WTA FRENCH OPEN PREVIEW - THE REAL DARK HORSES

by Karen

As a top player in a Grand Slam there are a few players who you don't want to see on your side of the draw early.  These are the players with weapons in abundance but for one reason or another have never been able to keep the ball in the court for a 2 week period.  Some, like Stosur and Kuznetsova have been here before and were able to keep it together over a 2 week period and actually lift the trophy.  Can they do it again? 

Then there are the ones from whom much is expected.  They can pull an upset but can they back it up?  We speak of players like Jelena Jankovic, Sara Errani and Carla Suarez-Navarro.  Then there are the zoners.  The ones who take it to a  top player just before they find their grooves and we have all kinds of chaos in the draws.  In this we have to put people like Camila Giorgi, Eugenie Bouchard and Sloane Stephens.  

Then we have the quiet ones.  The ones who not much is said about them but they can be dangerous.  Aga Radwanska, Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic.  Apart from Petkovic, neither Radwanska or Kerber have made any noise during this season and especially on clay.  Can they find some form during the French Open and become part of the conversation. 

Finally, there are the ones who play to the crowd.  They have the weapons and they are rounding into form.  They are mostly home grown talent who will get the crowd behind them.  I speak of Alize Cornet and Caroline Garcia.  Both women have posted excellent results this year, and both have won titles this year.  Garcia is for me the player from this group who will make the most noise.  Watching her play Fed Cup against the United States in the US and the way she handled her nerve during those matches made many sit up and take notice.  In addition, her match against Serena Willliams at the Sony Open this year showed us just how truly talented this young French woman is. 

Alize Cornet, who is defending her Strasbourg title this year seems to have tapered off a bit from her run of play earlier in the season.  She will without a doubt use the crowd at Roland Garros to her advantage if she faces a top player early in the draw. 

Only time and the draw will tell. 

ODDS AND ENDS

I watched Sloane Stephens' match this morning against Julia Georges.  Sloane who was the top seed via wildcard lost 6-3, 6-2.  She did not get a break point on George's serve for the whole match and the closest she got was to deuce. She made some really bad errors at key points in the match.  Rumour has it that her coach Annacone will be joining her to prepare for the French Open. Let us hope that he can get her back on track as she seems to have lost her way entirely.  Maybe her mother needs to have her move out and become responsible for paying her rent and paying the people around her.  Only then will Sloane have to start taking responsibility for her performance.  

I am anxiously awaiting the draw for the second Grand Slam of the year.  I am sure that everyone is waiting with their draw sheets to see what the round of 16s and quarters will look like this year.  I will say that there will be a lot of deaths by suicide pool this year. 

WTA FRENCH OPEN PREVIEWS - PART DEUX - THE DARK HORSES

by Karen

I was taken to task yesterday after publishing my list of WTA Contenders for the second Grand Slam of the season.  The fact that I had Ana Ivanovic as a serious contender and not Li Na made people question my sanity.  I think we need to face facts.  We are now mid way through the season and neither Li Na, Aga Radwanska, Angelique Kerber, Jelena Jankovic, or any of the other women who reside in the top 10 have shown that they are serious contenders for the French Open title.  Frankly, not even the 4 women who I had previously featured are shoo ins for the title.  This is the first  French Open in a long time where anyone can claim victory on the final Saturday. 

Today, I am going to look at those ladies who stand an outside chance of lifting the Suzanne Lenglen trophy.  

Li Na

Li Na has been here before.  She is currently ranked a career high No. 2.  She has won the French Open.  She is the current Australian Open champion, but, and this is where it gets interesting.  Li is yet to beat a player in the top 10 this year.  She has suffered some surprising losses this year.  She lost the Sony Open from a winning position and that seems to be Li's career in a nutshell.  While she has made improvements in her game, her decision making during matches leaves a lot to be desired.  On her best days Li can go toe to toe with anyone in the top 10.  On her worst days she can lose to anyone outside the top 100.  Can she keep it together for 2 weeks.  She has done it twice in her career.  There is no reason she can't do it again. 

Lucie Safarova

Lucie Safarova was one point away from changing the dynamics of this 2014 season.  Had she made that backhand down the line at match point, we may have had a new Grand Slam champ crowned in Australia, as it is, a Hawkeye challenged ruled the ball out and the rest as they say is history.  Lucie would go on to lose the match and as a forebearer of things to come has lost some heart breakers this year.  She won't win the French Open but she could cause a huge upset in the draw. 

Petra Kvitova

What do you do with a player with all the talent in the world, who can hit anyone off the court but who just can't seem to stay healthy?  You place her as a dark horse in a Grand Slam.  Now that she has she shed the baggage that is Stepanek, has really worked on her fitness, one can only hope that Kvitova can stay healthy for the better part of 2 weeks to make some noise in the draw.  I doubt it, but that is why she is a dark horse. 

Dominika Cibulkova

Next up, the ones you never see coming 

Her results have tailed off since her maiden run at this year's Australian Open.  She was outhit in her losing effort to Camila Giorgi in Rome.  She is however a former semifinalist, famous for handing Sharapova one of her worst defeats at a Grand Slam.  Can Domi keep it together and stay healthy for 2 weeks.  Doubtful, but she will without a doubt cause some amount of chaos in the draw. 

WTA FRENCH OPEN PREVIEWS - CONTENDERS

by Karen

The Road to Roland Garros is now over.  The winners have been chosen by virtue of their performances over the last few weeks.  Over the next few days the Spin will attempt to categorise those ladies who we believe will raise the Suzanne Lenglen Cup.

When Serena Williams lost in her opening round match at Charleston to the relatively unknown Jana Cepelova the usual cries went up.  It did not help that Serena stated that she needed a break as her body and mind was tired.  Going into the European clay swing, Maria Sharapova stepped up her game and won her first title.  Li Na, who had herself taken a break after the Sony Open returned in Madrid.  Alarms were again raised when Serena withdrew from Madrid citing a left leg injury and her participation in Rome became of concern to everyone, including Serena.

While the top ladies were raising eyebrows, there were a lot of women who were beginning to show signs of life.  Carla Suarez-Navarro became a first title titlist in Portugal.

Today though the Spin will look at those women who we think will raise the Coupe de Suzanne Lenglen 3 weeks from today.

2014 Clay Wins - 7

Titles - 1

First up is reigning World No. 1 and defending champion, Serena Williams.  Serena provided a master class during her final today against Sara Errani.  While some will say that Errani was injured, I doubt if there was anything that Errani could have done even if she were at 100%.  After all the head to head was 6-0 for a reason and let us not forget the humiliating defeat that Errani suffered at the hands of Williams last year in the semifinals of the French Open, when she beat Errani 0 and 1 in 46 minutes.

While Serena has not been at her dominant self during this year's clay court, she has come up with the wins when it matters most.  Rome has always been a harbinger of things to come and both times that Serena has won Roland Garros she has won Rome.

2014 clay wins - 13

Titles - 2

Next up is Maria Sharapova, currently sitting at No. 7 in the rankings and last year's beaten finalist. Sharapova's clay court credentials are some of the best.  For someone who has previously expressed a relative fear of the surface she has grown into the surface and is now only second to Serena and Medina Garrigues in terms of clay titles.  She is the current 3 time champion at Stuttgart, a tournament that seems to kick start her season each year.  She followed up that victory by winning her first title in Madrid but got beaten by Ana Ivanovic in straight sets.  A former champion at Roland Garros, Sharapova went through 2013 without a Grand Slam to her name and the French Open is her best chance to get another Slam title under her belt.

Unless you were a diehard fan of women's tennis or a regular reader of this blog, you knew little or nothing about Simona Halep.  I confess that I knew nothing about her as well and had to do a little bit of digging when her name kept coming up on one of my favourite blogs, Women who Serve.  The reason why I was interested is not now important, what was important was the narrative that was being written about this young woman.  It was alleged that she had a great game, was fiery and all her love for tennis was all consuming. She hit all the right notes with me and so I was intrigued and wanted to know more.  That was 3 or 4 years ago and I have never stopped liking her.  

Halep has made subtle improvements in her game.  She is one of the few players of Generation Next who does not use on court coaching.  That for me shows her mentality.  She is not very demonstrative on court but she can be feisty when she needs to be. She is a true athlete.  A former French Open junior champion, her goals are set on winning her first Grand Slam title and her Slam of choice is the French Open.  I think she is a serious contender in the event that Serena and Maria falter before the second week.  

Her clay court season has been hampered by an  Achilles and stomach injury but I think she will be fit and ready for the French Open come 25 May. 

Our final contender for the Roland Garros trophy is none other than our 2008 champion and a player who many, including the Spin had written off.  When a player has taken her career into her own hands and fought tooth and nail to get her career back on track, we should all lift our hat to her and give her the props that she deserves.  Ana Ivanovic is that young woman. From living and dying by Wildcards, to exiting tournaments to players that some of us have never heard of, to changing coaches as often as you can say Ana has a new coach,  Ana Ivanovic now seems to have found purpose in her life and in her career.

She has reached the semis, quarters or semis of every single clay tournament that she has played this year and she has pushed the top 2 contenders for Roland Garros to third sets.  She had the match on her racquet in Stuttgart but Sharapova as she does competed much better.  Same thing in Rome, her opponent in the semifinals, Serena Williams just competed that much better and on both occasions Ivanovic seemed to run out of gas.   Here's hoping with the day of rest at the French Open she can manage her time there to at least the second week.

ELENA SERGEEVNA BALTACHA - AUGUST 1983-MAY 2014

MUTUA MADRID OPEN

by Karen and Master Ace

Is it unfair to the winners of the clay court tournaments that have already crowned winners to say that the Mutua Madrid Open will separate the Contenders for the French Open title from the Pretenders?  Maybe but with the return of 2 time defending champion and World No. 1 Serena Williams to competition, it kind of feels like the clay season has just begun. Madrid also sees the return of Australian Open champion, Li Na, as well as Australian Open runner Dominika Cibulkova who is just starting her clay campaign, having pulled out of Stuttgart with an injury. 

A lot of the players who fell in the early rounds of Stuttgart  as a result of Fed Cup play should have gotten sufficient rest in time to start their clay season. 

The excitement of the women's draw and the potential match ups have really got tennis fans talking.  Master Ace has broken down the draws and indicated his picks for who will make the quarters onwards and his picks for first round matches to watch.  We can only hope that there will be wall to wall coverage of WTA matches. 

Even though we are in the 3rd week of the European clay season, like you say it does feel as if clay season is just beginning with the the defending champion of this event and the reigning Australian Open champion returning to action.

The first quarter   is headed by Serena Williams, who will be going for a three peat. Carla Suarez Navarro, who made the finals at Oeiras, Flavia Pennetta and Petra Kvitova loom in this quarter of the draw. First round match to watch : Flavia Pennetta vs Lucie Safarova (h2h 1-3)

Second quarter - This is headed by Simona Halep, who has a tendency to do well in events that are above the Premier level in 2014. Very solid quarter with Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic First round match to watch : Ana Ivanovic vs Madison Keys (first meeting) 

Third quarter - This is headed by Agnieszka Radwanska. Most people would have Radwanska going far this week but some people may not know that clay is not her best surface despite her game being all-around. Svetlana Kuznetsova, who is in the finals at Oeiras, has been playing well on clay so far and was the only player to play a 3 setter with S Williams at 2013 French Open. First round match to watch : Andrea Petkovic vs Sara Errani (h2h 1-0)

Fourth quarter - This is headed by Na Li. The biggest name looming in this quarter is Maria Sharapova who is on a 41 match winning streak on clay against all players except Serena Williams. Last person to defeat Sharapova on clay besides S Williams is Li, who won their quarterfinal battle at 2011 French Open.

Predictions:

Q1 : S Williams vs Safarova

Q2 : Halep vs Ivanovic

Q3 : Errani vs Kuznetsova

Q4 : Sharapova vs Li

S1 : S Williams vs Halep

S2 : Kuznetsova vs Sharapova

F : S Williams vs Sharapova

W : S Williams

Odds and Ends 

The qualifying draw in Madrid is stacked.  Alisa Kleybanova is already out.  Julia Georges needed 3 sets to overcome Vania King in order advance to the second round of qualifying. Camila Giorgi, Belinda Bencic and Jana Cepelova are also playing qualifying and it will be interesting to see which of the top players will draw one of these or any other qualifiers when main draw play starts.  Play starts tomorrow (Saturday 3 May).  TV coverage starts on Monday 5 May. 

It has been announced that former No. 1 Dinara Safina will be at the trophy presentation ceremony in Madrid.  Word is that she will be officially announcing her retirement from the WTA Tour.  Safina has not played since an early round exit at the 2012 Australian Open.  

Dinara Safina showed what hard work and dedication can do to a player's game.  She also showed that notwithstanding hard work and dedication, if the mental aspect of the game is not there, players will fail.  Safina had 3 chances to win a Grand Slam during her reign. Twice at the French Open and once at the Australian Open.  On all 3 occassions she mentally collapsed against her opponents.  Many will remember Safina as a long line of WTA players who held the No. 1 ranking without ever winning a Grand Slam.  Unlike Wozniacki and Jankovic however, Safina had many chances to cement her legacy but she fell at each turn.  However, I will remember her for this and this

Next week Acey and I will take a look a look at the women who we consider to be contenders for the French Open title.  We will also be taking a look at those players who could pose potential problems for the top women heading into the French Open. 

A tennis friend of mine brought this great article by David Epstein to my attention and I am currently doing some research in order to put what the presenter has said about genetics and technology and see if there is any correlation between genetics, technology and the sport of tennis.  Stay tuned. 

ROAD TO ROLAND GARROS 2014

by Karen 

We are already into the third week of the Road to Roland Garros and already it is shaping up to be extremely competitive. The Spin will be featuring its list of Contenders, Pretenders and Spoilers as the weeks progress and we will be featuring the women of the WTA the way we believe they should be featured, i.e. as professional athletes.  

The storylines as we head into Roland Garros are intriguing and I for one cannot wait. 

The biggest story coming out of player camps this week is the withdrawal of Victoria Azarenka with a continuing foot injury.  Azarenka has withdrawn from both of the major clay tune ups, Madrid and Rome and one wonders whether she will even turn up at Roland Garros.  While Vika has reached the semifinals of both  the French Open and Wimbledon, neither tournament is her favourite surface.  It maybe that Azarenka has decided to avoid further damage to her foot by returning once the hard court season starts.  That in my view would be the best thing for her to do.  Azarenka has nothing to prove to anyone and her health should come first. 

Last week, Maria Sharapova continued her dominating ways in  Stuttgart.  After getting off to a slow start, the now 3 time champion outlasted Ana Ivanovic, herself becoming relevant in 2014.  The final was great to watch and I truly enjoyed every minute of it.  I am sure that fans of Ivanovic are extremely happy with her resurgence and I am sure that having her in the mix of title contenders is great for the women's game. 

The first clay court event of the 2014 season happened in Charleston and saw 2 time defending champion, Serena Williams, being bounced by little know Jana Cepelova of the Slovak Republic.  Cepelova would go on to reach the final where she faced off with Andrea Petkovic, herself returning from another injury layoff.  

Bogota saw a first time titlist in Caroline Garcia, who beat defending champion, Jelena Jankovic in straight sets to to win her maiden title from as many starts. 

Over in Marrakech, we also saw a first time titlist in Spain's Maria Teresa Toro-Flor who overcame Oprandi to take her maiden title. 

This week the Tour goes to Portugal for the Oeiras Open which sees a really good field headlined by Carla Suarez-Navarro, last year's runner up and Stuttgart quarter-finalist, bookended by Eugenie Bouchard, semi-finalist in Charleston and Fed Cup hero against the Slovak Republic.  

Madrid will be the first time that we will see defending champion and current World No.1 Serena Williams, as well as No. 2 Li Na.  

Odds and Ends

I made a video featuring the women of the WTA:  When Worlds Collide.  Enjoy

BNP PARIBAS REVIEW AND SONY OPEN PREVIEW

by Karen and Master Ace

The BNP Paribas Open is over and I for one could not be happier.  Of the 2 spring hard court events, I have always preferred the Miami event, for the simple reason that 2 of my favourite players play this event, while they do not play the tournament now being touted as the Fifth Slam.

It was not too long ago that the Sony Open was touted as the Fifth Slam.  A few million dollars thrown around, a new stadium facility, a sushi restaurant, and bloggers and journalists alike telling us every day just how beautiful Indian Wells is has made this tournament, previously a blip on the landscape, now being shouted from the rooftops as the Fifth Slam.  Frankly, when you can't do anything to have the 2 of the best female players ever to come out of the United States to play your tournament, then you are not the Fifth Slam.  There is a quote attributed to Shakespeare that goes "The lady doth protest too much, methinks". For the entire 2 weeks of the BNP Open, the message that was being delivered was just how awesome this tournament is.  We get it.  Your tournament is fantastic.  That does not, however, take away from the fact that while everyone was exceptionally happy for Flavia's win over Radwanska, the tournament does seem to lose a bit of its luster each year with the continued non-parrticpation of either of the Williams Sisters at this event. 

In addition to the fact that neither  Williams Sister was a part of the event, the event never seems to bring out memorable tennis from the women.  The last time the women's final was filled with any sense of anticipation was the 2012 final between Sharapova and Azarenka.  Last year's blowout by Sharapova over Wozniacki and this year's win by Pennetta over an injured Radwanska brought the tournament to a bit of anti-climatic finish on the women's side. 

The women's draw has now been completed, and with the exception of the placing of the qualifiers in the draw, there are some blockbuster matches scheduled to be in the draw.  If you, like me, forgot to do your WTA Bracket Challenge, remember to go the WTA website and fill out your bracket challenge. Master Ace has looked at the draw for Miami and below are his thoughts on what could happen.

Thanks Karen.  The Miami draw was done on Sunday March 16 and it features the return of Serena Williams, who will be going for her 7th title and Venus Williams, who is turning back the clock like a certain person on the ATP tour but not getting much press as him. Between the Williams Sisters, Venus has played the better tennis in 2014 capturing the title in Dubai, where she extended her winning streak to 15. However, Serena has a knack for jump starting her season in Miami. Also, in the draw, is Flavia Pennetta, who won Indian Wells. Will Pennetta be able to win Indian Wells and Miami? The last person to achieve that feat was Kim Clijsters in 2005. What made that feat more interesting is Clijsters won 14 matches as she was coming back on the tour from wrist injury. 

Serena Williams as the No. 1 seed is on the top half of the draw, while Na Li, the Indian Wells' semifinalist anchors the bottom half as the No. 2 seed.  Li did not play well at Indian Wells so making the semifinals was a good accomplishment and most people believe that Li may play better in Miami. Agnieszka Radwanska is the 3rd seed here but is word that she may withdraw as she got injured practicing a day before the final at Indian Wells. In the top half of that quarter, we have V Williams, Simona Halep and Dominika Cibulkova where only one player may potentially survive to the quarterfinals. If we get the Halep vs V Williams in third round, it will be interesting to see how Halep will fare against V Williams' power and athleticism. Another daunting task for the players is they will have to play in humid conditions unlike Indian Wells where the conditions were dry.

 

Predictions

 

Q1: S Williams vs Kerber

Q2: Sharapova vs Pennetta

Q3: V Williams vs Bouchard

Q4: Stephens vs Li

 

S1: S Williams vs Sharapova

S2: V Williams vs Li

 

F: S Williams vs Li

 

W: S Williams

Odds and Ends

Apparently ESPN, that paragon of sports broadcasting has a poll on its website asking if Serena Williams deserves to be No. 1.  I don't know even know where to start with the questions that this poll raises in me.  If not Serena, who?  Let us look at the top 10 and their performance over the last 52 weeks and then we can say, with a straight face that someone else other than Serena Williams deserves to be No.1. 

Of the other 9 women who currently occupy the top 10, only Azarenka won a Grand Slam within the last 52 weeks.  Sharapova was a non-starter for most of the events that she played last year, finishing the year with 2 titles. Petra Kvitova did her usual no-show for most of the year and Simona Halep, even though I love her and her game, was the anti-Serena, winning titles in many International events without, for the most part, facing a top 10 player.  Sara Errani, less said the better. Na Li, she was MIA for most of 2013, showing up now and again. She finished the year with a title in Shenzhen, her only title of the season. If not Serena, then who does ESPN think should be No.1.  Would be good if they had asked us for recommendations.  

WTA Big 3

The WTA Tour has been riding on the shoulders of 3 women since 2012.  These 3 women have brought life to a  Tour that was in the death throes of the Wozniacki Era.  Day to day, tournament to tournament, Grand Slam to Grand Slam, 3 women have shown what competition is.  They have fought hard, played hard, thrown barbs at each other and competed with a ferocity that has not been seen in a long time. Since 2012, they have won almost every  Grand Slam, barring Bartoli's win at Wimbledon last year.  This year, the WTA Big 3 have been plagued by injuries.  Sharapova's shoulder injury seems to have reoccurred.  Azarenka is having serious foot problems, failing to defend her Australian Open title and losing in her opening round match against Lauren Davis.  Azarenka has now withdrawn from the Sony Open event in Miami.  Serena Williams, who lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open, lost in the semifinals to Alize Cornet in Dubai.  Serena makes her return to the Tour at the Sony Open as the top seed.  One can only hope that her back is feeling much better. 

In as much as people talk about the Big 4 in men's tennis, it would have been good if folks also spoke about the Big 3 in women's tennis. 3 women who together have brought about relevancy to women's tennis.  The Spin hopes that all 3 women will regain full strength once again.