me, it's very clear that he is supposed to play. That's it. I leave the authorities to deal with that, but I'm confident that he's going to come back on the tour, hopefully already in the next couple weeks, and he's going to be with us in Davis Cup final, because we wish him that.

I don't see why they're keeping him suspended. For what? For failing to provide the blood test? He asked the lady that day, you know, he's not feeling well. Can I provide you tomorrow? She said, Yes, if you write report.

He wrote the report, and the next thing you know she's failing to say the truth in the court in London. She was saying that he was convincing him, that it took her 20 minutes to walk from anti‑doping office to the ATP office in Monte‑Carlo tournament, which is 20 meters. So she was lying a lot.

That's very bad for our sport. That's very bad for anti‑doping agency, you know, to have people who are responsible for this work to fail to say what really happened that day.
There was another person present in the room that day that wrote a perfect English on the report, and then in the court in London he didn't understand a single word.

So the reason why I was the first one to write a petition for the rule change is to try to spread the awareness to the people around that obviously there is‑‑ it all comes down to who said what and who believes in who, you know what I mean?

It's just not fair towards the players, because there has to be I guess technology or a camera or an additional person in the room while you're doing the test, because then ‑‑ the player has no really rights. Maybe he's trying get as much proof that he can, but in the end it's his word against the word of the people who are authorized.

Let's talk about what Viktor Troicki is said to have done. He REFUSED to provide a blood sample when asked. He decided that he wanted to give the sample the next day. So lets imagine a sports world where a player is asked to provide a sample and refuses but names the day he feels he will be able to provide said sample. Would we have random drug tests anymore? In this day and age when even I know there are ways to flush illicit substances out of your system the entire concept of drug testing would become a joke. I mean Lance Armstrong would still be a seven time Tour de France champion if he could've told the folks who do drug testing when they could take a sample.

That is what makes the comments disturbing. Doesn't he have PR people? How could he, a man who is admired by many around the world, make a statement like that without considering the ramifications? Even some members of the press wanted to know why there were no follow up questions and vowed to ask some in Shanghai. I hope they do. I understand supporting a friend in private. I don't understand how a top player can imply that it's the player, not the anti doping agency, who decides when, where and how he or she should be tested.

End Notes

I don't think anyone involved in the Linz draw or who does publicity for Djokovic should get off easy. The Linz controversy is not going to go away and I think Ms Allaster has to say something. Maybe that line of horse manure about overbooking came from her minions. I don't know. Then again FluffyGate has never been adequately addressed. Both the player and the chair umpire have continued as if nothing happened. If officials break the rules why should the players obey them?

I'm waiting for those promised follow up questions in Shanghai. If and when they come they'll probably be tweeted before the official transcript comes out. At least I hope so. For a top player to come out and advocate for the right of the player to refuse a sample on request is controversial to say the least.

Lets see if after the YEC and WTF something is done by the tours.

Haters Gonna Hate...

by Savannah

The first of the Masters 1000 tournaments was held in the wealthy California enclave of Indian Wells, California. This post is not about the city of Indian Wells or the Coachella Valley but about the semi finals and finals of the the WTA and the ATP at the yearly tournament held at this location.


When Victoria Azarenka had to withdraw due to injury the only person who could've denied Maria Sharapova the title was gone. Samantha Stosur also withdrew at the quarterfinal round due to injury so we ended up with semifinals of Sharapova vs Sara Errani and Caroline Wozniacki against Angelique Kerber.

The semi final of interest was Wozniacki vs Kerber. Kerber has a pretty large bandwagon going at this time despite her game having nothing spectacular to recommend it. She's a good, solid player who seems to, like Stosur, fight her way to a quarterfinal, semi or final, and then implode. There are only three women in the WTA who aren't prone to that type of mental lapse and one of them made it to the final.

I'll get to that in a minute. What I'd like to discuss is the match itself. It's my opinion that this match did more to harm the reputation of women's tennis than anything in the recent past. Why? Moonballs. I don't mind them when they're a tactic worked into a rally but when they become THE tactic it's just not watchable tennis.

This match showed that Kerber has a lot to work on. There is a way not to be caught in moon ball hell - we saw it in Sunday's final - but Kerber couldn't think her way out of that particular brown paper bag. Still there were former WTA champions tweeting that Wozniacki had played attacking, aggressive tennis. In some alternate universe maybe but not in this one. I can be annoyed about the match all I want but in the end it was Kerber who needed to step up and she didn't. All's fair in love and war and we all know tennis has nothing to do with love.

There's not much to be said about Sharapova vs Errani. Sharapova used her height and will to overcome Errani who was overmatched from the minute play started.

So to the women's final between Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki. If the dictionary description of what the word intimidation means leaves you with questions watch this match. I think that Sharapova has been wanting to show that just like she got intimidated by Serena Williams last year she can intimidate as well. And believe me she was all that and more. It was the most brutal match I've seen in a while. Wozniacki tried early to go the moon ball route and the balls came back so fast she abandoned the idea. I expected her at any moment to run off the court and once in the fetal position whimper "Please don't hurt me" in the tunnel so thorough was the beat down. If it had been a street fight the EMT's would've been called. If it was a boxing match the cut man would've had his work, well, cut out for him.

I think Sharapova has been looking to get the anger from her beat down out for a long time. Like her or not she can play tennis and she never, not once, let Wozniacki come up for air. In the end there was nothing to say except "brava" and "whoa". Not even Wozniacki's father could go completely into his act. There was nothing he could suggest that would spare his daughter the humiliation she was going through.

Maria Sharapova showed that she can indeed play the intimidation game. It's going to be very interesting if she ends up across the net from the woman for whom the phrase Terror Fabulous was coined in Miami.



I don't think too many people saw Rafael Nadal making the men's final at Indian Wells. Sure he loves it there, stays at the home of the tournament director and revels in the desert heat but he's been laid up for seven months with injury and just came back on the tour. Indian Wells would be his first big test on a hard court and no one knew how the knee would hold up. He was tentative at the beginning of his return during the South American Spring Swing and there was fear that he'd be the same here.

Besides the current top four men were there. Novak Djokovic, the top ranked man, Roger Federer, Andy Murray who looked to be poised to make a run for the top ranking, and David Ferrer.

Ferrer came in still mentally reeling from the beat down he took in Acapulco and had none of his usual spark. The ultimate confidence player, he exited the scene quickly. Federer got his usual cake walk to the quarters where he faced his nemesis. Novak Djokovic put on his usual acting display for his his fans and made it deep into the tournament as well.

Andy Murray was an interesting case. He showed up much more muscular that he's ever been, his shirt barely able to contain his upper body. He made it to the quarter finals relatively unscathed despite some slow starts and signs of rust after a seven week lay off.But his lack of match play caught up with him in the end when a very much in form Juan Martin del Potro send Murray back to his home in Miami.

Certain circles within the tennis establishment were salivating at the thought of Roger Federer facing Rafael Nadal in the latter's supposed weakened competitive state. I guess Federer wondered where that enfeebled guy was. The man he faced took him out 6-4, 6-2.

So the final came down to Rafael Nadal vs Juan Martin del Potro. Delpo took out Djokovic by the way. Delpo didn't fall for Djokovic's okey doke and despite the fact Djokovic embarrassed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga held on to defeat him. To digress for a minute it can be said that Tsonga embarrassed himself. Many of us watching wondered if the ATP still fined players for lack of effort.

So we get to the final. Delpo and Nadal had faced each other in an exho in New York City's Madison Square Garden and Delpo won it. Dogma is that exho's don't matter but the hit and giggle was brought up by comms several times. In the end it didn't matter. Rafa dropped the first set but fought his way to the win. Anyone who thinks the win didn't mean a lot to him had only to witness his scream of joy prone on the court when it was over.



Of course haters are saying that the slow hard court helped Rafa. It's a hard court, the surface people say Rafa sucks on. Get over it people.

In the end there are three ATP players who need to take a look at where they are.
Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Roger Federer. In the WTA everyone not named Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova or Serena Williams needs a long hard look in the mirror.A lot of people were picking Kerber to break into the upper reaches of the game but there's no there there. The French system isn't producing champions. They all have distinctive, attractive games but the way Tsonga totally unravelled in his match is cause for concern.

As for Aga Radwanska I guess I'm that person. The minute I saw her in soft flats at the players party I knew she wouldn't do much during the tournament. And she's still wearing flats in Miami. Put this in your just saying file. A glamor girl like Aga doesn't wear flats for no reason. I'm not saying she won't win matches. I just think there's something going on with her.



Since Indian Wells is working hard to really be a fifth Slam mention should be made of the brothers Bryan who won the men's doubles crown.


Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova took the women's doubles event.

End Notes

I apologize for this post being so late. I started it right after the last ball was struck and I'm just getting to finish it today. Life intervened. Nothing serious, just busy.

The tour has moved on to Miami, the IMG run event that is always good for strange fields since they use it to showcase their talented youth. Federer and Nadal aren't there. Victoria Azarenka has a bum ankle.

Still already there've been some interesting things going on. Madison Keys, who got a wild card into the event, fed fellow US player Ally Kiick a double bagel.
Victoria Duval, someone I've been watching since she was a preteen won her match against Andrea Hlavackova 7-6(4), 6-4, a huge win for her. Brit Heather Watson lost a match 6-1, 5-7, 4-6 to Ayumi Morita of Japan, a match she had been winning 6-1, 4-1, and said she was taking a break from tennis due to burn out then changed her mind and said she wasn't taking a break. This was Watson's comment after the match:

Asked about losing the pattern of the match after such a dominant start she said: "I was playing really well, probably the best I've played this year, and I think I lost my concentration a bit, but that was enough for her to gain some confidence and step forward, and it kind of pushed me back and I started to play a lot worse.
"I still tried to fight but it just wasn't good enough, I wasn't aggressive enough."

Meanwhile 2012 Newcomer of the Year Laura Robson won her opening round match. I can't imagine the pressure these young women are under from the LTA.

On the men's side Ryan Harrison is already out of the tournament losing what some saw as a winnable opening round match against James Blake. Blake won 2&2. That's not even a fight. Like the French the USTA system is not producing winners. There are some promising Americans but they're women (Stephens and Keys) and everyone knows the mens game is what everyone looks at when it comes to tennis right? There were sighs of relief when Sam Querrey won a match that let him stay in the top twenty of the ATP rankings. That means tennis in the US is still good right?

Congratulations go out to Justine Henin and her partner Benoit Bertuzzo who announced the birth of their first child, a daughter Lalie, yesterday March 20. I like the name.

In a brief return to sanity the WTA has folded its Dallas event that took place the week before the US Open. The tournament's place on the calendar never made any sense and I'm glad someone decided to pull the plug. There is already an event in the Bronx that week. Wonder if they'll upgrade it to International level? Just a thought...

Ladies Day

by Savannah

Agnieszka Radwanska began working towards her first Grand Slam final when she told her father his services were no longer needed. Her first coaching selection was Borna Vikic who had coached Jelena Dokic. That association didn't last long though and she went on to hire Tomasz Wiktorowski, the Polish Fed Cup coach. The rest as they say is history.

I'll say upfront that watching Aga play is akin to watching paint dry for me. Like Martina Hingis before her. an analogy many don't like but that I feel is the only player of the modern era to employ a similar style, is based on "gotcha" tennis. Is she a Caroline Wozniacki style pusher? Yes and no. At her worst she's dull as grass growing. What she's done is add some offense to her game. It's not Big Babe "in your face" smash mouth tennis but it's effective. Her touch is delicate although she can hit with some power. From what I saw of her match against Angelique Kerber, sorry I fell asleep, she quietly turned the tables on her. When Kerber came to she was out of the match.

Aga is sharp enough to not want the be added to the list of "Slamless Wonders" and I'm sure she'll fight as hard as she can in the Final on Saturday.

The thing is she'll be playing the best woman of her generation.

Serena Williams started Wimbledon off on shaky ground. Her devastating first round loss in Paris, while not on everyone's lips, was in everyone's mind. Serena left the Glamazon shit at home in London. She had that glorious hair but she came on court to play tennis. Little or no makeup - she had heavy liner on today - and no candelabra hanging from her ears. In other words she came to play. And play she did.

She hit a bit of a wall in the second set. Serena and her sister Venus Williams, who looked much better playing doubles, had to play two matches yesterday, something that could have hurt her if her match against Victoria Azarenka went three sets. Serena saw to it that it didn't.

As you all know I'm not a big fan of Victoria. People are talking about how her id seems to be in better check these days, but she does play one of the better games among the new jacks coming up. Like most of them though she is most comfortable with hit hard and harder tennis and when faced with an opponent who can throw some variety at her she has trouble. She has won a Slam though, and came into London with the #2 seeding.

It's no secret that Victoria and Aga had a big falling out and some were hoping that they would be the last ones standing anticipating a bitch fest of epic proportions.

But that was not to be.

Who do I think will win? The last time Serena met Aga was in 2008. Serena won 4 & 0.
Aga has changed her game a lot since then. So has Serena. Is it a toss up? I would say no but then I'd have to pick a winner wouldn't I? And I don't do that.

End Notes

It would be wrong of me not to mention the men's semifinals wouldn't it? For some there is one matchup that is highly anticipated. For me the undercard is the one I'm looking forward to. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Andy Murray in London, in a semi final, is a tennis lovers dream match. Tsonga, coachless, has gotten himself to the 2012 Wimbledon semifinals. He's going to have the crowd against him, and no one to consult but himself. There's no need to go into the Murray situation except to say right now he's British. Will he go back to being a Scotsman? Will Ivan Lendl keep him calm enough to play his best tennis? If both men show up that should be a hell of a match.

Finally I want to praise ESPN. The USA network, when it covered tennis, was the gold standard in my opinion. ESPN has taken it's place. It was sheer genius to have Centre Court coverage on ESPN, and all court coverage on ESPN2. The commentators, except for John McEnroe and in some instances Chris Evert, were informed and focused on the match not on inside jokes and giggling at people's names. I would suggest that JMac and Chrissie look at some tape and use briefing sheets next year. There's no excuse for JMac not knowing Venus had Sjogren's or Chris Evert admitting she'd never seen one of the women players, who's been burning up the courts before. A baseball announcer would be run out of town for less.

And no, I'm not mentioning Hanna. She's a disaster of epic proportions.

I think Mike Tirico, who uses notes and is a keen observer, along with Darren Cahill are the standouts. As for the women we have Pam Shriver and Mary Joe Fernandez. There's no hashtag for shit Pammy or Mary Joe says so that means their job is adequate. Chris has one though. Make of it what you will.