It's Finals Time! The WTA YEC

by Savannah

Posted by @MariaSharapova

The WTA YEC begins it's first year in Singapore Monday October 20th. The top eight women will compete against each other in Round Robin format before beginning single elimination. The breakdown is as follows:

RED GROUP (Seed):

Serena Williams (1)

Simona Halep (4)

Genie Bouchard (5)

Ana Ivanovic (7)

WHITE GROUP (Seed):

Maria Sharapova (2)

Petra Kvitova (3)

Agnieszka Radwanska (6)

Caroline Wozniacki (8)

On Monday Serena Williams will start things off playing Ana Ivanovic at 7:30p Singapore time (that's 7:30a Eastern US Time)
The second match will feature Simona Halep vs Eugenie Bouchard.

Tuesday will feature the White Group with Caroline Wozniacki playing Maria Sharapova at 7:30pm followed by Petra Kvitova vs Agnieszka Radwanska.

Why am I always surprised that Aga ends up at this event? She's not fooling too many people any more and has been trying to increase her aggressiveness but she still comes off as the weakest link in both groups. Each woman has had time to rest and no one is limping into the event this year. Yeah there were reports of this and that hurting but that was players trying to fulfill their tour commitments without flat out withdrawing and facing fines.

Am I surrpised that Bouchard played well enough to make the cut? Nope. She was going to make the cut one way or another so after Serena, Maria and Petra she was the next shoo-in. The head to head between Bouchard and Halep is one apiece.

To be honest I'm more curious about attendance than the tournament. There's a lot of pomp and circumstance going on around the event, enough to make me think the tennis isn't the feature event. Lot's of former players are going to be there. I'm assuming there's a large expat community in Singapore and that seems to be who they're appealing to. I've been looking to find reports on attendance at the recently completed China swing but haven't been successful. If someone has these figures please post a reply here.

But back to the groups. The White Group could come down Sharapova vs Kvitova. Wozniacki can make life miserable for those two though I don't see her winning the group unless something serious happens. In the Red Group the battle will be between Halep, Ivanovic and Bouchard. Bouchard owns the H2H 2-0 (!) against Ivanovic. Ivanovic H2H vs Halep is 2-1 in Ivanovic's favor.

Who do I think will play for the Championship? Many think it'll be Serena vs Pova but if Kvitova can hold her form I think she romps through the group. Keep in mind I don't do predictions well at all so make of that what you will.

The Tarpishev Incident

So this happened as reported by Merlisa Lawrence Corbett.

Shamil Tarpischev, head of the RTF, appeared on the Evening Urgant, a late-night talk show broadcast nationally in Russia. Sitting next to retired WTA player Elena Dementieva, Tarpischev joked with the host about how difficult it is to defeat the Williams sisters.

However, instead of acknowledging the Williams sisters' talents and skills, Tarpischev decided to degrade them. "The Williams brothers," he called them.

The put-down didn't stop there. Ivan Urgant, the host of the show, instigated more thoughtless conversation. He continued (h/t TennisInfoBlog.com):

Look at our athletes, elegant and beautiful. I have tremendous respect for them [Williams sisters], but once one of the sisters passed next to me, and I found myself in her shadow for about forty seconds. They are so physically powerful. Weren't you afraid to play against them?
Tarpischev and Dementieva smiled and listened to this foolishness. They ignored the fact that Russia's own Maria Sharapova is the tallest woman in the Top 100 and hits with as much power as anybody on tour.

The "Williams brothers" remark and the tone Urgant used seemed to suggest that Serena and Venus were otherworldly, some strange creatures to be feared.

The first reports of Tarpishev's remarks came, to my knowledge, on a fansite known more for flame wars than sober discussions of women's tennis, on October 7th.

On October 17th the WTA announced that it was fining and suspending Tarpishev, who has been Russian tennis for many years and is head of the Russian Tennis Federation. It was also on October 17th that NY Times tennis reporter Christopher Clarey posted an article about the incident. In a tweet responding to myself and several others who commended him on his article he said he'd just found out about the incident. In other words something that fans had been aware of for ten days didn't get reported on by a major tennis writer until the WTA announced it's suspension and fine of Tarpishev. Many fans said non tennis media had been reporting on the comments for awhile.

To summarize the head of the Russian Tennis Federation, who at one time had many women in the upper echelons of the sport, makes comments that are at the very least insensitive about two of the icons of the modern game and not one mainstream tennis "journalist" saw fit to report on the comments or express outrage. Some are saying that they were traveling to Singapore and weren't aware of the situation. I guess that "slow boat to China" is still in operation and has no modern communication facilities. Others seem to be doing their best to look the other way and pretend it didn't happen or that since the WTA has acted there is no need for them to say anything.

If we tennisheads have learned anything from this it's that the men and women who consider themselves "journalists" are nothing more than an insular, self serving clique that only reports on what the tours and PR agencies want them to report on. Meanwhile fans have taken over the function of reporting that these entitled few claim they do. That is why this clique has worked so hard to make sure the rabble - read bloggers who are not under contract to some major sports or news organization - are not allowed anywhere near the hallowed media centers. I'll state here that I'm not interested in traveling all over the world but that's me. There are capable bloggers who love the sport and still do even when knowing some of the uglier aspects of it. And let's not forget there are regular fans who while they don't do formal blogs attend and report on majors and not majors on fan sites with no perspective other than that of a fan of the sport. They don't care what agents or the Tours say. They report what they see and that seems to threaten the "tennis press".

Don't get me wrong. Fandom isn't colorblind and several excuses have been made for Tarpishev's remarks. Some say he's old. Some say Russia is still as insular as it has always been. Some say that Tarpishev was making a joke and that Russian humor is different from that of other cultures. Others were saying that Serena and Venus didn't seem to care about the comments so why should anyone else?

Serena herself put an end to that train of thought with a statement she made yesterday :

"I thought they were very insensitive and extremely sexist as well as racist at the same time. I thought they were in a way bullying," Williams told reporters in Singapore on Sunday.

"I've done the best that I can do, and that's all I can say. So I just wasn't very happy with his comments. I think a lot of people weren't happy as well.

"But the WTA and the USTA (United States Tennis Association) did a wonderful job of making sure that -- in this day of age, 2014 for someone with his power, it's really unacceptable to make such bullying remarks."

Then there's Marat Safin who said the following (Google Translation from the Russian)

"I do not even know what to discuss here. This is complete nonsense, and on level ground. Adults and behave like children in a sandbox. I am sure that no one is mean to insult or offend. It would be better leaders WTA engaged so that from tennis to make any product, instead of discussing who said what to whom. Maybe Tarpishchev not understand? We understand that nothing he had in mind. Engaged in such nonsense respected association! Do not even want to discuss "- quoted Safina" Sport-Express ".

I don't speak, read or understand Russian but for those who do here is the link to the original article in that language.

I should mention in passing that Elena Dementieva, the one who half way apologized for saying that Richard Williams fixed the matches for his daughters back in the day was present during the television interview. She did and said nothing but even now that she's retired would she dare go against a man as powerful in Russian tennis circles as Tarpishev is? And in the end what happened isn't about Dementieva and Serena. It's what the most powerful man in Russian tennis said about the two women who made his best players footnotes in the recent history of tennis.

United States vs Russia Day 1 11/30/2007

by Savannah

I think this picture just about sums things up for Day One. Congratulations to James Blake for showing he can stay focused and win in a pressure situation. He was seen as the weak link and many wanted him thrown off the American team in favor of a guy riding the bench right now. Patrick McEnroe is to be commended for his coaching during the Blake match. His calm demeanor helped keep Blake in the moment even when it looked as if he was going to fold. He was the coach making all the right moves leaving Shamil Tarpishev unable to do more than sit and watch as the United States team defended the home court. Andy Roddick played what for him was an unusual style. It wasn't hit hard and harder tennis but more defensive and thoughtful. Yes I said it. Again PMac, often maligned here, gets major props for making sure Andy continued to do what he was doing and go on to win.

While Dmitry Tursunov was not allowed into his match Mikhail Youzhny was in his up until the end. The match he and Blake played was tense from beginning to end. The announcers on Versus kept reminding viewers of Blake's penchant for folding and while it got to the point that they seemed to be rooting for James to fail Blake played within himself and the two men,James and Mikhail, on a par with each other in terms of their tennis played the kind of match rarely seen on a lightning fast court, one that kept this fan glued to her set because there was actually strategy being employed.

Here are some pics that capture the feel of what I saw on television. Thanks to the Versus Network for carrying this live for fans in the United States.

Don't forget to visit Craig's blog and Talk About Tennis for special Davis Cup Coverage. The links are below.

Davis Cup - Russia vs Germany

by mmmm8

It did not start well.

First came the bad news for Germany. Michael Kohlman, half of Germany’s strong doubles duo (with Alexander Waske), was out of the tie with a knee injury for which he will need surgery. In a surprise decision, German Captain Patrik Kühnen nominated a newcomer,
Philipp Petzschner, as the fourth player, skipping numerous higher-ranked, more experienced Germans, most notably Florian Mayer (who came to the tie but did not play) and Nicolas Kiefer.

Then came a double whammy for Russia. In a prelude, we found out that Mikhail Youzhny, a key singles player, got a bad cold at the US Open and was still recovering. Then we learned, along with the rest of the world, that Marat Safin had an old, and serious wrist injury flare up in his US Open match against Stanislas Wawrinka and was out of commission. But wait! Marat was also taking his bad wrist to the Himalayas for a month to climb the sixth tallest mountain on the planet. Even though Marat ended up satisfied with just a 5000-meter climb and a week at high altitude, the Russian team was left without its leader and most experienced player for the tie.

Then there was the surface. The clay court was speedily laid right on the volleyball court used for the European Championship on the Sunday before the tie. Clips of practice showed
Dmitry Tursunov, a man who will never be called “King of Clay,” throwing racquets so hard out of frustration with the surface he actually broke a plastic bleacher chair.
Tommy Haas, the top German player, was vocal about his lack of fondness for the surface as well. No bleachers were harmed, but Haas looked like someone had just hit him with a frying pan in every photo from Moscow.
To add more intrigue, on Wednesday before the tie, Russia’s Number 1 Nikolay Davydenko also had an old wrist injury return during practice and became questionable for the tie.

DAY 1


Igor Andreev d. Tommy Haas
6-2 6-2 6-2

The match between Russia’s best clay courter and Germany’s best player sounded promising but Tommy forgot to show up. Andreev should be credited for playing a great match. After a nervous first 2 games, he never trembled again. Focused and calm, he played precise shots, missing nothing, running down impossible balls, and, of course, ripping his forehand. The only thing working well for Haas was the drop shot, but he only sent Andreev a few of those, and failed to draw Igor to the net otherwise.

Tommy may not have been ready for the surface, or for Andreev’s stellar forehand (they had never played before), but he showed a lack of desire and fight in this match, a surprising and disappointing performance for the team leader and a top player.

“We knew Tommy didn’t like clay, but we didn’t realize just how much,” joked Mikhail Youzhny’s coach Boris Sobkin.

So, after a surprisingly easy rubber, Russia led 1-0 and all signs pointed to an easy victory for the Russian team, with World No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko taking on 32nd-ranked Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Philipp Kohlschreiber d. Nikolay Davydenko
6-7(5) 6-2 6-2 4-6 7-5


When Nikolay arrived on court, it was obvious that he was not in top shape. However, he had a solid start, and one would not have guessed just how unready he was. Unknown to fans in addition to having freeze therapy to alleviate his wrist pain prior to the match, Nikolay was also coming off food poisoning the previous evening, and had a fever from a cold. Later, we also learned that a tactical decision hurt his chances in the match. Although the doctors cleared him to play through the wrist pain (the injury could not be aggravated), it was decided to give him lighter tension on his strings in order to prevent pain. He did not have sufficient time to practice with the racquet, felt uncomfortable with it, and, after three sets, could not bear it anymore. He went back to his usual tension, despite incurring more pain in an already injured wrist.

In addition to own issues, Davydenko ran into an in-form and extremely determined Kohlschreiber. Philipp was everything Haas wasn’t in the first match. He fought through every point, he played attacking tennis, he did not give away free points. After the match, Philipp said it was one of the best matches he has ever played.

Davydenko was able to fight him off, however, and was leading 4-2 in the fifth set, two games away from giving Russia a 2-0 lead. And then he got broken. And, a little bit later, he was broken again, losing the deciding set 7-5. The cold and fever, the pain, the general nervousness of playing with an injury, Kohlschreiber’s fight and excellent play, it all counts in explaining why Davydenko failed to close out the match. But, in the end, what happened was that Nikolay lost yet another DC match, and a crucial point for Russia with it.

A somewhat expected result, 1-1 at the end of the first day, but a surprising way to get to that score.

DAY 2:

P.PETZSCHNER / A.WASKE (GER) def. D.TURSUNOV / M.YOUZHNY (RUS)
6-3 3-6 7-6(4) 7-6(5)

It wasn’t even as close as the score seems to indicate.

Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny came out on court absolutely flat. Youzhny stayed that way the whole match.

Part of the problem was the lack of experience from Tursunov and Youzhny as a doubles partnership. They lacked communication, they did not have a feel for each other’s tactics; they did not have a game plan.

Part of the problem was the formation. Perhaps having Youzhny take returns on the left side would have made the match more comfortable for his game style.

Another problem was that neither Youzhny nor Tursunov had played much recently. They were both rusty. Youzhny failed at structuring the points (among other things), and Tursunov attempted to make every service return a winner, but he had no feel for the doubles court.

Another thing the Russian pair did was underestimate Petzschner. The Russians admitted to not having expected the German’s booming serve, or his apparent lack of nerves in Davis Cup debut.
But whatever its parts were, the whole problem came down to the Russian’s unpreparedness and lack of fight in the match.

Consider the Germans’ situation. Without a doubles team, Patrik Kuhnen took a risk by putting in an inexperienced player, whose one experience playing with Waske came five years ago (although Petzchner was coming in off a challenger-level doubles win the prior week). The rookie justified the Captains choice, but his other, “sure bet” doubles player’s serve goes away in the second set, and the score is at one-set all.
Then, in the middle of the third set, Alexander Waske feels something pop in his arm. It has been bothering him since Roland Garros, but this time, the pain is almost unbearable. He walks to the bench and sits down (no one knows what is going on at this point). He contemplates quitting the match. Finally, the medics put something on his arm to alleviate the pain, and he plays through it. But he is serving “little girls’ serves” (his personal description), mostly under 100 miles an hour.

The Germans were lucky that Youzhny and Tursunov completely failed to attack Waske’s serves, but Philipp Petzschner was the best player on court that day. He consistently served over 130 miles per hour, he showed a great feel for the court, especially at net, and he was not at all intimidated by the occasion. It was apt that the last point of the match was a winner from him.

With a loss of a very winnable match, trailing 1-2, an injured and sick Number 1, and an out-of-form Number 2 player, things seemed very bleak for the defending champions going into Day 3.

DAY 3

M.YOUZHNY (RUS) def. P.PETZSCHNER (GER)
6-4 6-4 3-6 6-3

Those of us who woke up at 5 am Eastern USA time to watch the third singles rubber must have thought the weekend’s sleep schedule has caught up with our sanity. It was not a big surprise to see Mikhail Youzhny playing for Russia, given Davydenko’s physical condition, but it was a shock not to see Tommy Haas. Later, the commentators revealed Tommy was suffering from food poisoning (WHAT do they put in that cafeteria food at Davis Cup ties?), and was unfit to play.

A break for Russia, although Youzhny would have had a great chance against Haas on Tommy’s least favorite surface. Luckily, Youzhny came ready to play unlike he had the day before. Mikhail did not play spectacular tennis. Compared to his best, he played rather poorly. But this time, Petzschner did show why he is ranked about 200 spots lower than Youzhny. He continued to serve big, stayed calm, and never gave up, fighting to win the third set. But, even then, the outcome was obvious. He was simply outclassed by Youzhny, who did what he had to – no more, no less.
Youzhny was not the only person to redeem himself after Saturday’s disastrous doubles. Dmitry Tursunov, once again, proved why his creativity is more famous than his tennis skills. He used metal cooking ware from the stadium’s kitchen as noisemakers, starting out with a ladle and mixing bowl, then sent a practice partner to the kitchen to equip the whole team with pots and ladles. It was loud, fun, and very festive. Dmitry gets the creativity award here (not that he needs another one).

I.ANDREEV (RUS) def. P.KOHLSCHREIBER (GER)
6-3 3-6 6-0 6-3


Even if the same Philipp Kohlschreiber who had played a stellar match against Davydenko on Friday had shown up here (he did not), even if the German did not trail 0-4 in their head-to-head (he did), Igor Andreev would have won the tie for Russia. As soon as he stepped on court, it was obvious he was determined to not let the tie slip away.

Aside from the distraction – caused by the appearance in the stands of Marat Safin, who came to support the team, but left when people started watching him rather than the match – that caused him the second set, Igor played another concentrated, clean, aggressive match.

Kohlschreiber was less confident and seemed somewhat overwhelmed by the crowd as well as by Andreev’s power. He still tried everything in his arsenal, but things were just not going his way. He had a brief resurgence after getting bageled in the third set, but Igor shut the door once and for all in the fourth set.

As calmly as he played his matches, Andreev, who missed most of last year, including three of the Davis Cup ties due to an elbow injury, walked to hug Shamil Tarpishev and shake hands with the disappointed German team.

Russia had won its 7th straight Davis Cup tie and was in the final again.

A few conclusions from this DC Semifinal:

- An embarrassing and unlucky tie for Tommy Haas

- Lots of respect for Nikolay Davydenko, who played an extremely competitive match against a very in-form Philipp Kohlschreiber through pain, fever, stomach issues, and a foreign racquet tension. Now, if he could only learn to close out matches in Davis Cup.

- Even more respect to Alexander Waske. His pain was so bad he wanted to stop play. Now, his arm is swollen and he cannot even brush his teeth with it. He is expected to be off the tour for two months. But he played out his match, and with the help of his partner and the Russians, gave Germany a great chance.

- Philipp Petzschner rose to the occasion. The strongest player in the doubles tie, he was outclassed by Mikhail Youzhny in singles, but showed great fight. Kudos to Patrik Kühnen for the pick - he sure has some "wilanders".

- Whether the clay surface was chosen for Marat Safin (according to Davydenko and somewhat confirmed by Tarpishev), or against Haas, it was a great choice for Russia, because it most suited the best player of the tie, Igor Andreev.

- It is not wise to jack up prices for Davis Cup ties to unreal heights. Converting most of the 20,000-seat stadium into “luxury” seating, and then selling tickets at over $200 resulted in an embarrassingly empty stadium Friday and Saturday (3000-4000, but felt like 300-400). That said, there were tickets available for $10-30, and lots of those did not sell until Sunday’s matches either.

- Ironically, Andreev, Russia’s Davis Cup hero this year, is the player least likely to play in the final against the US since his game does not match up against USA’s singles players, and other team members perform better on fast surfaces.

- Someone needs to tell Dmitry Tursunov that throwing steel ladles into the stands is not safe.

- Two of my favorite umpires, Pascal Maria and Mohamed Lahyani, officiated the tie. Before Saturday’s doubles match started, music was playing in the stadium. Pascal Maria and an unidentified woman were dancing courtside. Can anyone imagine this from an official in another sport?
- Shamil Tarpishev is still my hero.

Thoughts on the USA Sweden Tie-

USA over Sweden 4-1 to advance to the Davis Cup final.

A review

by GVGirl

This was one of the best weekends for Davis Cup in a long time. The World Group Semis which featured the parings of Germany/Russia and Sweden/ USA was exciting, but the competition in the World Group playoffs, probably eclipsed the main contenders! Joining the usual suspects in the World Group for 2008 will be the improbable nations of Israel, Peru and Korea! Talk about a diverse World Group. Congrats you World Group newbies!

Let’s focus on the US/Sweden tie. The USA came into Sweden as an overwhelming favorite to advance to the Davis Cup final despite playing on the road in Sweden. With the tie in Sweden and the Americans anti-clay sentiments, Swedish Captain Mats “Balls” Wilander chose a fast surface to cater to the strength of his players rather than to the weakness of the Americans. Well Mats, your theory backfired along with the health and choice of the players.

USA 4 Sweden 1

Day 1

A-Rod defeats Pim-Pim 7-6 (4) 7-6 (3) 6-3

Talk about a battle of the serves and service winners. About a million aces were fired between Andy Roddick and Joachim “Pim-Pim” Johansson who was impressive for someone who hasn’t played in months. Johansson played Roddick point for point, but Andy played the big points well as he usually does in Davis Cup. Roddick has said in the past that his love for Davis Cup came in 1992 when as a 10 year-old he was in attendance at the Tarrant County Centre in Fort Worth Texas to watch the US beat Switzerland in the Davis Cup final 3-1. This explains why Roddick almost always has something extra in his Davis Cup matches.

USA 1 Sweden 0

ToJo schools JB
6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3

Thomas Johansson, the former Australian Open champ was on fire from the start, and James Blake never entered the “building” mentally until the 3rd set. ToJo’s serve and play was so consistent. Blake was broken in the very first game of the match and it all went downhill from there except for a brief interlude in the 3rd set when he seemed to find some of his form and took the set. Blake I don’t know where you were during this match, but the US is going to need you in November.

USA 1 Sweden 1

Day 2

Doubles delight.

The Bryans def Aspelin/Bjorkman 7-6 (11), 6-2, 6-3

The first set of this match was a keeper with 4 of the best doubles players at their volleying best. The ATP needs to put the highlights from the first set in their “Doubles Revolution” promos. Top-notch play with only 3 unforced errors and a competitive nerve-wracking tiebreak. After the first set, the Bryan Twins broke Jonas Bjorkman’s serve three times and that’s all she wrote.

USA 2 Sweden 1

Day 3

Andy over Jonas 6-2, 7-6, 6-4

Everyone in Sweden was looking forward to a rejuvenated ToJo matching up against A-Rod, but it never came to pass. Bjorkman replaced an ailing Thomas Johansson at the last minute. As Andy has done 8 times before, he clinched the tie for US hammering 16 aces along the way. Andy is 9 for 9 in closing out Davis Cup ties for the USA. Will he make it a perfect 10 for 10 in December in the Davis Cup final?

USA 3 Sweden 1

"Dead rubber Specialist" Blake mops up Aspelin 6-1, 6-3

Aspelin? Apparently Joachim“Pim-Pim” Johannson was so sore after the Roddick match on Friday that he couldn’t move. Enter Bjorkman’s doubles partner to act as a sacrificial lamb for Sweden. "Dead Rubber" Blake wins! End of story!

USA 4 Sweden 1

The Final

The US will match up against Russia in the Davis Cup final at the end on November on US soil. The three cities in the running to host the Davis Cup final are: Winston – Salem, North Carolina, Portland, Oregon and San Diego, California.
However Roddick apparently spilled the beans about the Davis Cup Final as noted in an article on ESPN.com “Roddick appeared to tip off the site selection during his post-match comments when he promised that "We're going to try to export all of the clay out of the state of Oregon. … I don't know if they have clay courts in Oregon, but hopefully they'll cover them up during that weekend." For the full story go to ESPN

It will be the first time that the US has played on home soil for the Davis Cup since 1992. Roddick, Blake at the Bryans better be at their best to compete with mighty Russia. Russia is trying to defend last year’s Davis Cup.