Order of Play

ISTANBUL CUP

Centre Court
1. Hradecka vs. Petkovic
2. Bacsinszky vs. Dushevina
3. Doubles Final: Hradecka/Voracova vs. Goerges/Schnyder

Predictions:
1. Petkovic defeats Hradecka in straight sets
2. Dushevina beats Bacsinszky in three sets
3. Schnyder and Georges win their first title together

Czink Sunk

I know its the most cliche title I could place as the heading of this post...but I had to. Migrating back to actual tennis results, Serena Williams beat Melinda Czink 63 76(7) thus advancing to the quarterfinals in Stanford. The first US Open Series tournament for the women, Stanford has had quite a few intriguing match-ups over the past few days, including two Williams victories (V beat Alla Kudr... 61 75.

Yeah, She's Free...Freefallin'

In her worst loss- I'm going to say ever -Nicole "former future Grand Slam champion" Vaidisova fell to an American wildcard in Stanford's first round of qualifying, 61 62. The lopsided match endured for just 48 minutes before the Czech fell to 18-year-old Stacey Tan. This situation alone is horrifying, but the most startling statistic for the 6 time tour titlist is her opponents ranking. At 584 in the world, Tan was competing in her first tour event. Below is a graph detailing Vaidisova's rapid descent. I know, I know...like it needed to be clearer.

Click on the image for better clarity. (yeah it's officially become a running theme).

Discussing Nicole Vaidisova is like wading through a North Korean minefield of emotional instability, uncertain of your fate and constantly fearing the inevitable explosion. From a less metaphorical, more logistic standpoint, Vaidisova's difficulties can be viewed through three lenses: the personal, the professional, and the mental. And just like a psychologist sifting through a troubled mind, analyzing her now troubled career must start from the beginning.

Nicole was born in a moderately sized home during....No I wouldn't do that to you guys. Flash forward to 2004: At 15 years of age, Vaidisova wins her first tour title to become the 6th youngest singles champion in WTA history. Later that year, she wins another in Tashkent. By the end of 2004, Vaidisova is firmly in tht top 100 at 72 in the world. In 2005, Vaidisova transtitions from phenom to established tour hotshot, winnig three titles in as many weeks late in the year. At that point, with 5 titles to her name, Vaidisova joined the elite company of Monica Seles, Jennerifer Capriati, Tracy Austin, Martina Hingis and Andrea Jaeger as the sixth woman to win that many titles before turning 17.

Flashback: Kim's 2005 US Open Victory

Thanks to crazyboy2309isback for the video.

Pic This: Today's Results

Uruguayan qualifier, Pablo Cuevas, advanced to the semifinals of the German Open today, defeating Nicolas Almagro 62 64. Ranked just outside the top 100, Cuevas has now won three straight matches against seeded players, with additional victories over Melzer and Kohlschreiber.

Andrea Petkovic overcame Groenefeld in her first career quarterfinal with a 67(6) 63 61 victory. The 21-year-old German will face Yaroslava Shvedova in the next round.

Alize Cornet continues her resurgence in Bad Gastein with a tough 64 26 62 win against Barbora Zahlavova Strycova. With Groenefeld and Rybarikova now out of the tournament, Alize is the sole seed remaining.

Tomorrow's Order of Play

BANKA KOPER SLOVENIA OPEN
Friday, July 24, 2009

Centre Court
1. Goerges/Uhlirova vs. Daniilidou/Woehr
2. Safina vs. Camerin
3. Errani vs. Martic

Court 1
1. Brianti vs. Pin
2. Voegele vs. de los Ríos
3. Govortsova/Karatantcheva vs. Pin/Zakopalova

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NÜRNBERGER GASTEIN LADIES
Friday, July 24, 2009

Centre Court
1. Groenefeld vs. Petkovic
2. Meusburger vs. Shvedova
3. Cornet vs. Zahlavova Strycova
4. Koryttseva/Olaru vs. Malek/Petkovic

Court 1 (from 13.00hrs)
1. Olaru vs. Rybarikova

Back on Track?

With her 36 64 61 victory over Patricia Mayer, Alize Cornet has won back to back matches for the first time since February. I've followed Alize since Charleston of last year and figured she would continue her upward ranking trend in 2009. In my opinion, the devastating losses she suffered during Fed Cup were the most significant factors that led to her slide. Now that Bammer and Benesova are out, the path should be clear for Cornet to take the title. I would not, however, discount Groenefeld or Shvedova to upset the Frenchwoman.

Photo Break: Clijsters in Philly

Images courtesy of Kim's official website: http://www.sport.be/kimclijsters/eng/

Pin Victorious

Camille Pin advanced to her first quarterfinal of the year with a 64 64 win over 8th seed, Petra Kvitova. The 5' 4" Nice native, Pin broke her opponent 6 times to wrap up a solid win in 1 hour and 22 minutes. Congrats Camille!

Update: Pin is now through in both singles and doubles after her quarterfinal victory against Errani and Zec Peskiric. Camille is partnered with Kara Zakapalova.

Tomorrow's Order of Play

BANKA KOPER SLOVENIA OPEN

Centre Court (from 16.30hrs)
1. Ivanova/Tatishvili vs. Goerges/Uhlirova
2. Errani vs. Zakopalova (NB 18.30hrs)
3. Martic vs. Manasieva

Court 1 (from 17.00hrs)
1. Pin vs. Kvitova
2. Pin/Zakopalova vs. Errani/Zec Peskiric (after suitable rest)

Court 2 (from 17.00hrs)
1. Govortsova vs. Brianti
2. Dushevina/Voskoboeva vs. Govortsova/Karatantcheva (after suitable rest)

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NÜRNBERGER GASTEIN LADIES

Centre Court (from 11.00hrs)
1. Petkovic vs. Benesova
2. Bammer vs. Olaru (NB 13.00hrs)
3. Zahlavova Strycova vs. Llagostera Vives
4. Cornet vs. Mayr

Court 1 (from 14.30hrs)
1. Hlavackova/Hradecka vs. Kloesel/Tvaroskova

Pic This

Comeback queen, Kim Clijsters, won all three of her WTT matches today, defeating Madison Keys in singles, Lisa Raymond and Keys in doubles and Raymond and Nathan Healey in Mixed doubles. Clijsters' 2009 exhibition record now stands at 4-0 in singles, 2-0 in doubles, and 2-1 in mixed.

34-year-old mother Rossana de los Rios cruised past 4th seed, Robert Vinci, 63 64 to reach her first quarterfinal since 2002.

Dinara Safina dismantled Ksenia Pervak 61 62 at the Slovenian Open

Paszek Under Scrutiny

In a recent interview, Austrian teenager, Tamira Paszek, revealed that she had undergone a medical procedure that transferred fluids to the site of a herniated disk in an effort to relieve pressure and pain. Due to the nature of these autologous injections, questions arose over whether Paszek violated anti-doping regulations by obtaining this treatment. Paszek has since contacted the Austrian tennis federation to determine whether or not she needs to file a therapeutic use exemption. While an official statement has not yet been released by the ITF, Paszek's injections could be categorized as blood doping.

Personally, I think anti-doping regulations have become a bit of a constant witch-hunt that isn't even consistently strict. Compare Richard Gasquet's two-month cocaine suspension to Martina Hingis' two-year ban that ended her career. Both had equally small amounts of the substance in their system and both pleaded innocence.

Today's Upsets

WTA

Swiss #2, Stefanie Voegele, defeated 6th seed, Lucie Safarova 75 26 63 to advance to her second career WTA quarterfinal in Slovenia today. The 19 year old, who lost in the first round of Wimbledon to Venus Williams, defeated the woman who held the match point against Venus at Roland Garros. Lucie has the game to be a top ten player, which makes the win that much more significant for Voegele.
Runner Up: Rossana De Los Rios defeats 4th seed Roberta Vinci in straights.
ATP

After the plethora of upsets yesterday, the men's game settled a bit today with only one upset to speak of at the hands of the always dangerous, Julien Benneteau. The Frenchman took down the 7th seed, Igor Andreev, 64 63.

Clijsters' Winning Debut

Kim Clijsters was again victorious on her comeback trail, winning the women's singles and doubles events in her debut appearance with the World Team Tennis organization. Playing for the St. Louis Aces, Kim led her team to victory with strong showing in all three events she contested, narrowly losing the Mixed Doubles before defeating Liezel Huber and Vania King in the Women's Doubles, and King again in the Women's Singles. These wins mark another successful step towards Clijsters' return to the WTA. Including her Wimbledon and Rosmalen exhibition matches, Kim is now 3-0 in singles, 1-0 in doubles, and 1-1 in mixed since announcing her August return to professional tennis.

Kim will take the court again tonight when the Aces take on the Philadelphia Freedoms. For more information visit the WTT website.

Player Spotlight: Camille Pin

Camille Pin (Pronounced CAM-ee Pan) is best known for her tantalizing first round defeat to Maria Sharapova at the 2007 Australian Open, a match in which Camille revealed her fitness and mental fortitude when she fought back from a 0-5 third set deficit before ultimately losing 7-9 to the then #1 player. Since that exciting match, I have closely followed the now 27-year-old Frenchwoman. Camille's roadrunner foot speed and slow spins and angles have troubled several more top players - including Dinara Safina, Venus Williams and Shahar Peer - but she has yet to pull of a major upset (Camille did hold match points in a third set tiebreaker against Safina in 2008).

Her style has the ability to produce an upset, and it seems that she always is able to put herself in a potentially winning position, but eagerly watching Camille's results have produced a slew of devastatingly close losses. I sincerely want Camille to succeed more for her incredible kindness, genuine sweetness, and respectable poise than for any other reason. At this week's Slovenian Open, Camille won her first round match against Vitalia Diatchenko when her opponent retired. Here's hoping she can make a deep run there.

Today's Upsets

WTA

Russian, Vesna Manasieva, defeated her first top 20 player on her 20th birthday to advance to the second round of the Slovenian Open today. Ranked 141 in the world, Manasieva battled for nearly 3 hours and saved two match points before finally overcoming the second seed, Anabel Medina Garrigues. Recently, the WTA Tour conducted an interview with Manasieva, asking her about potential goals for 2009. The Russian responded hesitantly, stating:

"You know, I'm not making any goals, because for a year and a half I've had quite a black time - I was getting injured and ill - so now I'm taking things match by match. I just want to be able to play."

Manasieva next plays the Croatian wildcard, Petra Martic, for a place in the quarterfinals of the International level tournament. (It is really hard to not say Tier III)

ATP


The German Open, itself, was the men's upset for the day. Nearly every seeded, favorite, or otherwise favored player lost today including the number one seed, Gilles Simon. The day's shocking affairs began with matches between unseeded players that nevertheless produced several surprises. Rainer Schuettler, Mikhail Youzhny and Juan Ignacio Chela all lost before Tommy Robredo became the first seeded casualty, losing in straight sets to Ivan Navarro (ranked outside the top 100). The upsets continued as Melzer and Wawrinka lost to Cuevas and Garcia-Lopez respectively - both in straight sets. Arguable the biggest shock was the Simon's loss to German wildcard, Daniel Brands, who is ranked 113 places below the Frenchman.

Breaking News

Nathalie Dechy, the 30-year-old French veteran, has retired from professional tennis effective immediately to start a family with her husband, Antoine Maitre-Devallon. The French tennis federation exclusively reported that Dechy is expecting her first child and wishes to focus on being a mother away from the constant grind of professional athletics.

Although statistics would not describe Dechy's 16 year professional career as overly lucrative, Dechy possesses a beautiful game that often troubled highly ranked opponents. Winning her only career title in 2003 at Gold Coast, Dechy was also a successful doubles player, winning the US Open two straight years in 2006 and 2007 (with different partners) and the Roland Garros mixed doubles title in 2007 as well.



Though Nathalie's current ranking stands at a modest 88 in the world, she always had the capability to be a quietly dangerous player - as evidenced by her 2005 run to the Australian Open semifinals. I wish her all the best in her off-court pursuits and will genuinely miss her refreshing style of play.

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Clijsters Interview

Kim, who will make her World Team Tennis debut tomorrow, was recently interviewed in depth by the WTT. Clijsters responds to the probing questions with refreshingly extensive detail. Check it Out.

Tomorrow's Order of Play

BANKA KOPER SLOVENIA OPEN

1st Round Singles

Manasieva vs. Medina Garrigues
Kolar vs. Vinci
Brianti vs. Hercog
Errani vs. Rus
Voegele vs. Tatishvili
Goerges vs. Pervak
Voskoboeva vs. Kvitova
Diatchenko vs. Pin
Garbin vs. Dushevina
Karatantcheva vs. Camerin

1st Round Doubles
4. Diatchenko/Manasieva vs. Kolar/Majeric
4. Daniilidou/Woehr vs. Hrdinova/Voracova

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NÜRNBERGER GASTEIN LADIES

1st Round Singles

Domínguez Lino vs. Mayr
Cornet vs. Duque Marino
Meusburger vs. Fichman
Bammer vs. Sevastova
Klaffner vs. Hladikova
Dulgheru vs. Benesova
Llagostera Vives vs. Hradecka
Groenefeld vs. Ondraskova
Schiechtl vs. Peer
Shvedova vs. Jurikova
Koryttseva vs. Rybarikova
Parmentier vs. Klaschka

1st Round Doubles
Malek/Petkovic vs. Senoglu/Shvedova
Anderson/Chakhnashvili vs. Koryttseva/Olaru

Indianapolis Order of Play
Hamburg Order of Play

US Open Series 2009 / Kim Clijsters!

The 2009 US Open Series officially began today at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships, and despite the depleted draw at the usually well-stacked tournament, and as an American, I could not be more excited for this part of the season. Maybe its the way the blue courts catch the shadows under the gleaming yellow lights, or the way the tournaments are cohesively connected by the ultimate pay raise and the culmination at the US Open. More than anything, though, this 2009 edition is most remarkable because of the return of its inaugural women's champion, Kim Clijsters. Which leads me to this: How have I not talked about her yet?!



Kim is my favorite tennis player of all time. Simple, clear and direct, she's one of the most unique players to ever compete on the WTA tour. Kim transcended the line between men's and women's tennis to become and influential and recognizable symbol of kindness, aestheticism and perseverance. Often considered the female counterpart of Roger Federer because of her kind demeanor, I always questioned the comparison. Roger was always kind in victory, but Kim was able to project a much more sunny disposition in the face of numerous, potentially career-ending injuries. Kim's ability to remain so positive despite such difficult circumstances is much more commendable.



Apart from her attitude, Kim possesses an incredibly enjoyable style of play, that encapsulates all that modern tennis achieves to be: Exciting, Dramatic, Stylish, Professional, Athletic, Powerful, and with an inspiring fight for every point. And now, Kim Clijsters is back! Beginning in my home town of Cincinnati, Kim will begin her comeback and I, for one, could not be more excited to experience the game of Kim Clijsters once again. I think she can easily regain top form and be a serious contender for this years 2009 US Open title. Kim Clijster's return injects an individuality that the women's game craves and a player that thinks, entertains and wins. There is a reason Kim has so many fans across the globe: she is a refreshingly kind, talented player in a modern generation of..um kind of the opposite. All I say (besides uh everything above this) is Welcome Back, Kim!

Qualifier Profile: Sesil Karatantcheva

Sesil Karatantcheva has been a headline darling since her quarterfinal run at the 2005 French Open as a 15 year-old. Unfortunately for Karatantcheva (who, for the purpose of my sanity, will be referred to as Sesil for the remainder of this post) as headlines became increasingly focused on well-publicized downfalls, Sesil's career followed suit. Quickly after becoming the youngest female to reach the quarterfinal of a Grand Slam since Hingis, Sesil tested positive for the prohibited substance, nandrolone. Though she attributed the presence of the drug to a miscarried pregnancy, the then Bulgarian was sentenced to the two year suspension from the WTA. Personally, I considered this to be a harsh condition for the young girl, but the ITF had ruled and Sesil was unable to compete in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, Sesil finally returned to competition at the Sunrise ITF event, where again she received a relatively large amount of press. Though she went on to win her comeback event, few people focused on her success, instead reminiscing about her loudmouthed comments directed at other players. Now a year and changed citizenship later (she now is represented by Kazakhstan because of financial advantages) Sesil has yet to regain regular form, but three easy victories to gain entry into the main draw of the Slovenian Open is promising and may indicate a successful run at this tournament, which could lead to more important and career revitalizing wins.

Weekly Trophies

Flavia Pennetta defeated fellow Italian and defending champion, Sara Errani, in straight sets to win Palermo. Flavia was one of two home-grown victors this week, but she's the only one that I don't hate.



Robin Soderling wins his home tournament at Bastaad. Hope he enjoys his yard sale trophy.



Sybille Bammer wins her first title in two years in Prague, defeating Francesca Schiavone of Italy. One of the few mother's on tour, Bammer never capitalized on her rise in 2007 so this victory may be a catalyst for further success.



Jeremy Chardy wins his first tour title at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart with a 16 63 64 victory over Romanian, Victor Hanescu. Chardy has been steadily rising amongst the upper echelon of men's tennis since the French Open in 2008 and his win in Germany solidifies his ascent.

McEnroe: Part Deux

Jeff Tarango, a player of whom I have personally never heard, has returned to professional tennis after a 2002 retirement. Notable for his on-court temper, Tarango seems like a balder, shorter, and surprisingly more rash McEnroe. Maybe he can work on the height issue with a routine of stretching to further emulate John. At any rate, the man who "famously" stormed off the court following a controversial umpire ruling (the ump was later slapped by Tarango's wife) has a achieved a certain level of success for a 40 year-old. His age is the only remarkable aspect of his 60 46 76(5) opening round victory in Indianapolis qualifying. Look for Tarango to lose in the next round. Update: He lost in the next round.

Who Called It?

I figured that Timea Bacsinszky would trouble Carla Suarez Navarro, despite the obvious clay court advantage for the Spaniard. Timea had a quality semifinal result last year at the final tour-level Antwerp tournament (losing in three sets to Justine) and I've been waiting for her to follow up on her run. In tomorrow's match against Schiavone, I doubt she'll have much of a chance to win but expect two tight sets.

The Fairytale's Over

15 year old Zarina Diyas' dream run to the quarterfinals
of her first WTA main draw tournament ended today at the
hands of Czech veteran, Iveta Benesova. Zarina had difficulty
holding serve, but the match was much closer than the 46 16
scoreline would suggest.

Just Call Him The Comeback Kid

Ranked 460 in the world, Andreas Vinciguerra electrified the Swedish
crowd with his 26 64 63 win over the number 4 seed, Jurgen Melzer.
Vinciguerra's victory marks his first semifinal appearance since 2001.

Tomorrow's Order of Play

ECM PRAGUE OPEN

Singles Quarterfinals
Hradecka vs. Bammer
Diyas vs. Benesova
Schiavone vs. K.Bondarenko
Suárez Navarro vs. Bacsinszky

Doubles Quarterfinals
Rybarikova/Voracova vs. Bondarenko/Bondarenko
Benesova/Zahlavova Strycova vs. Hlavackova/Hradecka

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INTERNAZIONALI FEMMINILI DI TENNIS DI PALERMO

Singles Quarterfinals

Errani vs. Shvedova
Pennetta vs. Rezai
Garbin vs. Govortsova (NB 20.30hrs)
Groenefeld vs. Schnyder

Doubles Quarterfinals
1. Jans/Rosolska vs. Llagostera Vives/Martínez Sánchez
2. Koryttseva/Kustova vs. Pennetta/Vinci (NB 20.00hrs; after suitable rest)

Quote of the Day

"I plan on stopping when I'm just terrible."

-Venus Williams

Player Spotlight: Zarina Diyas

Zarina Diyas
Birth date: October 18th, 1993 (15)
Nationality: Kazakhstan
Pro Ranking: 295
Junior Ranking: 37

Zarina (lil Borat) was, as many of you know, a wild card entrant at this weeks ECM Prague Open. Though statistics would argue that the opening round match between Diyas and Kristina Mladenovic was a toss-up (Kristina's ranked about 30 places below her on the WTA rankings), Mladenovic won the junior Roland Garros title and more recently made the finals of junior Wimbledon in both singles and doubles. Coming into the match, Mladenovic also held a 1-0 advantage in their head to head, winning the only previous meeting 60 63 this April at an ITF event also staged on clay. Needless to say, Diyas was the heavy underdog and yet she pulled out a stunning win in straights. She went on to cruise past a flustered Petra Kvitova in the 2nd round. Already with just the points she's received by making it to the Quarters, Diyas will rise to about 235 in the rankings, which makes her eligible for the U.S. Open Qualifying this August.

For a video of Zarina Diyas at the Prague Open, click here: http://www.protenis.cz/video/clip.php?vid=1330

Zarina Diyas

Sue me, I lied. I know I said that I would wait until tomorrow and post several entries as lead off into the subjects of my blog...but then she happened (look to the left). A 15 year old wildcard from Kazakhstan Zarina Diyas has made it to the Quarterfinals of Prague! I'll post more later.

Welcome

While relatively new to the obsessive world of professional tennis viewing, I like to consider myself a rising star in the blogosphere. Though still a rookie, I intend to utilize my powerful forethought, an effective slice background, and ability to rush the net for all tennis related info. Now that I've finished the obligatory infusion of overt tennis references (and probably ostracized the few fans I may have had in the future) it's time to get down to the nitty gritty. Women's tennis is in flux (though I still love it), Men's tennis is enjoying the "glorious" 15th Federer grand slam and my favorite player, Kim Clijsters, is returing to the fold. Frankly, it was time for me to start a blog. I decided to limit today's posting to this "Welcome" post but will return tomorrow with multiple, including headlines, player profiles, tournament updates, scoring predictions, and off-court musings. I am not a Fedophile, I do like the women's game more than the men's most of the time, and my tone shifts from utterly serious to seriously sarcastic in no time at all. There's my disclaimer and I hope you enjoy the blog...the one person that actually follows it.