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francesca schiavone

Francesca Schiavone Wins First Match of 2017 and Tournament – Mondays with Bob Greene

by

Mondays with Bob Greene

 

STARS

Steve Johnson beat Thomas Bellucci 6-4 4-6 7-6 (5) to win the Fayez Sarofim & Co. US Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas, USA

Borna Coric beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 5-7 7-6 (3) 7-5 to win the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech, Morocco

Francesca Schiavone beat Lara Arruabarrena 6-4 7-5 to win the Claro Open Colsanitas in Bogota, Colombia

Marketa Vondrousova beat Anett Kontaveit 6-4 7-6 (6) to win the Ladies Open Biel Bienne in Biel, Switzerland

 

SAYING

“I’m not thinking about retirement. I’m enjoying tennis.” – Francesca Schiavone, after winning the Claro Open Colsanitas in what she has said is her last year on the WTA tour.

“At first I asked for a qualifying wild card because I wasn’t sure if I could get in without one. Once I got into the qualies, I almost lost my first match. But I got better and better from there. I played so great the last few matches, so I’m really happy.” – Marketa Vondrousova, a 17-year-old qualifier who went on to win the Ladies Open Biel Bienne.

“I can think things through even when times are tough. I knew I just had to take a few deep breaths and just get enough going in my body to last another 5 to 10 minutes out there.” – Steve Johnson, who conquered cramps and Thomaz Bellucci to win the US Men’s Clay Court Championships.

“I wasn’t cramping, but I was so tired that I couldn’t think to win the match. He was a little bit worse than me (physically), but he was playing unbelievably.” – Thomaz Bellucci.

“It was a fun match because both don’t just hit straight across, but also slice and lob. They do a lot at the net, so it was a fun match to play.” – Hsieh Su-Wei, after teaming with Monica Niculescu to beat Martina Hingis and Timea Bacsinszky in the Ladies Open Biel Bienne doubles final.

 

STEVE JOHNSON A WINNER

Steve Johnson had just enough left in the tank to capture the Fayez Sarofim & Co. US Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas, USA. The fourth-seeded American had played in the Miami Open before traveling to Australia for a Davis Cup tie, then back to the United States for the clay court tournament. “To win on US soil and win when you’re not feeling great is a testament to my willpower and competitiveness,” Johnson said after outlasting Thomaz Bellucci. “My body has just physically run out of gas after this week.” Johnson’s second ATP World Tour singles title came after he fought off cramps in the final set. “Coming in from Australia kind of put me behind the eight ball, and then the nerves of trying to close out the final, a lot of factors go into cramping,” he said. “I was very fortunate to get out of that.” The American double-faulted twice in a row to drop his opening service game in the final set. Then he began cramping to trail 2-4. Johnson responded by increasing the velocity on his forehand to shorten the points and eventually send the final set to a tiebreak. Johnson went in front 4-2 and increased his margin to 6-3. Bellucci responded with two winners to close to 6-5 before a forehand winner gave Johnson the victory.

 

SHOCKER

In a battle of first-time finalists, a 17-year-old qualifier came away with the title at the Ladies Open Biel Bienne. Playing in only her second WTA main draw, Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic claimed the crown by stopping Anett Kontaveit in the final. “It’s the biggest win of my career because I’d mostly played smaller tournaments, 25Ks and 60Ks,” Vondrousova said, referring to USD $25,000 and USD $60,000 events. “This was one of my first big tournaments.” Vondrousova reached the title match after upsetting Annika Beck, Kristyna Pliskova and top-seeded Barbora Strycova. She continued her sparkling performance against Kontaveit, striking 28 winners to 26 unforced errors. “I was down 4-6 in the tiebreak,” Vondrousova said. “I got a bit lucky when she hit the net then, but it helped remind me to play my game, and it worked out from there. Thank God.”

 

SCHIAVONE TRIUMPH

Francesca Schiavone had not won a main-draw match this year before the Claro Open Colsanitas tournament. Playing in her final season, the veteran Italian now has her eighth career WTA title. “I’m very happy and emotional,” said Schiavone, who won the French Open in 2010. “I think she pulled a muscle and couldn’t run as well that she could, but I thank God that I could win the last three games.” Despite it ending in two sets, it was a tight battle. “There wasn’t a big difference between us. It was very close,” Schiavone said. By capturing the title, Schiavone notched her 600th career match victory. “It was a very good tournament for me here in Bogota,” the Italian said. “I felt very excited to be playing my game.”

 

SAVES 5 MATCH POINTS

Borna Coric is finally a champion. Playing in the Grand Pix Hassan II final for the second straight year, Coric survived five match points to win his first ATP World Tour title by edging Philipp Kohlschreiber in three sets. In his previous final appearances, Coric lost to Federico Delbonis in last year’s Grand Prix Hassan II and to Stan Wawrinka at the Chennai Open three months earlier. Kohlschreiber won the opening set and had five match points as Coric served to stay in the match. After forcing a third set, the 20-year-old Croatian fell behind again, only to win five of the last six games to seal the victory. “I would say that’s my biggest comeback, I’ve never saved five match points, especially in such an important match,” Coric said. “It’s an awesome feeling.”

 

SEES THE FUTURE

Agnieszka Radwanska is looking behind her on the WTA tour. The former world number two player says there’s a very good group of younger players who are ready to challenge the veterans. “Now I know what my opponents must have felt like back then,” she said of her entry into the professional tennis ranks. “I have to say the younger players on tour right now are dangerous. We talk about it among ourselves. ‘The kids are coming.’” Although ranked in the Top 10, Radwanska is finding it difficult to win this season. She was ousted in the second round at the Australian Open and didn’t advance further than the third round at Doha, Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami. “I think the new generation of players are just better than earlier in my career,” she said. “They really play smart. From a young age they’re already pushing to play tournaments and matches. They’re sacrificing a lot, but that means they’re very good when they’re 16 or 17.”

 

SHARAPOVA CRITICAL

Preparing to return to the women’s tour after a 15-month ban, Maria Sharapova believes the International Tennis Federation (ITF) should have done more to inform her of changes in the banned drug list. The five-time Grand Slam tournament champion claims the ITF knew she was using the drug meldonium when she competed for Russia at the Fed Cup in November 2015. Meldonium became a banned substance on Jan. 1, 2016, and Sharapova was banned for testing positive at the Australian Open later that month. “Why didn’t someone come up to me and have a private conversation, just an official to an athlete, which would have taken care of the confidentiality problem they talked about later,” the 29-year-old Russian asked before admitting: “Ultimately the fault was mine. I had been getting clearance on everything I was taking for seven years and I became complacent.” The ITF says they did not know she was using the banned drug. Sharapova is scheduled to return to competition at the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, next week.

 

STILL LOSING

Stepping down to an International Tennis Federation tournament didn’t change Eugenie Bouchard’s recent results. Once ranked as high as fifth in the world, the Canadian was dominated by Victoria Duval 6-0 6-3 in a quarterfinal match in a USD $80,000 tournament in Indian Harbour Beach, Florida, USA. “This is my first tournament after a year off,” said Duval, who was sidelined in 2014 when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. That was the year Bouchard reached the semifinals of both the Australian and French Opens. Duval’s run at the 12th annual Revolution Technologies Pro Tennis Classic ended in the semifinals when she lost to 15-year-old Amanda Anisimova. Veteran Olga Govortsova of Belarus won the title, outlasting the young American 6-3 4-6 6-3.

 

SWITCH IN SITES

The Memphis Open has moved to New York. Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment (BSE) announced it has bought the ATP World Tour event and will stage the tournament in Nassau Coliseum next February. The Memphis Open was one of the longest-running events on the tour and was the only indoor men’s tournament played in the United States. BSE also owns the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association.

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Biel: Hsieh Su-Wei and Monica Niculescu beat Timea Bacsinszky and Martina Hingis 5-7 6-3 10-7 (match tiebreak)

Bogota: Beatriz Haddad Maia and Nadia Podoroska beat Veronica Cepede Royg and Magda Linette 6-3 7-6 (4)

Houston: Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos beat Dustin Brown and Frances Tiafoe 4-6 7-5 10-6 (match tiebreak)

Marrakech: Dominic Inglot and Mate Pavic beat Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez 6-4 2-6 11-9 (match tiebreak)

 

SURFING

Monte Carlo: www.montecarlotennismasters.com/

Sarasota: www.sarasotaopen.org

Fed Cup: www.fedcup.com/en/

Barcelona: www.barcelonaopenbancsabadell.com/es

Budapest: www.huntennis.hu/

Stuttgart: www.porsche-tennis.de/

Istanbul: http://istanbulcup.kozawos.com/

Anning: www.tennis.org.cn

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

MEN

$4,935,940 Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, Monte Carlo, Monaco, clay

$125,000 2017 Santaizi Challenger, Taipei, Taiwan, carpet

$125,000 International Challenger China 2017 Qingdao, Qingdao, China, clay

$100,000 2017 Elizabeth Moore Sarasota Open, Sarasota, Florida, USA, clay

 

WOMEN

$115,000 Biyuan Cup Zhengzhou Women’s Tennis Open, Zhengzhou, China, hard

 

FED CUP

World Group Semifinals

United States vs. Czech Republic at Wesley Chapel, Florida, USA, clay

Belarus vs. Switzerland at Minsk, Belarus, hard

 

World Group Playoffs

France vs. Spain at Roanne, France, clay; Russia vs. Belgium at Moscow, Russia, clay; Germany vs. Ukraine at Stuttgart, Germany, clay; Slovakia vs. Netherlands at Bratislava, Slovakia, clay

 

World Group II Playoffs

Italy vs. Chinese Taipei at Barletta, Italy, clay; Romania vs. Great Britain at Constanta, Romania, clay; Serbia vs. Australia at Zrenjanin, Serbia, hard; Canada vs. Kazakhstan at Montreal, Quebec, Canada, hard

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$2,762,920 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain, clay

$573,209 Gazprom Hungarian Open, Budapest, Hungary, clay

$150,000 Kunming Challenger, Anning, China, clay

 

WOMEN

$710,900 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart, Germany, clay

$226,750, TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup, Istanbul, Turkey, clay

$100,000 Hotspring Peninsula ITF, Anning, China, clay

 

Francesca Schiavone
Francesca Schiavone

Rafael Nadal Wins Eighth Barcelona Title in Nine Years — With Bob Greene

by

By Bob Greene

STARS

Rafael Nadal beat Nicolas Almagro 6-4 6-3 to win the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell in Barcelona, Spain

Maria Sharapova beat Li Na 6-4 6-3 to win the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany

Lukas Rosol beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3 6-2 to win the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy in Bucharest, Romania

Francesca Schiavone beat Lourdes Domínguez Lino 6-1 6-3 to win the Grand Prix De SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Marrakech, Morocco

SAYING

Rafael Nadal holding up his Barcelona champion’s trophy.

“I feel very happy to lift the trophy once again here in Barcelona. It means a lot especially after the difficult year I’ve had. The conditions were very difficult today, especially in the first six games as it was raining a lot.” – Rafael Nadal, after winning the Barcelona title for the eighth time in nine years.

“With the rain, the ball got heavier and it wasn’t the same for me anymore. The speed went down and he was able to stay more in the point. I fought all week to be able to be in the final and I reached my goal. Once there, you want to win, so yes I feel a bit disappointed about it, but I need to look at it positively and it’s been a great week for me overall.” – Nicolas Almagro.

“We have faced each other so many times so there are really no secrets between us in our games. It’s not really about one thing we do well or don’t do well, you have to do a lot of things well on a consistent basis. It’s really about who goes out and executes best on the day.” – Maria Sharapova, after beating Li Na to win the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

“Of course it’s sad when you lose in the final, but looking back at the whole week, it was the first clay court tournament of the year for me, so I’m happy to have reached the final here.” – Li Na.

“I will remember this week. It was very emotional for me and is something special. I found a way to beat some good players and succeed.” – Lukas Rosol, who won the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy.

“Today, I couldn’t play my game. I didn’t have enough power anymore. At the end, he was playing better than me.” – Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, following his loss to Lukas Rosol in the Bucharest final.

“It wasn’t Ferrer’s best match. He didn’t play his best tennis. He had the advantage over me because he’s been playing on clay. But I played very quickly and I didn’t make it easy for him.” – Dmitry Tursunov, after upsetting David Ferrer 7-5 3-6 6-1 in the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

“We dreamed about playing here together. We had a scare the last couple weeks with Horia being injured, so it could not have turned out better. We had unbelievable support from the crowd and Horia produced the best tennis for us to come through in this match. I’ve never been part of a doubles match with this kind of support.” – Max Mirnyi, who teamed with Horia Tecau to win the doubles in Bucharest, Romania.

“This title means a lot to me. It’s very special and you cannot compare it to any other title. Playing at home is always special and the atmosphere was great this week.” – Horia Tecau, after winning the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy doubles.

“Every week you win a tournament, it’s something special. We lost in the first round in our last two tournaments and we got through a tough first round here. We started to play better and better. Today was just a very good day.” – Alexander Peya, who won the doubles in Barcelona with Bruno Soares.

“It was a great week. It was very strange and different. We played in a lot of sun the first two matches and then had to wait three days to play in the semifinals. Today, we played two unbelievable matches. In the final, they played really well and fought hard. But we stayed positive and played our best at the end.” – Bruno Soares.

SAME OLD RAFA

The same old Rafael Nadal – the winning one – is back, and with a vengeance. After being sidelined with a left knee injury for seven months, the Spaniard has reached the final in all six events he has played and won four of them, most of anybody this season on the ATP World Tour. By beating fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro in the final, Nadal won the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell for the eighth time in nine years. “I’m very happy,” Nadal said. “It has been an important week for all the Spanish players here and especially for me. It is an enormous honor for me to win here again.” And again and again and again. The final didn’t start the way Nadal wanted as he lost his serve twice to fall behind 3-0. Almagro was able to win only one more game that set. The left-hander broke again early in the second set and steadily pulled away to beat Almagro for the 10th straight time and post his 39th consecutive win in Barcelona. So dominant is Nadal at Barcelona that he has won 80 of the 82 sets he has played in the tournament. “Rafa has shown once again why he is the best player in history on this surface,” Almagro said. “He is one of the greats on the tennis circuit and as Spaniards we are all very proud of him.”

SHARP SHARAPOVA

She may have struggled to get to the title match in Stuttgart, Germany, but Maria Sharapova was dominating in the final as she blasted her way past Li Na in a battle of the last two French Open champions. “She was the second seed and someone who I had lost to the last time we played … so I knew it would be the toughest match of the tournament,” Sharapova said. “I really tried to do the right things from the beginning to the end and not have a letdown like I did in the other matches.” In all three of her previous matches, the top-seeded Sharapova was pushed to three sets. Li never stood a chance as the Russian right-hander burst out to a 4-1 double-break lead in the first set, then won the last four games of the match. “I think I really played my best tennis of the week today,” Sharapova said. Li agreed. “You never know what will happen when we play, it’s always 50-50, but today she was the better one,” Li said. Sharapova collected her 29th WTA title and extended her clay court streak to 16 consecutive matches, including Rome and Roland Garros last year. And while Li may have lost this time, the two finalists have some of the best records on the WTA tour. Sharapova is now 22-3 on the season, Li 20-4.

SON’S TRIBUTE

Lukas Rosol’s father died just 10 days before the final of the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy in Bucharest, Romania. When Rosol beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez to win his first career ATP title, he dedicated the victory to his father. “I wanted to dedicate this trophy to someone, so I found the energy,” Rosol said. “I felt somebody was helping me from up top. It’s not just about me. My family has always supported me and my tennis.” Beating three seeded players on his way to the final, Rosol made quick work of his Spanish opponent, taking only 67 minutes to post the win. Among his victims during the week was three-time Bucharest champion Gilles Simon of France. Rosol saved all eight break points he faced to end Simon’s 16-match winning streak in the Romanian capital. “I felt match after match my dream was coming true,” the champion said.

SECURITY FEARS

Security was listed as the reason a series of Davis Cup matches scheduled to be held in Yangon, Myanmar, have been canceled. Ties in the Davis Cup’s Asia/Oceania Zone Group III and IV were to be held this week involving players from Muslim nations such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Iraq. However, anti-Muslim riots in Myanmar last month left at least 43 people dead and there was more religious violence last week. Lay Naing, the Myanmar Tennis Federation’s secretary, confirmed the International Tennis Federation (ITF) had voiced security concerns and said: “The other participating countries have also questioned our security.” The ITF website said a new date and venue for the round-robin international competition had not been determined. Countries competing in Group III include Cambodia, Hong Kong-China, Iran, Malaysia, Oman, Pacific Oceania, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. Group IV nations include Bahrain, Bangladesh, Iraq, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Turkmenistan.

A Davis Cup Zone Group II tie between Pakistan and New Zealand held in Myanmar was halted and New Zealand was declared the winner because the referee said it was an unplayable court. Pakistan has disputed the referee’s decision and the ITF’s announcement is expected in early May.

STRAIGHT TO THE BANK

Prize money at Wimbledon will increase a record 40 percent this year, giving each of the singles champions a payday of USD $2.4 million. Last year’s winners – Roger Federer and Serena Williams – received USD $1.75 million each. Calling it the largest single increase and biggest total prize payout pot in tennis history, the All England Club said it will pay out USD $34.4 million, an increase of USD $9.9 million from last year. The prize money increase will also go to players who lose in the early rounds or in qualifying for the grass-court championships. A first-round loser will earn USD $35,800, up from USD $22,100 a year ago. The purse for qualifying will increase by 41 percent, while doubles players will receive a 22 percent increase.

STREET NAMED MULLOY

Four times Gardnar Mulloy won the men’s doubles at the US Nationals – now the US Open. And when he teamed with Budge Patty to capture the doubles title at Wimbledon 1957 at the age of 43, he became one of the oldest players ever to take a championship on the fabled lawns. Now 99 years old, Mulloy has had a street in Miami, Florida, USA, named for him. “I think it’s fantastic,” Mulloy said. “How many people have had a street named for them?” In 1952 he was America’s top-ranked player and singles runner-up in the US National Championships. He was a member of the United States Davis Cup team in 1946, 1948-50, 1952-53 and 1957.

SPECIAL TITLE

Playing in their third final as a team, Max Mirnyi and Horia Tecau finally took home the champion’s trophy. It couldn’t have come at a better place for Tecau – the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy in Bucharest, Romania. “This title means a lot to me,” said Tecau, who was born in Brasov, Romania. “It’s very special.” The winning team was presented its trophy by Olympic icon and Romanian gymnastics hero Nadia Comaneci. And while it may have been the first title for the Mirnyi-Tecau team, it was not Tecau’s first win at home. He teamed with Robert Lindstedt of Sweden to capture the Bucharest doubles last year. In the final, Tecau and Mirnyi beat Lukas Dlouhy and Oliver Marach, who were making their team debut.

STRING OF ERRORS

Playing in his first clay-court tournament of the year, Dmitry Tursunov upset David Ferrer in a second-round match at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, 7-5 3-6 6-1. “It wasn’t Ferrer’s best match,” Tursunov said in an understatement. “He didn’t play his best tennis.” Like Tursunov, it was Ferrer’s first clay-court match of the season. He sustained a thigh injury in Miami, Florida, USA, where he lost a third-set tiebreaker to Andy Murray in the Sony Open final. It was the Russian’s 11th win over a Top 10 player in his career. “He had the advantage over me because he’s been playing on clay,” Tursunov said of Ferrer. “But I played very quickly and I didn’t make it easy for him. Ferrer was the favorite based on surface and ranking.”

SCHIAVONE VICTORIOUS

It took nearly a year, but Italy’s Francesca Schiavone has finally won another tournament. The former French Open champion captured the Grand Prix De SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Marrakech, Morocco, beating Lourdes Domínguez Lino in the final. The last time Schiavone took home the biggest singles trophy was at the Strasbourg Open last May. “This was a great week for me after a long, very difficult period,” said Schiavone, who now has won six career titles. “I think my two toughest matches of the week were my first match against (Petra) Martic, a very talented young player, and of course today against Lourdes. I played a really complete game today. It’s never easy to play her.” Schiavone made it look easy, however. The sixth seed never faced a break point in the opening set. And, after dropping serve in the fourth game of the second set to trail 3-1, Schiavone broke her opponent’s next two service games to gain control. “To win here is a great start to the clay court season for me and inspires me to keep working hard,” Schiavone said. “I’m just enjoying playing for these crowds and giving the fans the best that I can give.”

SPECIAL SCREENING

To celebrate Billie Jean King’s straight-set victory over Bobby Riggs 40 years ago, the first and only viewing of the actual event telecast will be screened on July 14 at the Casino Theatre at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. The historic telecast has been donated to the Hall of Fame for the one-time showing. King will introduce the broadcast footage, and then discuss her memories of key moments in the match, what the match meant to her personally and reflect on its lasting impact. More than 30,000 fans packed the Houston Astrodome and millions more tuned in from home to see the dramatic “Battles of the Sexes,” which King won 6-4 6-3 6-3. The screening will be the final event of the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s annual Enshrinement Weekend, when the Hall of Fame Class of 2013 will be inducted.

STOMACH ILLNESS

A stomach illness has forced Juan Martin Del Potro to pull out of this week’s Portugal Open, where he is the defending champion. “It’s a shame not to have the chance to defend the title,” Del Potro said in a statement. “I had a great time when I went to Estoril, the tournament staff are the friendliest on the circuit and make you feel at home. However, I must prioritize my health and listen to the doctor’s advice.” He is expected to be recovered enough to the Madrid Masters next week.

SET FOR EDGBASTON

Britain’s top two women players, Laura Robson and Heather Watson, have signed up to play the Aegon Classic at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham, Great Britain, in June. “I always enjoy the grass court season and I am excited to … play in front of a home crowd,” said Robson. “It’s fantastic preparation ahead of Wimbledon. Watson has been sidelined since being diagnosed with glandular fever after the Sony Open in Miami, Florida, USA, where she complained of burnout after losing in the first round. She hopes to return to action in time for the French Open, which begins its two-week run in late May, and then the grass court season.

STEADILY IMPROVING

Wimbledon will put a retractable roof on its Number One Court. The grass-court Grand Slam tournament installed a roof on Centre Court in 2009 so play can continue when rain halts matches on the outer courts. Philip Brook, chairman of the All England Club, said the design process for the Number One Court roof will begin shortly and the roof installed by 2019. Brook said that despite having roofs over two courts, Wimbledon is not planning to play late night sessions. “We are not trying to turn Wimbledon into an event for night time play,” Brook said. “Roofs over our stadia will continue to be used primarily in the event of wet weather.”

SKIPPING TALLAHASSEE

Citing personal reasons, Mardy Fish has withdrawn from next week’s Tallahassee Challenger tournament. The 31-year-old right-hander has been contending with heart trouble as well as anxiety issues. Fish played at Indian Wells, California, USA, his first event in six months. He then withdrew from the Sony Open in Miami, Florida, USA. He entered a couple minor-league USTA Pro Circuit events in an attempt to gain clay court experience. As the top seed, he lost his first-round match at Savannah, Georgia, USA, to Ruben Ramirez Hildalgo. Fish is currently ranked 42nd in the world, but he doesn’t have any points to defend until Wimbledon, where he reached the fourth round last year.

SERVING UP PORSCHES

Maybe it’s because 88 percent of people who buy Porsche cars are men. Whatever the reason, the first global endorser for Porsche will be a woman – Maria Sharapova. “This says a lot about her longevity and her brand power,” said her agent, Max Eisenbud. “To have a company like Porsche that is so high-end and so meticulous to allow her to stand next to their car says a lot.” Of course it doesn’t hurt that she has won the last two Porsches given to the winner of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany. “Maria is the perfect choice,” said Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller. “Her profile and charisma are an ideal fit for Porsche.” Ranked second in the world behind Serena Williams, Sharapova makes about USD $20 million a year in endorsements, more money than any other female athlete. She also has deals with Nike, Cole Haan, Evian, Tag Heuer and Samsung.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Barcelona: Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares beat Robert Lindstedt and Daniel Nestor 5-7 7-6 (7) 10-4 (match tiebreak)

Bucharest: Max Mirnyi and Horia Tecau beat Lukas Dlouhy and Oliver Marach 4-6 6-4 10-6 (match tiebreak)

Marrakech: Timea Babos and Mandy Minella beat Petra Martic and Kristina Mladenovic 6-3 6-1

Stuttgart: Mona Barthel and Sabine Lisicki beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sania Mirza 6-4 7-5

SURFING

Oeiras: www.estorilopen.net/

Munich: http://bmwopen.de

Ostrava: www.prosperitaopen.cz

Tunis: www.tct.org.tn/

Johannesburg: www.tennissa.co.za/

Madrid: www.madrid-open.com/

Cagnes-Sur-Mer: www.opendecagnes.com

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
(All money in USD)

MEN

$537,109 Portugal Open, Oeiras, Portugal, clay
$537,109 BMW Open, Munich, Germany, clay
$125,000 Tunis Open, Tunis, Tunisia, clay
$111,351 Prosperita Open 2013, Ostrava, Czech Republic, clay
$100,000 Soweto Open, Johannesburg, South Africa, hard

WOMEN

$235,000 Portugal Open, Oeiras, Portugal, clay

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$4,404,383 Mutua Madrid Open, Madrid, Spain, clay
$125,000 Kunming Challenger, Kunming, China, hard

WOMEN

$5,273,930 Mutua Madrid Open, clay
$100,000 Open de Cagnes-Sur-Mer Alpes-Maritimes, Cagnes-Sur-Mer, France, clay

Francesca Schiavone ends drought, finally wins again — Mondays with Bob Greene

by

By Bob Greene

STARS

Agnieszka Radwanska beat Simona Halep 7-5, 6-0 to win the Brussels Open in Brussels, Belgium

Nicolas Almagro beat Brian Baker 6-3 6-2 to win the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur in Nice, France

Francesca Schiavone beat Alizé Cornet 6-4 6-4 to win the Internaionaux de Strasbourg in Strasbourg, France

Serbia beat the Czech Republic 3-0 to win the Power Horse World Team Cup in Düesseldorf, Germany

Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic 7-5 6-3 to win the Internazionali BNL d’Italia men’s singles in Rome, Italy

SAYING

“Today was one of those matches you want to keep in your mind for the rest of the season, because I couldn’t have played much better. Today was amazing. I am happy with my form, my tennis and my team. We will aim to keep working hard, so I play, in future, as I did today.” – Nicolas Almagro, after winning in Nice, France.

“It was a great week. Every time you go onto court you want to win. I am a competitor, I hate losing. But it has been an unbelievable week. I hoped to qualify at the start of the week and win a match or two before going to Roland Garros. Obviously I did much better than that.” – Brian Baker, a qualifier who lost in the Nice final.

“It’s a great feeling and I want to keep going this way. I’m happy again. I’m feeling the sensation of fighting and feeling the pain, and enjoying my game again.” – Francesca Schiavone, who won in Strasbourg, France.

“In principle, I will stop after the US Open. That’s the tournament where I have had my greatest triumphs and it is therefore very special to me. The (Arthur Ashe) stadium is about 45 minutes from our house in the United States and so my in-laws can be there.” –Kim Clijsters, announcing her pending retirement from tennis.

“We both played very solid. I was a bit lucky at the end of both sets. In the second set, his string broke on a very important point, but I felt I deserved to win. I was the better player today in the crucial moments of the match.” – Janko Tipsarevic, after helping Serbia capture the World Team Cup.

“I knew he was a bit more tired than me. I was using that and at the end I played good. I also want to thank Janko. He won all of his matches and he helped me a lot today with the pressure. I also want to thank Nenad and Miki. It was great.” – Viktor Troicki, a member of Serbia’s World Team Cup champions.

“It’s a huge accomplishment just to be here. The biggest challenge was to learn how to live with it and that the key is to be here and to try my best right now.” – Venus Williams, who was off the WTA Tour from the US Open until Miami, Florida, in March after being diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome.

“It’s the second title with (my daughter) Micaela now. Her birth put the tour and my career into perspective. I’m playing for my family now. It’s not more pressure, but it’s more fun. I’m happy to be traveling the world with the two people I love, Michelle and Micaela. I’m happy to make memories with them.” – Bob Bryan, who teamed with brother Mike to win the doubles in Nice.

“You can’t fake it out here. I move horrendously out here. My first step is just so bad on this stuff. I feel like I’m always shuffling or hopping or not stopping or something. My footwork on this stuff is really bad.” – Andy Roddick, after losing his first-round French Open match to Nicolas Mahut.

“I think its harder getting back than actually getting there in the first place. I had to work really hard. I feel like myself again and I’m enjoying competition. I’m just enjoying being out there and challenging top players and to be challenged as well. I think that’s what it’s all about.” – Ana Ivanovic, explaining her rollercoaster career since winning the 2008 French Open.

“When I walk on the court I don’t think whether I am young or old. The only thing I try to do is play well.” – Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 2003 Roland Garros winner who won his first-round French Open victory over Jonathan Dasnieres De Veigy.

“I went to practice today and mistakenly took Venus’s racquet bag. Thank goodness we use the same amazing racquet! Thanks Vee.” – Serena Williams.

“It’s a great feeling, just very nice. I love this tournament. Even before I won I always enjoyed coming here. It’s special atmosphere here, I’m really enjoying it.” – Svetlana Kuznetsova “ – Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2009 French Open women’s champion.

“I have nothing to lose. I have no points to lose. Last time I lost in the third round. If I was to lose in the first round, I would lose 90 points, so that’s peanuts. It’s not my favorite surface at the moment. Trust me, I’ll have more pressure at Wimbledon.” – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, following his first-round French Open victory.

“The first year they had it, there were only a few matches and it didn’t feel like the tournament had really started, it didn’t feel like it was happening with fewer players around. But now with a full schedule, it really feels like the first day of the event.” – Samantha Stosur, on beginning the French Open on a Sunday.

“It’s nice to be on a real clay court again and actually feel like you can play more clay court tennis. I think one of the things that’s probably annoyed a lot of people is that you’re on a clay court but you can’t play real clay court tennis.” – Samantha Stosur, the latest player to criticize the blue clay court used in the Madrid, Spain, tournament.

SCHIAVONE SUCCESSFUL

Alize Cornet (L) and Strasbourg winner Francesca Schiavone (R) (Photo credit Rick Gleijm/TennisGrandstand.com)

It has been a while since Francesca Schiavone has held the winner’s trophy. When the Italian beat Alizé Cornet in the final of the Internationaux de Strasbourg, it was her first title since she captured Roland Garros in 2010. In fact, it was the first time she has been in a final since the French Open a year ago, when she lost to Li Na. At Strasbourg, Schiavone didn’t drop a set en route to her fifth career WTA title, all but one coming on clay. “In this tournament, in the most important moments, I was there,” Schiavone said. “It has been a long time since I’ve felt that.” Cornet was playing in her first final since she won her only career title at Budapest in 2008.

SEES THE END

The US Open has been the high point of the career of Kim Clijsters. It will also be her farewell. Belgian news agency Belga reported that the 28-year-old Clijsters has confirmed that she will retire at the end of this year’s US Open. Clijsters retired the first time for more than two years, during which she was married and gave birth to a daughter. When she returned to the WTA tour, she captured America’s premiere tournament and became the first wild card entry to win a Grand Slam women’s singles title. She repeated at New York’s Flushing Meadow in 2010 – her third US Open crown – and added the Australian Open in 2011. Throughout her career she has been hampered by injuries, and had to pull out of the current French Open, a tournament she has never won although twice reaching the final. She plans on playing Wimbledon next month and the London Olympics – the tennis competition will be played on the Wimbledon grass courts. “The Olympic fever is starting to build,” Clijsters said.

SIXTH ROME TITLE

It took an extra day, but Rafael Nadal won the BNL Internazionali in Rom for the sixth time. The men’s final was delayed a day by rain, and when he finally took the court, the Spanish star knocked off top-ranked Novak Djokovic 7-5 6-3. The win was Nadal’s second in a row over Djokovic after suffering a seven-match losing streak to Serb, all coming in finals. Even though Nadal won, both players said the match would not impact on their French Open fortunes. “The match today was quite close, even if he won in straight sets,” Djokovic said. “I made unforced errors and I don’t think he played extremely well. I will go to Paris with confidence.” Nadal agreed. “I didn’t consider myself that good. I can do better,” he said. “You cannot expect to be perfect and your opponent is not going to be perfect all the time. When you are losing finals like I did last year, and one this year, you have to keep control of your emotions.”

SERBIA REIGNS

For the second time in four years Serbia has come out on top at the Power Horse World Team Cup in Düesseldorf, Germany. Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki, who were part of the 2009 title-winning team, helped Serbia blank the Czech Republic 3-0 in the final. Tipsarevic beat Tomas Berdych 7-5 7-6 (8) before Troicki rallied to stop Radek Stepanek 2-6 6-4 6-3 to clinch the team title. Tipsarevic then teamed with Nenad Zimonjic to complete the clean sweep for Serbia.

SIGHT ON OLYMPICS

Venus Williams is keeping her eye on the London Olympics. After sitting on the sidelines from the US Open until Miami, Florida, USA, two months ago, the 34-year-old American is trying to be in a position to win a fourth and possible fifth Olympic gold medal. She won the singles in Sydney, Australia, in 2000 and captured the doubles gold medal with her sister Serena in Sydney and the 2008 Games in Beijing, China. Because of her illness, her ranking slipped to 134th in the world. Each nation can have a maximum of four tennis players at the Games, but none with a ranking over 56th in the world. After quarterfinal finishes in Miami, Charleston and Rome, Venus is currently ranked 53rd – the third highest-ranked American behind Serena and Christine McHale. Ranking places at the end of Roland Garros, where Williams didn’t play last year and therefore has no points to defend, will decide the Olympics lineup. “My main goal is the Olympics. If I reach that then I will be home free – you might not see me again,” Venus said. In Paris, Venus won her first-round match, coming from behind to beat Paula Ormaechea of Argentina 4-6 6-1 6-3.

SUPER SPANIARD

Nicolas Almagro successfully defending his Nice Open title by beating American qualifier Brian Baker 6-3 6-2 in the final. It was Almagro’s second tournament win of the year and the 12th of his career. The 27-year-old Baker played in his first ATP final after missing almost six years and undergoing five surgeries, including three hip operations and one on his elbow. He returned to tennis last July, playing Futures events. “Baker lost the final today, but he is back, he is playing very good,” Almagro said of his opponent. “I think if he plays as he did this week, then he will win many, many tournaments.”

SIBLING SUCCESS

Brother Bob and Mike Bryan continued their winning ways at the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur, beating Olivier Marach and Filip Polasek. It was the third ATP World Tour title of the season for the American twins and their 78th career tour-level title. “We’re obviously very happy we came,” Mike Bryan said. “We’ve been playing well on the French Riviera the last few years. Our level improved with every match and we feel confident going into Roland Garros. We were up and down in the first set. We were down a break, so it was nice to fight back. I think we served well the whole week, especially today.”

SO CLOSE, SO FAR AWAY

Forgive Simona Halep if she feels she got trampled on the way to a title. The Romanian led 5-4, up a break and serving for the opening set in the final of the Belgian Open. That’s when Agnieszka Radwanska shifted into another gear. Radwanska ripped off the next nine games, including the final 10 points, to earn her third victory of the season, adding Brussels to the titles she earned in Dubai and Miami. Ranked third in the world, Radwanska now has 36 match wins this year, most on the WTA Tour. Halep has yet to win a title and is now 0-3 in WTA finals.

STANDING STILL

Spectators will get a rare chance to see Rafael Nadal being absolutely still. Actually, it’s not the Spanish tennis star, who is known for his mobility around the court, but a life-size statute of him that was unveiled at Madame Tussauds was museum in London. The wax figure shows Nadal preparing to carve a backhand slice. It took a team of 20 stylists, sculptors and artists working together for four months to complete the figure.

SLICK STAT

ATP World Tour statistics guru Greg Sharko notes that Rafael Nadal was perfect this year in winning three clay court tournaments before Roland Garros. Nadal won all 30 sets while capturing titles in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome. That’s the best the Spaniard has ever done, although last year he was 20-0 in clay court match play entering the French Open. But he won just two clay court events last year prior to Paris.

SWITCHING LABELS

Novak Djokovic has ended his contract with Italian clothing company Sergio Tacchini International. The top-ranked Serb will now don Uniqlo clothing on and off the court after signing a five-year deal with the Japanese firm. Owned by Asia’s biggest clothing retailer, Fast Retailing Co., Uniqlo also sponsors Japan’s top male player, Kei Nishikori. According to the company, Djokovic will have design input into his own outfits.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Brussels: Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sania Mirza beat Alicja Rosolska and Zheng Jie 6-3 6-2

Nice: Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan beat Olivier Marach and Filip Polasek 7-6 (5) 6-3

Strasbourg: Olga Govortsova and Klaudia Jans-Ignacik beat Natalie Grandin and Vladimira Uhlirova 6-7 (4) 6-3 10-3 (match tiebreak)

SURFING

Paris: www.rolandgarros.com

International Tennis Federation: www.itftennis.com

ATP World Tour: www.atpworldtour.com

WTA Tour: www.wtatennis.com

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN and WOMEN

Roland Garros, Paris, France, clay (first week)

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

Roland Garros, Paris, France, clay (second week)
$113,614 UniCredit Czech Open, Prostejov, Czech Republic, clay

WOMEN

Roland Garros, Paris, France, clay (second week)

Could Indian Wells Stomach Bug Be Worse Than 1988 U.S. Open?

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The major storyline after the first weekend of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., has been more about the stomach bug and not the tennis.

France's Gael Monfils (PASCAL GUYOT/AFP/Getty Images)

Players such as Francesca Schiavone, Vera Zvonareva, Gael Monfils and Jurgen Melzer are among the top players forced to withdraw from matches due to the viral infection causing fever, vomiting and diarrhea.

Tournament organizers can hope that the event does not turn into medical ward like it almost did at the US Open back in 1988. A bug nearly wiped an entire session of play – and helped to determine one championship match in America’s Grand Slam tournament.

On September 9, 1988, the traditional second Friday schedule at the US Open in New York was nearly a non-starter as Rick Leach, stricken with a stomach flu, was forced to withdraw from the men’s doubles final against Emilio Sanchez and Sergio Casal, and Chris Evert was not able to post in her women’s singles semifinal against Steffi Graf for the same reason. Fans in the stadium were left to only watch Gabriela Sabatini defeating Zina Garrison in the other women’s semifinal and then being served some senior doubles featuring Hank Pfister vs. Tom Gullikson in senior men’s singles and then Bob Hewitt and Frew McMillan vs. Marty Riessen and Sherwood Stewart in senior men’s doubles.

Evert was sickened two nights earlier and did not leave the room until defaulting to Graf, who would go on to win only the third Grand Slam by a woman beating Sabatini in the women’s singles final.

“My body feels like it’s been through a war,“ Evert said in a written statement at the end of what was eventually her second-to-last US Open appearance. “Every muscle and joint aches. Physically, I couldn’t go out and play. I don’t have any energy. I think I’ve been through the worst of it, with the vomiting and diarrhea, but I still have a temperature of 101 degrees.”

Leach was sickened the night before the men’s doubles final and his condition was worse than Evert’s. He had a 103-degree fever and could not even stand out, vomiting much of the night before the final. He was actually hospitalized before being released the next day. The day before the final on Thursday, Leach had to stop practice after only a few minutes, claiming fatigue. The morning of the final, Leach was very ill and vomiting in the locker room.

Perhaps the best known episode of getting sick on court was Pete Sampras and his throwing up in the fifth-set tie-breaker of his 1996 US Open quarterfinal win against Alex Corretja (although I recall Andy Murray’s lunch being splattered all over the Grandstand court a few years back at the US Open in match against Arnaud Clement. No one wants to have the indignity of getting in sick in front of anybody, no less in front of thousands of fans and TV viewers.

Wojtek Fibak, the great Polish player of the 1970s and 1980s, was also the victim of a stomach bug at a very inopportune time. As documented in my book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com), on October 16, 1983, Vitas Gerulaitis won the men’s singles final at the Swiss Indoor Championships in Basel when Fibak had to rush off the court with a stomach ailment with Gerulaitis leading 4-6, 6-1, 7-5, 5-5. Said Fibak after the match of his predicament, ”I couldn’t stand it anymore.”

Serena Williams solves wind and Ana Ivanovic

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NEW YORK – Solving the swirling winds in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Serena Williams blew past Ana Ivanovic 6-3 6-4 Monday to grab a spot in the quarterfinals of the US Open.

“It was crazy,” Williams said of the blustery conditions that affected play. “I didn’t even go for winners at any point. I just tried to get it over because it was so windy.”

Serena Williams

Seeking her fourth US Open women’s singles title, Williams will next take on 17th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, who upset seventh-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy 5-7 6-3 6-3.

In early men’s singles play, top-ranked Novak Djokovic survived a gritty performance by Russian Alexandr Dolgopolov to advance to a quarterfinal battle against his good friend and fellow Serb, Janko Tipsarevic, a 7-5 6-7 (3) 7-5 6-2 winner over Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain.

“It means there’s going to be at least one Serbian in the semifinals, which is great for our country,” Djokovic said.

Rain, heavy at times, had been forecast for New York City. The rain stayed away throughout the day, but blustery winds swept through the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, affecting ground strokes and especially the toss for the serve.

“It was really gusty out there, and in the wind it’s always gonna be even tougher,” Ivanovic said. “In those kinds of conditions serve is the shot that it’s gonna go away from both players. It did a bit. My serve broke down little more than hers did.”

Williams crushed nine aces and had just one double-fault. Ivanovic, who struggled the entire match with her service toss, hit three aces but served up eight doubles.

Because she missed 11 months with injury and illness, Williams’ ranking plummeting from No. 1 in the world to around 160. Since returning to play, Williams won two hard court tournaments this summer to raise her WTA ranking to 29th in the world. She was seeded 28th in this, the year’s final Grand Slam tournament, because of the withdrawal of defending champion Kim Clijsters.

Still, Williams is considered a heavy favorite to increase her Grand Slam tournament title count to 14, the most of any active woman and sixth all-time, in Saturday’s final.

Williams jumped out to a 3-0 lead to begin the fourth-round battle, breaking Ivanovic in the second game. But Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open winner, broke back from deuce in the fifth game to put the set back on serve.

When the Serb held at 30 in the next game, she had pulled even at 3-3.

With William serving, Ivanovic moved to break point at 30-40. When Williams won the next point to pull to deuce, she screamed, “C’mon.”

She did just that, beginning a five-game spurt to grab the opening set and take a 3-0 advantage in the second.

Ivanovic refused to go away, but Williams had too much firepower and dominated the rest of the way.

“As I said even before the match I think she’s the favorite for the tournament,” Ivanovic said of Williams. “She’s been playing really well and it’s gonna be tough, you know. But, the conditions are different … so you have to raise your level. She’s doing that, so I think she has a good chance.”

Djokovic had all he could handle in the opening set with his Russian opponent. But once he captured the opening set tiebreak 16-14 on his sixth set point, it was all downhill to his quarterfinal berth.

“Winning it was very important,” Djokovic said of the tiebreak. “That was probably the turning point. After that it was a good performance.”

Using slices and moving Djokovic from side to side, Dolgopolov threatened to take the opening set and even had set points in the tiebreak. But after finally prevailing in the tiebreak, Djokovic rolled to victory.

“He played a lot of low balls, slices. … I was confused on the court,” the winner said. “But it was really exciting.”

Now he’s looking forward to playing his Davis Cup teammate.

“I think this is the first time I play Janko in a grand slam,” he said. “We are great friends. It’s not going to be easy to play him, but look, it’s the quarterfinals and we both want to win.”

Darwin at the US Open

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By Thomas Swick
swickt@bellsouth.net

September 3 was Polo Ralph Lauren Day at the U.S. Open, but the name that came to my mind was Charles Darwin. The day’s schedule clearly showed the survival of the fittest that was taking place before our eyes, with only eight of the courts scheduled for matches.

Roger Federer

On the Grandstand court Francesca Schiavone took out Chanelle Scheepers, who was wearing an interesting combination of garnet and gray (my high school’s colors). Some of Schiavone’s fans stayed for the next match between her compatriot, Roberta Vinci, and Andrea Petkovic.

A ruggedly handsome man arrived and sat two rows in front of me. He looked like a familiar actor, and I tried to think what movies I’d seen him in. Then I noticed the U.S. Open polo shirt he was wearing and realized that he was the chair umpire I’ve seen on TV officiating at Grand Slams. (Clearly a sign I’ve watched far too much tennis.)

The man sitting behind me was a German journalist. I asked him if Petkovic still writes a column for a newspaper in Germany.

“She used to,” he said. “But she doesn’t anymore.”

“How was her writing?” I asked.

“Very good,” he said. “Very professional. Better than some of our colleagues’.”

Petkovic was rolling. At 5-love in the second set, I noticed that MaliVai Washington had appeared in the tunnel, waiting to step onto the court for the post-match interview. It must be terribly discouraging to be down love-5 and to see out of the corner of your eye the interview team already waiting in the wings. Like catching a glimpse of the tournament Grim Reaper.

Back at the media center I asked about the Federer press conference.

“It’s at 4:45,” the woman at the player information desk said.

“In interview room 1?” I asked.

“He’s always in 1,” she said.

Federer was late but his father was there (my second father sighting of the Open) in bright red shirt and red RF cap. (Bob and I had discussed the absurdity of that logo, and the even greater absurdity of people who are not Roger Federer wearing it.)

There were enlarged photos on the wall, of Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert, and the backdrop to the podium was a busy montage of American flags, U.S. Open logos, and dark blue shots of Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Federer walked in at about 5:15 and sat unenthusiastically in front of the microphone. Though his answers were long and fairly candid and intermittently, characteristically, self-congratulatory. When asked about the high number of players retiring this year, he said that five-set matches have a way of revealing injuries that have been there all along, then added: “I have never retired in my whole life except once when I played James Blake in Paris, but I didn’t even walk on the court.”

Someone asked about his facility with languages, and he said he enjoys being able to switch easily from German to English to French. Though he noted that the drawback is, it makes his press conferences longer.

After about 15 minutes, as illustration, the woman at the podium asked for questions in German and French. And all of a sudden Federer seemed to relax, putting his cap on (backwards), leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs.

There was nothing relaxed, a few hours later, about the atmosphere in the Grandstand, where Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was getting the upper hand in a slugfest with Fernando Verdasco. The stadium was packed, the fans clearly in the mood for a classic night match, but Tsonga wasn’t going to oblige. At the start of the third – and final – set, a man sitting along the baseline four rows up, wearing a salt-and-pepper beard and an Indianapolis 500 cap, began shouting maniacal encouragement to Verdasco.

“COME ON NANDO! GET UP IN HIS FACE! GET SOME! SATURDAY NIGHT!”

After Tsonga aced him for a 5-3 lead, Verdasco spit in disgust on the court.

“LET’S GO NANDO! HE’S GOOD! YOU’RE BETTER!!”

The man was not only loud but wrong.

After the match, the man sitting behind me (and in front of the screamer) said something in Spanish to a woman standing in the aisle.

“What did he say?” I asked her.

“He said that he prayed to God to strike the man with lightning.”

That’s another way of thinning the numbers.

Caroline Wozniacki is the No. 1 seed at the US Open 2011

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The USTA announced today that world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark has been named the top seed in women’s singles at the 2011 US Open. The 2011 US Open will be played at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., August 29 – September 11. The US Open Women’s Singles Championship is presented by JPMorgan Chase.

Caroline Wozniacki

Wozniacki, the 2009 US Open runner-up, is the No. 1 seed at the US Open for the second consecutive year and is seeking her first Grand Slam title. She will be followed by No. 2 seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia, who reached the final of both the US Open and Wimbledon last year. 2006 US Open champion Maria Sharapova of Russia is seeded third, followed by No. 4 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. Three-time US Open champion Serena Williams is seeded No. 28.

For 2011, the US Open followed the WTA rankings to determine the women’s singles seeds. This is the tenth consecutive year that the US Open has seeded 32 players in both singles events.

“After careful deliberation regarding Serena Williams’ seeding, we decided to maintain the objective criteria in place to determine the women’s singles seeds at this year’s US Open,” said Jim Curley, US Open Tournament Director and Chief Professional Tournaments Officer, USTA.

Reigning Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic is seeded fifth, and 2011 French Open champion Li Na of China is seeded sixth. 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy and Marion Bartoli of France are seeded seventh and eighth, respectively.

The singles draws for the 2011 US Open will be revealed live during a one-hour special edition of SportsCenter on ESPN, Thursday, August 25 at 12 PM ET. Defending US Open men’s champion Rafael Nadal will make an appearance from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.

A summary of the first week of Wimbledon – Mondays with Bob Greene

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STARS

 

Wimbledon

(First Week)

 

Tsvetana Pironkova beat second-seeded Vera Zvonareva 6-2 6-3

 

Sabine Lisicki beat third-seeded Li Na 3-6 6-4 8-6

 

Bernard Tomic beat fifth-seeded Robin Soderling 6-1 6-4 7-5

 

Tamira Paszek beat sixth-seeded Francesca Schiavone 3-6 6-4 11-9

 

Feliciano Lopez beat eighth-seeded Andy Roddick 7-6 (2) 7-6 (2) 6-4

 

Lukasz Kubot beat ninth-seeded Gael Monfils 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-3

 

Melinda Czink beat 10th-seeded Samantha Stosur 6-3 6-4

 

OTHER

 

Paul Capdeville beat Pierre-Ludovic Duclos 7-5 6-1 to win the Jalisco Open in Guadalajara, Mexico

 

DAVIS CUP

 

Americas Zone Group III: Barbados and Bolivia promoted to Group II for 2012; Jamaica and Honduras demoted to Group IV.

 

SAYING

 

“I was very calm, but inside I was bursting.” – Bernard Tomic, a qualifier from Australia, after upsetting fifth-seeded Robin Soderling and becoming the first 18-year-old man since 1990 to reach Wimbledon’s fourth round.

 

“When he’s healthy, he must be in the top five … So will be a very tough opponent for me. I know that. I’m not lucky to play against (Juan Martin) del Potro in the round of 16.” – Rafael Nadal, talking about his fourth-round opponent.

 

“I’m moving well, and I’m using all of my arsenal. I thought today was a particularly good performance on my serve.” – Roger Federer, after his straight-set third-round victory over David Nalbandian.

Bernard Tomic

 

“From the bright side, I hung in there in the important moments. I stayed emotionally stable, believing that I can win, and that’s what matters the most.” – Novak Djokovic, who outlasted Marcos Baghdatis in a third-round match.

 

“Probably the opinion of the past champions, they have more troubles between each other. Is different. But for me the rivalry is only inside the court. Doesn’t affect the rest.” – Rafael Nadal, disagreeing with Jimmy Connors’ assertion that today’s players are too soft because they are friends off the court.

 

“It was not against them. It was just that we played a very long first set, and I was exhausted and I was tired and I was feeling worse and worse. … I normally never act like that. I felt at this point I had to get all this frustration out and start again.” – Marion Bartoli, after telling her parents to leave the stands at her match.

 

“You keep moving forward until you decide to stop. At this point I’ve not decided to stop so I’ll keep moving forward.” – Andy Roddick, after being upset in the third round.

 

“Don’t bet against me.” – Serena Williams, when asked about her chances of winning her third consecutive Wimbledon title despite missing more than 11 months with injuries and illnesses.

 

“I’m feeling better and glad to be still in the tournament. I just need that rhythm that I have been missing and keep serving like I did today.” – Serena Williams, after winning her third-round match.

 

“I’ve got to play relaxed, have fun. That’s when I play my best tennis. I think I can play really well when I do that. I don’t really want to stop now after you’ve done it. You really want to keep going. That’s what I’m going to do.” – Bernard Tomic, following his upset of fifth-seeded Robin Soderling.

 

“He’s a nice kid who just doesn’t fear too much. He just goes out and plays. I think that’s a strength in one way, because you just play your game and you don’t really think about your surroundings.” – Xavier Malisse, talking about his next opponent, 18-year-old Bernard Tomic.

 

“Very impressed. First time I have seen him play live. I tell you, a star in the making. I really liked the way he played, his composure. I expect a lot more from him.” – Boris Becker, commenting on Bernard Tomic.

 

“The goal is the second week.” – John Isner, who didn’t make it, instead losing in the second round to Nicolas Almagro.

 

“My ranking, for me, it’s not an issue. I’ll get wild cards into a certain amount of tournaments that I’ll want to play anyway. As I’ve always said, your ranking takes care of itself. Once you’re actually in the tournament, if I can play at that level consistently, then my ranking’s the furthest thing from my mind.” – Lleyton Hewitt.

 

“Before, my tennis was a priority, I was 100 percent focused on it. But the older you get, the interest for other things. Now I want to spend more time with friends and family.  Of course, this does not mean that my career is over, I would love to be on top again.” – Jelena Jankovic, a former world number one player, after she lost in Wimbledon’s first round.

 

SENT TO COURT 2

 

WTA CEO Stacey Allaster said she was “disappointed” that four-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams was sent to Court 2 for her second-round match. Williams insisted that the world’s two top-ranked men, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, would never be scheduled for a court outside either Centre Court or Court One. “Serena Williams is a four-time Wimbledon singles champion, the defending champion of Wimbledon, and a 13-time Grand Slam singles champion. I share her disappointment,” Allaster said in a statement. The All England Club noted frequent interruptions caused by rain had forced some court changes but denied there was any bias against either Serena or sister Venus, a five-time Wimbledon winner. Venus also has played on Court 2 this year. “They like to put us on Court 2, me and Venus, for whatever reason. I haven’t figured it out yet.” Serena said. “Maybe one day we’ll figure it out. They (Nadal and Djokovic) are never moved across. Actually, Venus and I have won more Wimbledons together than a lot of the players or by ourselves in doubles even. I don’t make it a big issue, but I think at some point maybe I should.”

 

STOPPED AT THE BORDER

 

Novak Djokovic is missing one member of his entourage at Wimbledon. Great Britain has refused to allow Djokovic’s white toy poodle into the country. “He is upset he can’t bring Pierre to Wimbledon and he is pleading with the authorities to let the dog in,” a source close to the player said. “Whenever he can, he takes the dog with him. He is genuinely upset. For him this is a very serious issue.” Djokovic was photographed with the dog in Paris during Roland Garros, and both were on the cover of the July edition of fashion magazine L’Uomo Vogue. The poodle even has his own Twitter page.

 

SCREECHING

 

Ian Ritchie, the chief executive of the All England Lawn and Tennis Club, wants to put a stop of the grunting, yelling, shrieking, crying or high-pitched yelping found on the courts at Wimbledon. Ritchie was quoted in The Telegraph of London saying tournament officials would “prefer to see less grunting” at the grass court Grand Slam tournament. “We have discussed it with the tours and we believe it is helpful to reduce the amount of grunting. We are one tournament in a global circuit. But we have made our views clear and we would like to see less of it.”

 

SENT OFF

 

Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli caused widespread amazement during her third-round match when she demanded her parents leave Court 12 while she was playing. Bartoli, who was runner-up at Wimbledon in 2007, is coached by her father, who gave up his career as a doctor to mentor her. When Bartoli trailed 3-4 in the final set against Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, she told her parents to leave the stands. “I was so tired and exhausted that really I had to express my emotions somehow,” the player said. “I saw them right after the match, my parents, and they understood completely. It was not against them. It was just that we played a very long first set, and I was exhausted and I was tired and I was feeling worse and worse. I normally never act like that.” Bartoli won the match.

 

STOP PROTEST

 

Demonstrators were stopped Saturday from entering the Wimbledon tennis championships by police, causing a backup of thousands of fans who were waiting to get inside the gates. The 14 protesters from the Spanish-based 15M movement, wearing yellow T-shirts reading “real democracy now,” had tins of paint and banner-making equipment hidden in their bags. Sources said they were seeking to protest Madrid’s economic policies. It was feared they might have been targeting the match involving the world’s number one player, Rafael Nadal of Spain, the defending Wimbledon men’s champion. Club officials kept the gates closed for an extra 45 minutes while they assessed the nature of the threat. The group was removed from the queue and left peacefully.

 

SOFIA, HERE WE COME

 

The WTA Tournament of Champions will move next year from Bali to a new venue in Sofia, Bulgaria. The tournament features the six highest-ranked players who have won a title during the year, but who have not qualified for the season-ending WTA Championships. Bali will stage the event for the last time November 2-6 this year before the tournament moves to the Arena Sofia for three years beginning in 2012. Bulgaria has not hosted a WTA tournament in 22 years.

 

STOPPED

 

Li Na’s run at Wimbledon was much shorter than at the year’s first two Grand Slam tournament. At Roland Garros earlier this month, Li became the first player from Asia to win a major singles title. In January, she was runner-up at the Australian Open. But at Wimbledon Li wasted two match points before losing to wild-card entry Sabine Lisicki of Germany 3-6 6-4 8-6.

 

Cashing in on her success in Paris, the 29-year-old Li reportedly signed an endorsement deal with Daimler AG to endorse its Mercedes Benz that is worth about USD $1.5 million annually for three years. Li’s agent, Max Eisenbud of IMG, acknowledged a deal had been struck, but he would not confirm the numbers. Li Na’s other endorsement deals include Nike, Rolex, Spider Tech and Haagen Dazs. She is expected to pull in about USD $10 million in endorsement money this year, which would rank her second in women’s tennis only behind Maria Sharapova, who makes about USD $25 million a year and is the highest earning female athlete in the world.

 

SAY IT RIGHT!

 

Germany’s Julia Goerges gets upset when people call her “gorgeous.” Her name, after all, should be pronounced “Gur-ges” with a hard “g” in each case – like “gurgle.” Umpire Graeme Jones had problems with pronouncing Goerges’ name, most of them variations of “gorgeous” and all tickling the spectators. Finally Goerges had enough and corrected the umpire. “Honestly, I don’t really like it,” the 22-year-old brunette said. “It’s just that people sometimes read my name and can’t pronounce it because they haven’t heard it before, especially in America. You can make the joke once, but you don’t have to do it two or three or four times in a row. It’s getting to really annoy me. … I want to show what I can do in tennis and it has nothing to do with how you look on court. If you’re good-looking on court, it doesn’t win any matches.” Goerges lost in the third round.

 

SOFTIE SERENA

 

Jack Marshall of Scunthorpe in northern England helped reveal the softer side of Serena Williams. The 5-year-old was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2009. His mother Tracy contacted a number of celebrities via Twitter to help spread awareness of his illness and raise money to support him and other sufferers. “I read his story and my heart kind of went out for him,” Williams said. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ That was one thing, I thought if I made it to Wimbledon, I wanted to invite Jack out. The youngster watched Williams win her second-round match. “I got to meet him yesterday. It’s just been so amazing, his whole story, to be so small to have such courage,” Serena said. “He calls me his best bud, so I love it.”

 

SERIOUSLY

 

It was 30 years ago when John McEnroe screamed at a Wimbledon umpire, “You cannot be serious.” Called “Superbrat” by the British tabloid media, McEnroe’s outburst came in a first-round match against fellow American Tom Gullikson, who was serving in the opening set when a McEnroe shot was called out. Approaching umpire Edward James, McEnroe said: “Chalk came up all over the place, you can’t be serious man.” Then, his anger rising, the left-hander yelled: “You cannot be serious. That ball was on the line. Chalk flew up. It was clearly in. How can you possibly call that out? Everybody knows it’s in in the whole stadium and you call it out? You guys are the absolute pits of the world, you know that?” James then politely announced: “I’m going to award a point against you, Mr. McEnroe.” The umpire later docked McEnroe another point for racquet abuse. After he beat Bjorn Borg to win the first of his three Wimbledon titles, McEnroe became the first singles champion to not be made an honorary member of the All England Club.

 

SET FOR TORONTO

 

Sisters Venus and Serena Williams are heading to Canada this summer. “Venus and I are thrilled to come to Toronto this summer to play at Rogers Cup,” Serena said. For the first time, Rogers Cup will be a virtual combined event with the men playing in Montreal and the women in Toronto at the same time, August 5-14. Previously the two events were played on successive weeks. “They’re really excited to get back on the court and play a lot of tennis over the next couple of years,” tournament director Karl Hale said of the Williams sisters. “They’re hungrier than ever to get out and achieve on the tennis court, which will be good for Rogers Cup.”

 

SHORTER, THANKFULLY

 

For the second straight year, Nicolas Mahut and John Isner faced each other in the opening round of Wimbledon. A year ago, the two battled their way into history as Isner needed more than 11 hours to win. Isner repeated his victory, but this time he needed only 2 hours, 3 minutes to wrap up a 7-6 (4) 6-2 7-6 (6) clash in fading daylight and move into the second round. “I’m just really thrilled to have won that third set,” Isner said, “because if I lose that third set, then chances are we don’t finish. You know, our match goes to a second day.” Last year, they battled for three days.

 

SMASH FOR JOPLIN

 

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is donating USD $100,000 to the city of Joplin, Missouri, USA, to assist with disaster relief efforts in the tornado-stricken community. The USTA is committed to helping rebuild Joplin High School and its tennis courts, which were demolished in the storm. In addition, the USTA will bring SmashZone, the interactive fan attraction featured annually at the US Open, to Missouri Southern State University in an effort to help boost the spirits of the children and families affected by the disaster. The USTA contribution consists of a USD $25,000 donation from the USTA Missouri Valley Section, a USD $25,000 donation from USTA National, and a USD $50,000 grant for refurbishment of the high school tennis courts and technical assistance. In addition to its $100,000 donation, the USTA is working with tennis manufacturers and retailers to collect additional donations including equipment and tennis gear for the Joplin High School tennis team.

 

SPIFFY GARDENS

 

A battle with his gardener over money has prevented Boris Becker from selling his villa in Spain. The gardener claims the three-time Wimbledon champion owes him nearly USD $400,000 for the upkeep of the grounds. A court has decided to hold the debt against the villa, meaning it will be claimed against any eventual sale of the property. “There is a lawsuit and we are fighting it,” Becker said. “They wanted more money than they were supposed to get. It is my house and hasn’t been taken.” Becker is asking USD $24 million for the property, which has been on the market since 2007. He wanted to gardens in pristine condition for the benefit of potential buyers. Becker now lives in Switzerland with his wife Lilly but is currently staying at his home in Wimbledon.

 

SHOWING OFF

 

In partnership with Fila, the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum in Newport, Rhode Island, USA, has unveiled a new exhibit to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the brand that has been worn by many great champions of tennis, including Hall of Famers Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker and Monica Seles. “At the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum, our mission is to preserve and showcase the history of tennis, with the goal of honoring the legends and inspiring tennis fans,” said CEO Mark L. Stenning. “From Borg’s Wimbledon victories to Seles’ French Open title, Fila has been an integral partner in great moments in tennis history and we are pleased to celebrate their milestone anniversary by showcasing the brand’s rich history to our visitors.” The special exhibit was unveiled in mid-June and will be changed throughout the year as part of Fila’s year-long celebration of the centennial anniversary of the brand. The exhibit includes design sketches as well as dramatic photos of Fila players in action. A wooden Fila tennis racquet and polo shirts worn by Hall of Famer Boris Becker are also part of the display.

 

SAD NEWS

 

Lance Lumsden, one of the best tennis players to come out of Jamaica, has died at the age of 71. According to his nephew, Richard Lumsden, the former Davis Cup player had been undergoing treatment for cancer . Lumsden played at Southern Illinois University in the early 1960s and was one of the first Jamaicans to play tennis on the international circuit in the modern era. In 1968, the first year of the era of Open tennis, he played the world number one, Australia’s Rod Laver, in the first round of the French Open in Paris. Lumsden competed in Davis Cup under the flag of the Commonwealth Caribbean. In 1966, Lumsden and Richard Russell defeated Venezuela 3-2, the first time the Commonwealth Caribbean had won a Davis Cup tie. In the following tie against the United States at the St Andrew Club in Kingston, Lumsden and Russell beat the top-ranked American doubles team of Arthur Ashe and Charlie Pasarell 6-4 7-9 14-12 4-6 6-4. It was the first time the Commonwealth Caribbean had won a Davis Cup match against the United States. Although the United States won the tie by 4-1, the doubles victory by Lumsden and Russell in May 1966 is still regarded as one of the finest hours in the history of tennis in Jamaica and the Caribbean. After retiring from tennis, Lumsden settled in Vienna, Austria, where he married and raised a family. He leaves sons Joris, Marco and Robin, the latter the current honorary consul of Jamaica to Austria.

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

 

Guadalajara: Vasek Pospisil and Bobby Reynolds beat Pierre-Ludovic Duclos and Ivo Klec 6-4 6-7 (6) 10-6 (match tiebreak)

 

SURFING

Wimbledon: www.wimbledon.com

Braunschweig: www.nordlb-open.org/

Turin: www.sporting.to.it/

The Lawn Tennis Association: www.lta.org.uk/

Tennis Brit: www.tennisbrit.co.uk/

Bastad: http://women.swedishopen.org/

Budapest: www.budapestgrandprix.hu/joomla15/

Newport: www.tennisfame.com/

Pozoblanco: www.tennispozoblanco.com/

Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com/

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

 

(All money in USD)

 

MEN

 

Wimbledon, London, Great Britain, grass (second week)

$163,300 Braunschweig, Germany, clay

$122,000 Turin, Italy, clay

WOMEN

 

Wimbledon, London, Great Britain, grass (second week)

 

SENIORS

 

Volkswagen Senior Classic, Turin, Italy, clay

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

 

MEN

 

$441,500 Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, Rhode Island, USA, grass

$120,800 ATP Challenger Ciudad de Pozoblanco Open, Pozoblanco, Spain, hard

 

WOMEN

 

$220,000 Collector Swedish Open Women, Bastad, Sweden, clay

$220,000 Poli-Farbe Budapest Grand Prix, Budapest, Hungary, clay

 

DAVIS CUP

 

World Group

Quarterfinals

 

Sweden vs. Serbia at Halmstad, Sweden, hard

Argentina vs. Kazakhstan at Buenos Aires, Argentina, clay

United States vs. Spain at Austin, Texas, USA, hard

Germany vs. France at Stuttgart, Germany, clay

 

Group I

 

Americas Zone, 2nd round: Ecuador vs. Canada at Guayaquil, Ecuador, clay; Uruguay vs. Brazil at Montevideo, Uruguay, clay

 

Asia/Oceania Zone, 2nd round: China vs. Australia at Beijing, China, hard; Japan vs. Uzbekistan at Kobe, Japan, hard; playoffs: New Zealand vs. Philippines at Taranaki, New Zealand, hard

 

Europe/Africa Zone, 2nd Round: Italy vs. Slovenia at Arzachena, Italy, clay; South Africa vs. the Netherlands at Potchefstroom, South Africa, hard; Switzerland vs. Portugal at Berne, Switzerland, hard

 

Group II

 

Americas Zone, 2nd round: Peru vs. Dominican Republic at Lima, Peru, clay; Paraguay vs. Venezuela at Asuncion, Paraguay, clay; playoffs: El Salvador vs. Netherlands Antilles at Santa Tecia, El Salvador, clay; Puerto Rico vs. Haiti at Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, hard

 

Asia/Oceania Zone, 2nd round: Korea vs. Pakistan at Gimcheon, Korea, hard; Thailand vs. Indonesia at Nonthaburo, Thailand, hard; playoffs: Syria at Hong Kong, hard; Pacific Oceania vs. Iran at Guam, hard

 

Europe/Africa Zone: 2nd round: Great Britain vs. Luxembourg at Glasgow, Scotland, hard; Hungary vs. Belarus at Godollo, Hungary, clay; Bosnia/Herzegovina vs. Estonia at Tuzla, Bosnia/Herzegovina, hard; Denmark vs. Latvia at Fredericksburg, Denmark, clay; playoffs: Ireland vs. Tunisia at Dublin, Ireland, hard; Bulgaria vs. Cyprus at Sofia, Bulgaria, carpet; Lithuania vs. Morocco at Vilnius, clay; Greece vs. Monaco at Thessalonica, Greece, clay

 

Group III

 

Africa Zone at Cairo, Egypt, clay (round-robin in four pools; two nations promoted to Europe/Africa Zone Group II for 2012): Algeria, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, Zimbabwe

Samantha Stosur an Enigmatic Loser at Wimbledon

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The Enigma (that’s capital T, capital E), upset in the first round at Wimbledon for the second year in a row, was off Court 14 on Tuesday afternoon and trudging to the locker room before the scattering of fans had finished clapping for her No. 262-ranked opponent.

Samantha Stosur

Exactly what IS the deal with Sam Stosur?

Here’s what we know about the best woman player in Australia, who has a more or less permanent second home in Tampa, Fla, — She’s fit, she’s very athletic, she has a technique-perfect serve, she trains hard, she’s got an excellent temperament on court, she’s ranked No. 10 in the world.

And she shows up at Wimbledon and can’t play a lick.

Last year, she beat down Justine Henin, No. 1 Serena Williams and No. 4 Jelena Jankovic to reach the final of the French Open, where she lost to Francesca Schiavone. Two weeks later, at Wimbledon, with a glowing future within her grasp, she lost in the first round to Kaia Kanepi.

This year, more of the same. Last week at Eastbourne, on the southern coast of England, she whipped No. 2 Vera Zvonareva in the quarters before going down to Marion Bartoli in the semis. Still. . .quarters in a grass-court lead-up to Wimbledon and a big win. That’s great preparation. She talked about how optimistic she was heading for London.

Yet there we were again on a blustery Tuesday afternoon, with Stosur facing Melinda Czink, who had won one Wimbledon match in six appearances at the All England Club and who had gone out in the first round of 14 previous Grand Slams. You could count on the fingers of one hand the number of quality backhands Sam hit off the Wimbledon grass.

I don’t want to totally denigrate Czink, who has been as high as No. 38. She has an excellent serve and is a veteran player. But whatever vague glimmer her career once displayed ended long ago and she got into this Wimbledon on a protected ranking.

Stosur was down love-3 in the opening set before she could put together a run of points in this 6-3, 6-4 defeat, but, though she didn’t play well, my sense was that Czink had a hot day serving and deserved some credit.

I expected a turn-around in set 2, but what I got was a 4-0 Czink lead in just 15 minutes. Stosur has a big, flat forehand that plays well on grass, and I’ve seen her control points with her backhands on clay. But for whatever reason, it’s just one flop after another on Wimbledon grass.

Can’t win the big ones? Is that where her reputation is headed? Losing one French Open final doesn’t offer enough evidence to support that and, in fact, you could make a stronger argument that she can’t win the small ones.

Kanepi is a mid-ranking quality player, but the loss to Czink this year is a humiliation. It’s just very difficult to understand how a player of Stosur’s talents, who has won often enough to crack top-10 (she was No. 4 back in February) can play this poorly on the world’s biggest stage.

She is The Enigma.

Na Li and Rafael Nadal take home Roland Garros 2011 crowns – Mondays with Bob Greene

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STARS

French Open

Men’s singles: Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer 7-5 7-6 (3) 5-7 6-1

Women’s singles: Li Na beat Francesca Schiavone 6-4 7-6 (0)

Men’s doubles: Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor beat Juan Sebastian Cabal and Eduardo Schwank 7-6 (3) 3-6 6-4

Women’s doubles: Lucie Hradecka and Andrea Hlavackova beat Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina 6-4 6-3

Mixed doubles: Casey Dellacqua and Scott Lipsky beat Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonjic 7-6 (6) 4-6 10-7 (match tiebreak)

Boys’ singles: Bjorn Fratangelo beat Dominic Thiem 3-6 6-3 8-6

Girls’ singles: Ons Jabeur beat Monica Puig 7-6 (8) 6-1

Boys’ doubles: Andres Artunedo Martinavarr and Roberto Carballes Baena beat Mitchell Krueger and Shane Vinsant 5-7 7-6 (5) 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Girls’ doubles: Irina Khromacheva and Maryna Zanevska beat Victoria Kan and Demi Schuurs 6-4 7-5

Men’s wheelchair singles: Maikel Scheffers beat Nicolas Peifer 7-6 (3) 6-3

Women’s wheelchair singles: Esther Vergeer beat Marjolein Buis 6-0 6-2

Men’s wheelchair doubles: Shingo Kunieda and Nicolas Peifer beat Robin Ammerlaan and Stefan Olsson 6-2 6-3

Women’s wheelchair doubles: Esther Vergeer and Sharon Walraven beat Jiske Griffioen and Aniek Van Koot 5-7 6-4 10-5 (match tiebreak)

 

OTHER

 

Yuri Schukin beat Flavio Cipolla 6-4 4-6 6-0 to win the UniCredit Czech Open in Prostejov, Czech Republic

 

SAYING

 

“I’m very happy with what I have, with who I am. I’m not the best player in the history of tennis. I think I’m among the best. That’s true. That’s enough for me.” – Rafael Nadal, after winning his sixth French Open title, tying him with Bjorn Borg.

 

“Today is the dream come true.” – Li Na, after becoming China’s first Grand Slam singles champion.

 

“He plays better against the better ones, and that’s what he showed today. He’s a great champion, on clay, especially.” – Roger Federer, after losing to Rafael Nadal.

 

“She deserved to win. One has to lose, one has to win. She deserves everything.” – Francesca Schiavone, who lost to Li Na in the Roland Garros women’s singles final.

 

“The next two weeks is Wimbledon, so I don’t have time to go back to China right now. I go back after Wimbledon, maybe people forget me already. These are tough times you know.” – Li Na, when asked about the reception she will get when she returns to China.

Na Li

 

“It’s great for the sport overall. She is a great ambassador, great athlete, great personality, a national hero in China already and the western world is beginning to get to know her and enjoying her as she has great talent on the court and is good fun off the court.” – Stacey Allaster, WTA CEO, on Li Na’s victory.

 

“It was best five months of my life, my tennis career.” – Novak Djokovic, after Roger Federer ended his winning streak at 43 matches.

 

“He went for the shots when he needed to. He served really well when he needed to serve well. What happened, happened really. I cannot affect it anymore. In some moments I was lucky, in some moments he was lucky.” – Novak Djokovic, after Roger Federer snapped his 43-match winning streak in the Roland Garros semifinals.

 

“What I would like to say, and I said it to him at the net, is that his record, although it’s not the best because other players have done better – today’s it’s so physical and professional – what he achieved is unbelievable.” – Roger Federer, after beating Novak Djokovic and snapping the Serb’s 43-match winning streak.

 

“Rafa is a better clay court player than me. That’s a fact. It’s always been like that since we both started on the tour. His results would show that. I feel like I’ve closed the gap. I think I’m better on clay, a lot better than I was last year. But I still have a way to go to be as good as him.” – Andy Murray, after losing his semifinal to Rafael Nadal.

 

“The wind blew away some clay as the match went on. Her slice would get lower and lower and it took me a lot of energy to adjust. It did really bother me. In order to dictate the points as I like to, I had to bend a lot and physically I had to make much more effort than usual.” – Marion Bartoli, explaining her women’s semifinal loss to Francesca Schiavone.

 

“It is amazing to win at the French Open. I hope Tunisia is proud of me.” — Ons Jabeur, who became the first Arab girl to win a Grand Slam tournament title when she captured the girl’s singles.

 

“I will definitely take all my family, my coach, and – if Lucie wants – I will take her, too, for a great dinner in one of the famous French restaurants. We will just enjoy ourselves, relax a little bit and have a good time.” – Andrea Hlavackova, after teaming with Lucie Hradecka to win the women’s doubles.

 

“For sure I’ll come to celebrate.” – Lucie Hradecka.

 

“I was told to stay off my feet totally.” – Andy Murray, who overcame a torn tendon in his right ankle to beat Viktor Troicki for a spot in the semifinals against Rafael Nadal.

 

“At the end I was feeling a little bit tired. The rallies were too long.” – Alejandro Falla, a qualifier, after losing to Juan Ignacio Chela 4-6 6-2 1-6 7-6 (5) 6-2 in a fourth-round match.

 

“I’m on grass at Queen’s, which is my favorite surface, I feel fine, and my shoulder has come up fine over the last couple of days in practice. I’ve been battling it for a while and my reasoning (for not playing the French Open) was that I needed to get ready for the grass. Wimbledon is probably one of my best chances of winning another Slam.” – Andy Roddick.

 

SIXTH TITLE

 

With a hard-fought 7-5 7-6 (3) 5-7 6-1 victory, Rafael Nadal continued his domination over the man some consider the greatest player of all time while also equaling Bjorn Borg’s record of six men’s singles titles at Roland Garros. Borg won his six titles in eight years while Nadal has done it in seven. It was Nadal’s 10th Grand Slam tournament title, six fewer than Federer’s men’s record of 16. “Finally I was able to play my best when I needed my best,” Nadal said. “It’s a big personal satisfaction to win this tournament, especially when you start without playing your best.” On the red clay courts at Roland Garros, Nadal is 45-1 for his career. Against Federer, he leads their head-to-head series 17-8, including a 6-2 advantage in Grand Slam tournament finals and a 5-0 edge at the French Open.

 

SINO VISION

 

It was more than just a victory when Li Na captured the women’s singles title at Roland Garros. Much more. Li became the first player from Asia – male or female – to capture a Grand Slam tournament singles crown. And, quietly, while no one seemed to be watching, she became the best player on the women’s tour this year. Li is the only woman to reach the title match at both the Australian Open, where she lost to Kim Clijsters, and the French Open. As far as rankings go, which are based on a 12-month scale, she is number four in the world, tying Japan’s Kimiko Date-Krumm for the best by an Asian player. Until Roland Garros, Li had never won a clay-court tournament, and had never advanced past the third round in her previous four French Opens. To win the big trophy, Li beat four consecutive top-10 seeded players, including three-time major champion Maria Sharapova in the semifinals and defending champion Francesca Schiavone in the title match.

 

Neat fact. When 29-year-old Li Na played 30-year-old Francesca Schiavone for the women’s title at Roland Garros, the match featured the oldest finalists since Chris Evert defeated Martina Navratilova 2-6 6-3 6-3 in 1986 – 25 years ago.

 

STOPPED

 

Novak Djokovic was one match away from taking over the number one ranking in the world when his match-winning streak was halted by Roger Federer in the semifinals at Roland Garros. The Serb also could have taken over the top spot if Federer had beaten Rafael Nadal in the title match. As it is, the men’s rankings after Roland Garros look the same as before the year’s second Grand Slam tournament began: Nadal at number one, followed by Djokovic and then Federer. Djokovic had won 41 consecutive matches to begin 2011, including his second Australian Open triumph. Combined with his two Davis Cup victories last December, Djokovic had won 43 consecutive matches since losing to Federer in the semifinals of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London last November. “I don’t regret (anything). What happened, happened really,” Djokovic said after his streak was snapped. “There’s not much to be sorry for. It was the best five months of my life, my tennis career. I cannot complain. It was definitely an incredible period. It had to end somewhere. I knew it was coming. Unfortunately, it came in a bad moment.”

 

SCANDAL

 

Daniel Koellerer has become the first tennis player to be banned for life for attempting to fix matches. A former Austrian Davis Cup player who once was ranked as high as 55th in the world, Koellerer was found guilty of three violations of the sport’s anti-corruption rules, including “contriving or attempting to contrive the outcome of an event,” by the Tennis Integrity Unit, an anti-corruption group. Koellerer, who was also fined USD $100,000, denied the charges and said he may appeal the ban. Nicknamed “Crazy Dani,” Koellerer has twice been suspended by the ATP for bad behavior on court. In 2006, he was banned for six months. That year, he garnered so much ill feeling on the Challenger circuit in South America that 75 of the 80 players signed a petition asking that Koellerer be kicked off the tour. Last August, he was placed on two years’ probation after his personal website listed odds for matches and had links to sites for placing bets.

 

SPECIAL CHAMPIONS

 

China wasn’t the only nation to come away from this year’s Roland Garros with its first singles champion. Li Na became the first player from Asia – male or female – to win a Grand Slam tournament singles crown. When Ons Jabeur beat Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig 7-6 (8) 6-1 in the junior girl’s singles final, she became the first girl from the Arab world and Africa to win a junior Grand Slam tournament title. It’s the first time an Arab has accomplished the feat since Ismail El Shafei of Egypt won the 1964 Wimbledon boys’ singles title. Eight years earlier, Tunisia’s Mustapha Belkhodja won the French Open boys’ crown. Jabeur was a finalist at Roland Garros last year. “Last year’s loss helped,” she said. “I didn’t want to go through that again.” The 16-year-old Jabeur was a member of the International Tennis Federation/Grand Slam African 14 & Under Touring Team in 2008 and is currently receiving financial assistance through travel grants. Puig also has received travel grants.

 

SPOTLIGHTED

 

Guy Forget was presented the Philippe Chatrier Award for 2011 at the International Tennis Federation’s World Champion’s Dinner held annually in Paris. The French Davis Cup captain for the past 12 years, a former Fed Cup captain and before that a Davis Cup winning player, Forget was cited “For having an influence in both ITF team competitions that extends far beyond his own nation, having a love of his country, and for achievements in, and in support of, Davis Cup and Fed Cup.” Forget is only the third man to have played in the Davis Cup and gone on to captain Davis and Fed Cup winning teams. The other two are Yannick Noah of France and Shamil Tarpischev of Russia. Also being honored were the world number one players Rafael Nadal and Caroline Wozniacki in singles; Mike and Bob Bryan, receiving the Men’s Doubles Award for the seventh time; Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta, Women’s Doubles; Colombia’s Juan Sebastian Gomez sand Russia’s Daria Gavrilova, junior winners; Esther Vergeer, named Women’s Wheelchair Champion for the 11th consecutive year; and Shingo Kunieda, Men’s Wheelchair Champion.

 

STOPS PLAY

 

To avoid further embarrassment, the name of the ball boy who ran onto the court in the middle of a point is classified information. As Viktor Troicki prepared to hit a weak lob from Andy Murray, the youngster ran onto the court, thinking the point was over. While there was no collision with the Serbian player, umpire Pascal Maria had to call for the point to be replayed. Troicki initially seemed annoyed and stared accusingly at the ball boy as the crowd began whistling its displeasure and clearly sympathizing with the clearly upset youngster. Murray won the replayed point and went on to rally from a five-game deficit in the final set to win 4-6 4-6 6-3 6-2 7-5. “I cannot blame him, but still, I was a little bit disappointed,” Troicki said.

 

SINCE WHEN?

 

When 17-year-old Bjorn Fratangelo of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, beat Dominic Thiem of Austria 3-6 6-3 8-6, he became the first American to win the Roland Garros boys’ singles title since John McEnroe in 1977. Fratangelo and McEnroe are the only two Americans to win the boys’ crown since the Open era began in 1968. Jennifer Capriati was the last American to win the Roland Garros girls’ singles, and that was in 1989. Fratangelo, who was named after tennis legend Bjorn Borg, won the Easter Bowl and USTA Boys’ 18s National Clay Court Championships last year.

 

STEPPING ASIDE I

 

After having his 43-match winning streak snapped, Novak Djokovic pulled out of the Wimbledon warm-up tournament at Queen’s Club in London. “I’ve pulled out from Queen’s and I will take a rest before Wimbledon,” he said. The AEGON Championships at The Queen’s Club also will be without American Mardy Fish (abdominal injury) and Frenchman Richard Gasquet (leg injury). “I am very disappointed that I will not be playing in the AEGON Championships at The Queen’s Club this year,” said Djokovic, who has patellar tendinitis. “It is a great event, I wish the organizers and the fans a fantastic week of tennis and I hope I will be back next year.”

 

STEPPING ASIDE II

 

Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the AEGON Classic grass-court tournament in Birmingham, Great Britain. Traditionally, Sharapova used the Birmingham event as her only warm-up tournament before Wimbledon. The 24-year-old Russian, who lost to Li Na in the semifinals at Roland Garros, said she would be unable to play Birmingham because of illness. Also pulling out of the tournament was the other French Open losing semifinalist, Marion Bartoli of France. Bartoli, who played Roland Garros despite being hurt, cited an injury as the reason she will miss Birmingham.

 

SHARED HAPPINESS

 

Canada’s Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi of Belarus are no strangers to winning double titles in Grand Slam tournaments. It’s just that this time it was their first as a team as they defeated Eduardo Schwank of Argentina and Juan Sebastian Cabal of Colombia 7-6 (3) 3-6 6-4 for the championship. Nestor has now won seven Grand Slam tournament men’s doubles titles, while Mirnyi has five of the big trophies. “We knew on paper we’re capable of playing well together,” Mirnyi said. “Up until you produce a result, you never know.” Cabal and Schwank were playing in their first tournament as a team. Cabal was making his Grand Slam tournament debut and became the first man from Colombia to reach a major final. With a different partner, Schwank reached the semifinals last year at both Wimbledon and the US Open.

 

SHELF-FILLER

 

Andrea Hlavackova can finally take that shelf out from under her bed. She teamed with Lucie Hradecka to win the women’s doubles, the first time since the 1990s that a team from the Czech Republic has been in the Grand Slam tournament winner’s circle. “One year my friends got me a shelf with ‘This is for Grand Slam trophies’ written on it,” Hlavackova said. “I just put it under my bed, like what a silly joke. Today I realized I’ll have something to put on it. It’s great. It’s something I will remember and everybody will remember. I wouldn’t exchange it for anything.” It was the first time the unseeded Czech team had been past the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam event. The last Czech to win a Grand Slam title of any kind was Jana Novotna, who partnered Switzerland’s Martina Hingis to the doubles title at the 1998 US Open. The last time an all-Czech team won a Grand Slam tournament women’s doubles title came in 1990 when Novotna teamed with Helena Sukova to win Wimbledon.

 

SLIP UP

 

Oops! When Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) made billboard posters to promote the upcoming AEGON International tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, it featured a photo of a sandy beach. It may be pretty, but the beach at Eastbourne is pebbles. “Our tides are very strong and would wash sand right away,” said David Elkin, a Tory member of the city council. “We should make do with what we’ve got instead of airbrushing the stones away.” Kate Alexander, a 24-year-old shop worker, said: “We shouldn’t pretend to be something we’re not. The billboards are completely misleading and unnecessary. Personally I prefer sandy beaches, but it’s silly to pretend we have them in Eastbourne.” A spokesman for the LTA said: “The imagery used in this marketing campaign is intended to be fun, and not an exact representation of the beach at Eastbourne. We wanted to create a buzz around the event and it would appear we have done so.” The tournament is played on grass and is a warm-up event for Wimbledon.

 

SOUND BITES

 

Chris Evert is returning to television where she will work both as a studio analyst as well as calling matches for ESPN at both Wimbledon and the US Open. The 18-time Grand Slam tournament champion retired from tennis in 1989 after winning 157 singles titles, including three at Wimbledon and a record six at the US Open. She also won seven French Open titles and two Australian Open championships. In 1995 she was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. “I am really excited about working again in tennis as an analyst,” Evert said in a statement. “I’ve been away from TV for 10 years because my priority was raising my three boys, and now that they are older it is the right time to join the exceptional tennis team at ESPN.”

 

STRAIGHT IN

 

James Blake will return to the scene of his first ATP singles title when he joins the field of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, DC, in July. Tournament director Jeff Newman said if Blake’s ranking is not high enough for a direct entry into the event, he will receive a wild card berth. Blake upset top-seeded Andre Agassi in the semifinals in 2002 and went on to win the first of his 10 ATP singles titles. He reached the final again in 2005, losing to Andy Roddick. Others scheduled to be in the strong field include Mardy Fish, Roddick, Sam Querrey, John Isner, former world number one Lleyton Hewitt and rising Canadian star Milos Raonic. Blake was the top-ranked American in 2006 when he reached a career-high ranking of fourth in the world. In recent years his career has been slowed by injury.

 

STANDING FOR BOARD

 

Twenty-two people have been nominated for the 13-member International Tennis Federation (ITF) Board of Directors for 2011-2013. The balloting will be held September 23 at the ITF’s annual general meeting in Bangkok, Thailand. On the ballot are Amando Cervone of Argentina, Tarak Cherif of Tunisia, Dong Kil Cho of Korea, Ismail El Shafei of Egypt, Jean Gachassin of France, Lucy Garvin of the United States, Jack Graham of Canada, Naohiro Kawatei of Japan, Anil Khanna of Inida, Chris Kypriotis of Brazil, Suwat Liptapanlop of Thailand, Juan Margets of Spain, Roman Murashkovsky of Russia, Geoff Pollard of Australia, Stuart Smith of Great Britain, Rene Stammbach of Switzerland, Stefan Tzvetkov of Bulgaria, Ayda Uluc of Turkey, Karin van Bijsterveld of the Netherlands, Jon Vegosen of South Africa and Georg von Waldenfels of Germany. El Shafei, Gachassin, Garvin, Graham, Khanna, Kypriotis, Margets, Murashkovsky, Pollard, Smith and von Waldenfels are incumbent board members. The current president, Francesca Ricci Bitti, is the only candidate for his position and was nominated by 11 national associations.

 

SIGNED UP

 

Sam Querrey is returning to the Farmers Classic in July in a bid to win the Los Angeles tournament for the third straight year. Also in the field is 2008 champion Juan Martin del Potro. “To have the champions from our last three years is great for tennis and the Farmers Classic,” said tournament director Bob Kramer. “With Sam’s local ties and vocal fan base here, he always brings a lot of energy to the tournament. Sam and Juan Martin are great champions, and we are eager for them both to return to UCLA.” Last year, Querrey defeated Andy Murray in the final. He is seeking to join Hall of Famers Fred Perry (1932-34) and Don Budge (1935-37) as the only players to three-peat.

 

SET FOR OLYMPICS

 

For the fourth straight Olympics, the ATP will award ranking points for players participating in the London Games. As a result of the agreement, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will allow nations to receive up to four entries into the men’s singles and two entries into the men’s doubles, with a maximum number of six men per country on-site. The South African Airways 2012 ATP rankings of June 11, 2012, will be used as the basis for determining the 56 direct entries into the 64-player men’s singles draw, subject to a maximum of four players per country as well as existing eligibility requirements. Six of the remaining eight singles places will be selected by the International Tennis Federation’s Olympic Committee, taking into consideration a player’s singles computer ranking and a geographic distribution of nations entered, as well as two Tripartite Commission Invitations decided by the IOC, National Olympic Committees and the ITF. The tennis competition at the 2012 London Games will be held on the grass courts of Wimbledon.

 

SAD NEWS

 

Pauline Betz Addie, who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1965, is dead. Addie, who had Parkinson’s disease, was 91 years old. Addie reached the final in six consecutive US National Championships (now the US Open) from 1941 to 1946, winning four times. She won Wimbledon in 1946. Her career was cut short in 1947 when she was declared a professional for merely exploring the possibilities of creating a professional tour. Barred from major competitions, which were amateur only prior to 1968, Addie began touring the country with fellow female pro Gussie Moran and top male stars including Jack Kramer and Bobby Riggs. She won seven women’s professional championships. Addie was the widow of Bob Addie, a sportswriter for the former Washington Times-Herald, which later became The Washington Post.

 

SCHOOL FUND

 

Andre Agassi and a real estate investment firm have teamed up to form an investment fund to finance charter school buildings in a bid to spur the growth of independent public education. The fund, called the Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund, plans to finance up to USD $750 million worth of new school construction or remodeling of buildings to accommodate schools in low-income, urban communities across the country. Investors in the fund include Intel Capital, Citigroup and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Charters are publicly funded schools, but are operated autonomously from a local school district and can’t access public financing mechanisms, such as bond issues, to construct buildings. Agassi, who operates an award-winning charter school in a poor area of Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, has long been a champion of charter school education. The Canyon-Agassi fund will use investors’ money to build schools and lease them to charter organizations, which will later have an option to buy the buildings through low-interest, tax-exempt loans once the school becomes stabilized. The fund aims to finance construction of 75 schools, with the first slated to open in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, this fall.

 

SHARED SUCCESS

 

Prostejov: Sergei Bubka and Adrian Menedez-Maceiras beat David Marrero and Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 7-5 6-2

 

SURFING

Halle: www.gerryweber-open.com/?ref=atp

Copenhagen: http://e-bokssonyericssonopen.dk/

London: www.lta.org.uk/fans-major-events/AEGON-British-Tennis-Series/AEGON-Championships/

Birmingham: www.lta.org.uk/fans-major-events/AEGON-British-Tennis-Series/AEGON-Classic/

Den Bosch: www.unicefopen.nl/

Eastbourne: www.lta.org.uk/fans-major-events/AEGON-British-Tennis-Series/AEGON-International/

Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com/en/home.aspx

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

 

(All money in USD)

 

MEN

 

$946,840 Gerry Weber Open, Halle, Germany, grass

$895,414 AEGON Championships, London, Great Britain, grass

 

WOMEN

 

$220,000 e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open, Copenhagen, Denmark, hard

$220,000 AEGON Classic, Birmingham, Great Britain, grass

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

 

MEN

 

$595,000 AEGON International, Eastbourne, Great Britain, grass

$577,000 UNICEF Open, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, grass

 

WOMEN

 

$618,000 AEGON International, Eastbourne, Great Britain, grass

$220,000 UNICEF Open, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, grass

 

DAVIS CUP

 

Americas Zone, Group III, at Santa Cruz, Bolivia (clay): Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica

 

Asia/Oceania Zone, Group III, at Colombo, Sri Lanka (clay): Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, Sri Lanka, UAE, Vietnam

 

Americas Zone, Group IV, at Santa Cruz, Bolivia (clay): Panama, Trinidad & Tobago, US Virgin Islands

 

Na Li! Na Li!

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By Cynthia Lum

On Friday, the French fans couldn’t make up their mind, one time chanting for Novak Djokovic and the next for Roger Federer, but Saturday they were solidly behind the player from China. Yes, Francesca Schiavone did have a loud and passionate cheering section, but the spectators wanted were not on the side of the defending champion.

It’s very exciting for the Chinese everywhere. I got e-mails from all my Chinese friends saying how wonderful it was to have a champion from China. Na Li is the first Chinese to win a Grand Slam singles title. They don’t really count Michael Chang as he is really American. One of the e-mails said .. “It is very exciting to have a Chinese Chinese in the final.”

Well, she made history today, and a lot of friends along the way. Personally I like her. She has a four letter name .. so easy to spell and type. All players should change and have Chinese names as far as I’m concerned.. especially the Russians. Li also doesn’t have any annoying habits .. like screaming, grunting or making any of many objectionable noises like so many of the others. The FS AHHHHEEEE, makes me want to scream.

We are all also grateful that she finished the match in two sets… thank you Na Li, now I won’t be here to midnight again tonight.

It was emotion against calm, hyper-activity vs. focus, and focus and calm ruled the day. There were a few scary moments when Na Li lost three straight games after being up 4-2 in the second, but for most of the match she was pretty much in control. All the cameras were pointed in her direction, the photographers having already decided that she would be the one that we would need photos of when it was over, and for once we made the right call.

7-0 in the breaker .. amazing. She fell on the court in joy .. very tense for the photo pit as ball boys and security people were all running around in front of us, but I managed to get one frame of her laying on the court, and thank heaven it’s sharp and the right exposure. So that’s it for today .. again I’m writing short as I need to get on the 10 PM shuttle.

What the French Open says about the sexes

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By Thomas Swick
swickt@bellsouth.net

The French Open seems to be proving what women have been saying for centuries: Men are so predictable.

The women’s draw at Roland Garros has been a bracketologist’s nightmare, with the early departure of the top three seeds: Caroline Wozniacki, Kim Clijsters and Vera Zvonareva. Clijsters, admittedly, was coming back from time off (necessitated by the increasingly common dance floor injury). But she was beaten by a woman, Arantxa Rus, who possessed a ranking of 114 in the world and the imposing physique of a runway model. (A word of advice to the young Dutchwoman: Stay out of the clubs.)

Francesca Schiavone

Maria Sharapova survived a second-round scare from a 17-year-old, Caroline Garcia, who promptly went and played in the juniors tournament. In the quarterfinals, the #6 seed Na Li defeated, naturally, the #4 seed Victoria Azarenka.

Even the advance of the 2010 women’s champion, Francesca Schiavone, has been unexpected. Very few people watching last year’s final thought, as they did watching Rafael Nadal: “See you here next year.” The happiness we felt for the then 29-year-old Italian was very much tied to the fact that it was a once-in-a-lifetime moment. Or so we thought.

The men, by contrast, have been all status quo. In the quarterfinals, Nadal prevailed easily over Robin Soderling, the only man ever to beat him at Roland Garros (and the man he defeated in last year’s final). Perhaps the biggest revelation in this match was McEnroe’s announcement, during the one-sided second set, that his father had just sent him an e-mail saying he was sitting in Soderling’s box.

Nadal will meet Andy Murray in the semifinals, a man who won his last three matches playing on an injured ankle (not the result of dancing). While in the other semifinal, Roger Federer will play not a Maltese teen or a journeyman Jordanian but the hottest player in the world, Novak Djokovic. The top four are in the semis and all’s right with the world.

This is not to say the men’s matches have been devoid of surprises. During the Murray-Troicki match a ball boy ran onto the court, mistakenly thinking the point was over. The drop shot, thanks in large part to Murray, has returned with a vengeance. And in probably the biggest shock, the only player yet to lose a set is not Nadal or Djokovic but the gracefully-aging man from Switzerland.

Countless deductions will be made about the chaos on the women’s side and the order on the men’s. But one thing is certain: It’s good for the game. Among casual tennis fans, there are two types: Those who complain that it’s always the same faces, and those who complain they don’t recognize any of the names. This year’s French offers something for both.