francesca schiavone

Stage set for Novak Djokovic vs Juan Martin Del Potro

May 26, 2011 by WTM

By Cynthia Lum

The first Wednesday at Roland Garros is traditionally the day for kids to come out, and see their tennis heroes in action. They are given the day off from school and studies and look forward to this special event each year.They swarm around the site eating ice cream, collecting autographs, hanging out in the plaza, playing mini tennis, and going to matches. It was a perfect day for them to be here,with perfect warm sunny weather.Although a lot of the media hate this day because the crowds are tremendous, and the kid a bit unruly, I love to see their smiles and enthusiasm. It’s great to see them having so much fun, and a reminder to adults that life is not so serious, especially at a sporting event.

So, what about the matches? Well, Dj in his Darth Vader outfit.. renamed by me Djokovader… got a break when Victor Hanescu retired at in the third after an hour and 29 minutes .. Dj was never in jeopardy of loosing, but it’s good to get a break and have save yourself for the next match, which could be a lot more difficult. He faces the tall Argentine, Juan Martin Del Potro who moved easily past Serbia’s Blaz Kavcic. The Djokovader will be going for his 40th consecutive win since the beginning of the year, so he’ll be under a lot of pressure. Truth is though, I don’t see him losing that match. Del Po has a big serve and forehand, but the Serb leads 3-1 in their last four meetings.

As for Roger Federer.. well, I completely missed that match .. the longest set lasted 33 minutes and the Swiss was off the court before I could say .. “get over to Suzanne Lenglen and shoot Roger.” Oh well, the good thing about tennis is the winners stay to play another day, and you always have a second chance for them, and who cares about the looser’s anyway? Kinda mean, but true.

The women’s defending champ, Francesca Schiavone of Italy raced past Russian, Vesna Dolonts 6-1, 6-2, so didn’t catch that match either, but to tell the truth, shooting the woman’s matches is not my favorite thing, so I put off shooting the early rounds unless it looks like there might be an upset .. like on Monday when 20th seed Ana Ivanovic bid farewell after loosing to unseeded Swedish player Johanna Larssen.

So it’s a wrap for today .. the last shuttle is at 10 PM and if I miss it I have to take the metro back to St. Germaine, so I’m going to make a dash for it .. keep tuned more tomorrow.

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Schiavone-Kuznetsova Epic is Second-Longest Ever Women’s Match

January 23, 2011 by Admin

Francesca Schiavone’s 6-4, 1-6, 16-14 historic fourth round Australian Open win Sunday over Svetlana Kuznetsova in four hours and 44 minutes set a new record for the longest women’s Grand Slam match ever, but was still not close to the longest women’s match of all-time.

That honor goes to Vicki Nelson Dunbar and Jean Hepner, who played for six hours and 31 minutes in the first round of the 1984 Virginia Slims of Richmond with Nelson Dunbar winning 6-4, 7-6 (13-11) in a match of lobs where the tie-break alone lasted 1 hour, 47 minutes and one point lasted 29 minutes.

Sorting through the most valuable of tennis volumes and record books THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS ($35.95, New Chapter Press, www.NewChapterMedia.com), reveals that the Schiavone and Kuznetsova epic ranks just below the fluky Nelson-Dunbar and Hepner match as the second-longest of all-time.

LONGEST WOMEN’S MATCHES OF ALL-TIME (From THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS)

6:31 Vicki Nelson Dunbar d. Jean Hepner, 6-4, 7-6 (13-11), 1984,

Richmond, Va., first round (tie-breaker alone lasted 1 hour

and 47 minutes, one point lasted 29 minutes, a rally of 643 strokes)

4:07 Virginie Buisson d. Noelle Van Lottum 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-2, 1995

Francesca Schiavone of Italy returns aga — Francesca Schiavone

French Open first round

3:55 Kerry Melville Reid d. Pam Teeguarden 7-6 (7), 4-6, 16-14,

1972 French Open third round

The longest previous women’s match in a Grand Slam tournament was at the Australian Open last year when Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova beat Regina Kulikova 7-6 (5), 6-7 (10), 6-3 in four hours 19 minutes.

A compilation of the longest women’s matches of all-time, as it appears in THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS, is listed below.

WIMBLEDON

Longest Match – Women’s Singles

3 hours, 45 minutes Chanda Rubin d. Patricia Hy-Boulais 7-6(7-4),

6-7(6-7), 17-15, 2nd rd. 1996

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Longest Match – Women’s Singles

4 hours, 19 minutes Barbora Zahlavova Strycova d. Regina Kulikova

7-6(5), 6-7(10), 6-3, 1st rd, 2010

FRENCH OPEN

Longest Match – Women’s Singles

4 hours, 7 minutes Virginia Buisson d. Noelle van Lottum, 6-7 (3-7),

7-5, 6-2, 1st rd., 1996

US OPEN

Longest Match – Women’s Singles

3 hours, 5 minutes Sybille Bammer d. Marion Bartoli 7-6 (3), 0-6,

6-4, fourth round, 2008

The longest men’s match of all-time was, of course, the 11 hour and five minute 70-68-in-the-fifth-set win for John Isner over Nicolas Mahut last year at Wimbledon.

THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS, published in a new SECOND EDITION in September of 2010, is the ultimate compilation of historical tennis information, including year-by-year recaps of every tennis season, biographical sketches of every major tennis personality, as well as stats, records, and championship rolls for all the major events. The author’s personal relationships with major tennis stars offer insights into the world of professional tennis found nowhere else.

Among those endorsing THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS include the two women who hold the Wimbledon record for most total titles – Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King – who both won 20 Wimbledon titles in their careers. Said Navratilova, “If you know nothing about tennis, this book is for you. And if you know everything about tennis—Hah!—Bud knows more, so this book is for you too!” Said King, “We can’t move forward if we don’t understand and appreciate our past. This book not only provides us with accurate reporting of the rich tennis history, it keeps us current on the progress of the sport today.” Also endorsing the book is author, commentator and Sports Illustrated contributor Frank Deford, who stated, “No tennis encyclopedia could be written by anyone but Bud Collins because Bud Collins is the walking tennis encyclopedia—the game’s barefoot professor. The only thing missing about the sport from his new edition is a section about Bud himself. But everything else is there—and it’s easy to open and use for the whole family.” Said commentator Dick Enberg “Did you ever see an encyclopedia walking? That’s Bud Collins (who sometimes runs, too). Plunge into his book and swim joyfully through the history of tennis. It’s all here.”

Founded in 1987, New Chapter Press is also the publisher of “The Roger Federer Story, Quest for Perfection” (www.RogerFedererBook.com) by Rene Stauffer, “The Education of a Tennis Player” by Rod Laver with Bud Collins, “Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion’s Toughest Match” by Cliff Richey with Hilaire Richey Kallendorf, “Tennis Made Easy” by Kelly Gunterman, “Jan Kodes: A Journey To Glory From Behind The Iron Curtain” by Jan Kodes and Petr Kolar, “Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games” by Tom Caraccioli and Jerry Caraccioli, “The Lennon Prophecy” by Joe Niezgoda, “Bone Appetit, Gourmet Cooking For Your Dog” by Susan Anson, “The Rules of Neighborhood Poker According to Hoyle” by Stewart Wolpin, “People’s Choice Cancun – Travel Survey Guidebook” by Eric Rabinowitz and “Weekend Warriors: The Men of Professional Lacrosse” by Jack McDermott, among others. More information can be found at www.NewChapterMedia.com.

Venus Shining Brightly

September 8, 2010 by Bob Greene

NEW YORK – Venus Williams, seeking her first US Open title in nine years, moved one step away from the title match Tuesday by defeating Italy’s Francesca Schiavone 7-6 (5) 6-4.

“I want to be in the final because then obviously it’s just one more step,” Williams said. “But I’m just focused on the semis, and I don’t get too excited unless the tournament is over. So at this point I’m focusing on the semifinals.

This is her first trip to the semifinals at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center since 2007 and the first in a Grand Slam tournament since Wimbledon in 2009.

“I just like seeing ‘major’ by my name,” Williams said when asked about the possibility of winning a third US Open singles crown and eighth Grand Slam tournament title. “That’s what we work for. That’s what we all work for.”

Williams jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first-set tie-break, only to have Schiavone capture the next four points. With a mini-break, Williams took a 5-4 lead and had the set on her racquet.

The French Open champion wasn’t ready to go away so quickly, however, and got the mini-break back, knotting the score at 5-5. It was to no avail and Williams won the next two points for the opening set. Going into the quarterfinal, Williams was 51-1 at the US Open when winning the first set.

Playing much more relaxed, Williams began to dominate in the second set, pounding her big ground strokes deep in the court, keeping Schiavone on the run and having to play defense. The American broke Schiavone early as she took a 4-1 lead.

Schiavone held to 4-2, then, using different spins, moving the ball around and getting a couple of breaks, took a 15-40 lead, double break point. Although Williams pulled to deuce, Schiavone gained another break point when she hit a backhand down the line that appeared to be going wide. Williams, who had been moving toward the net, stuck out her racquet and the ball ticked off the frame.

The Italian, fighting for every point, doing it with spins and placement instead of power, closed out the break and put the set back on serve when Williams drilled a ball into the net.

It made no difference. Williams broke right back, pounding her heavy ground strokes and controlling the points. An error or two from Schiavone helped as Williams moved one game away from victory.

Not so fast. A couple mistakes, capped by a double fault, gave Schiavone yet another break and the match continued.

“It wasn’t easy,” Williams said. “She played so well with a lot of spin and forehand slice. I had to wait for my opportunities.”

Schiavone netted a backhand to begin the 10^th game. When Williams sailed a forehand long on the next point, it was 15-15. On the next point Williams raced in to get a short ball, then slammed a forehand right her opponent, the ball ricocheting off the Italian’s racquet and sailing wide. On match point, Williams slammed a forehand to Schiavone’s backhand at the baseline. Schiavone’s return sailed long and Williams was in the US Open semifinals for the seventh time.

The semifinals on the hard courts at Arthur Ashe Stadium was a regular stop for Williams at the beginning of her career. She reached the title match in her US Open debut in 1997, and reached at least the semifinals in each of her first six appearances.

“I’ve always played I think pretty well here,” Williams said. “Unfortunately I even missed a couple years here, so I’m sure that didn’t help my cause.

“Other than that I feel really comfortable here, and it’s great to come back to a place where I have won and a place where I’ve played well. Obviously in ’97, you know, my first big tournament.

“So all in all, I feel positive.”

While she hasn’t won a Grand Slam title since Wimbledon in 2008, the veteran has been one of the most consistent players in 2010 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Williams is one of only two women to reach the fourth round or better at all four majors this year, Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, who is seeded number one, being the other. She also is the first 30-year-old to gain the US Open women’s singles semis since Mary Pierce in 2005.

Earlier Tuesday Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka advanced to the men’s quarterfinals when he outlasted American Sam Querrey 7-6 (9) 6-7 (5) 7-5 4-6 6-4.

“I play a good match,” Wawrinka said. “I think my serve was not really good today, but the rest was quite OK.”

Wawrinka’s victory kept alive the remote possibility of two Swiss players meeting for the men’s title. Wawrinka is in the top half of the draw, which is led by top-seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain. Roger Federer, seeking his sixth US Open crown in seven years, is in the bottom half of the draw.

In the quarterfinals, Wawrinka will take on Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny, a 7-5 6-2 4-6 6-4 winner over Spain’s Tommy Robredo.

Wozniacki and Surprises in Women’s Quarterfinals

September 7, 2010 by Bob Greene

NEW YORK – Aided by her opponent’s 36 unforced errors, including nine double-faults, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark grabbed a spot in the US Open quarterfinals Monday where she was joined by seventh-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia and two surprises – Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova and Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi.

Wozniacki, who reached the final here a year ago, outslugged former US Open champion Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-4 in a hard-hitting, error-filled baseline battle in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia chases do — Dominika Cibulkova

“I felt like I was playing well out there. I made her do those errors,” Wozniacki said after her 6-3, 6-4 victory.

Cibulkova, at 5-foot-3 (1.61m) by far the smallest competitor still remaining in the year’s final Grand Slam tournament, knocked off 11^th-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 7-5 7-6 (4); Kanepi beat 15^th-seeded Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 0-6 7-6 (2) 6-1; and Zvonareva crushed Germany’s Andrea Petkovic 6-1 6-2.

In the quarterfinals, Wozniacki will play Cibulkova and Kanepi will meet Zvonareva. The bottom half of the draw pits defending champion Kim Clijsters, the second seed, against fifth-seeded Samantha Stosur, while two-time US Open winner Venus Williams, seeded third this year, will face sixth-seeded Francesca Schiavone, the reigning French Open champion.

“I knew I could win, but I knew it was going to be tough,” Wozniacki said of her battle against Sharapova. Time and again the two traded booming ground strokes from the baseline, moving each other from side to side, probing for an opening and usually finding none. These long points – many of them over 20 strokes long – usually ended in an error as each player, but especially Sharapova, tried to go for a little too much.

“I was doing whatever I felt like was working out for me,” Wozniacki said of the slugfest. “So I had some feelings and I was going for those shots I felt like I could go for.”

For Sharapova, it was like playing a backboard.

“I don’t think I did enough,” said Sharapova, who captured the title at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in 2006. “And that really allowed her to stand, you know, far back behind the baseline and keep retrieving balls. And that’s just what she does best.

“When she had the opportunity to step in, she took it and went for her shots. Then I was on the defense.”

Sharapova was her own worst enemy. She double-faulted on three consecutive points to give Wozniacki her first service break of the match.

In her first three matches Wozniacki had lost a total of three games, so dominant was she. Sharapova matched that in the opening set. In the second set the two battled evenly until Wozniacki took charge in the seventh game to break serve, thanks to another double fault from Sharapova.

“I knew that I had to be ready for the first ball,” Wozniacki said. “I knew she was going to try to attack me from the beginning. I knew she was trying to be aggressive. For me it was important to keep as many balls in the court but still try to move her around and try to dictate as well.”

Cibulkova also tried to be aggressive. It was a tactic that worked for her.

“I was really pumped for this,” she said. “I know my game and I know myself, so I knew I could make it. I could beat everybody in this tournament.”

Kuznetsova, who also won the French Open in 2009, grabbed early breaks in both sets, only to have Cibulkova rally. The Slovakian, who is ranked 45^th in the world, the lowest ranked player still in the draw, captured the first set when Kuznetsova double-faulted at break point in the 12^th game.

Cibulkova served for the match, but Kuznetsova staved off two match points. The Slovak dominated the tie-break to reach a Grand Slam tournament quarterfinal for just the second time.

“It’s the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam, so we’re going to fight for every point,” Cibulkova said.

After a horrendous first set, Kanepi grabbed a quarterfinal berth in her second straight Grand Slam tournament. She trailed 6-0 1-0 and was facing two break points on her serve when she finally put on display the game that had eliminated fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic in the previous round.

“I had a little luck,” Kanepi said. “I was 15-40 on my serve and I served two aces. I said to myself, ’15-40, just go for it.’ I relaxed. Then the match started turning around from my side.

She broke Wickmayer twice in the second set and dominated the tie-break. The third set was a romp.

“I think she played really well” in the opening set, Kanepi said of Wickmayer. “She was hitting very hard and near the lines. So everything worked for her.

“I didn’t think I hit so bad. Just a little bit tight, a little slow, and she played very well.”

Wickmayer agreed.

“I played a really good first set, but I felt she was not far,” Wickmayer said. “I mean, she played really good tennis first set. I won the set pretty easily on the score, but all the games were pretty tough and I had to fight for every point.”

Advancing to the quarterfinals in men’s singles were Gael Monfils of France, third-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia and fifth-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden winner the early matches. The night’s final match pitted second-seeded Roger Federer against Austria’s Jurgen Melzer.

Monfils became the first Frenchman in 10 years to reach the US Open quarterfinals when he beat compatriot Richard Gasquet 6-4 7-5 7-5. Djokovic raced past American Mardy Fish 6-3 6-4 6-1; while Soderling held off Albert Montanes of Spain 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-3.

Women’s Showdowns Await at US Open

September 4, 2010 by WTM

Elena vs. Sam. Ana vs. Kim. There are some high-pressure women’s showdowns brewing in the U.S. Open round of 16.

Early on Day Five at the 2010 US Open, Elena Dementieva took out No. 24 seed Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 6-2. Dementieva recently admitted to spending a month recovering in her bed after a calf injury forced her to retire midway through her semifinal match at the French Open, but with a few U.S. Open warm-up tournaments under her belt, including a semifinal appearance in New Haven, she looks to be back in top form and ready to face her next opponent: 2010 French Open finalist, Sam Stosur.

Stosur’s appearance at the U.S. Open was in doubt in recent weeks as the Australian continued to struggle with a nagging arm injury, but she showed no sign of discomfort in her 6-2, 6-3 win over Italy’s Sara Errani. This was the second time in two weeks that the two had met, but clearly Stosur made some adjustments after narrowly squeaking out a victory in a third set tiebreak the first time around.

Ana Ivanovic continued her inspiring run today with a convincing win over French veteran Virginie Razzano 7-5, 6-0. She was all smiles after needing just 20 minutes to close out the second set, but she’ll now face a much tougher test in the form of defending champion Kim Clijsters who made easy work of No. 27 seed Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-0.

Venus Williams closed out the day with a predictable 6-2, 6-1 win over qualifier Mandy Minella of Luxembourg as sister Serena looked on. Perhaps less predictable was Venus’s “New York By Night,” sparkling black ensemble complete with glimmering nude-colored underthings. She will face Shahar Peer next.

There were some great matches on the fifth day of competition in New York, but the highlight came from exuberant Italian Francesca Schiavone when she successfully hit a between the legs shot or “tweener” in her win over Alona Bonderenko.

“I’d like to see it again,” she said, smiling.

By Blair Henley

US Open: Kim Clijsters Quietly Winning

September 3, 2010 by Bob Greene

NEW YORK – For being the defending champion, Kim Clijsters certainly has been skirting the headlines at the US Open.

On Friday, the talk was all about Hurricane Earl’s impact on New York City, which at least during the day turned out to be all bluster and very few raindrops, but not enough to halt play for long on the hard courts of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

An 18-year-old American, Ryan Harrison, had his Flushing Meadows run ended, 6-3 5-7 3-6 6-3 7-6 (6) by Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine, while Britain’s Andy Murray, one of the pretenders for the men’s crown, easily dispatched Jamaica’s Dustin Brown 7-5 6-3 6-0.

Meanwhile, the mom from New Jersey – that’s where Clijsters’s husband hails from – ran her winning streak in America’s premier tennis tournament to 17 straight matches. Clijsters lost the first three games before ripping through the next 12 to snare a spot in the fourth round of the year’s final Grand Slam tournament.

“That’s tennis,” Clijsters said. “And, until the set is over, you can still always come back and win.

“That’s what I tried to do, tried to be a little more aggressive and just go for the angles a little bit more.”

It worked to perfection for the tournament’s second seed.

“If you start to focus on how you’re hitting or feeling the ball, you might start worrying,” she said. “I was just trying to give it my best each point.”

In other early women’s matches, fifth-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia beat Sara Errani of Italy 6-2 6-3; sixth-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy, the French Open champion, downed Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine 6-1 7-5; 12^th-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia beat Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 7-5 6-2; 20^th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia defeated Argentina’s Gisela Dulko 6-1 6-2; and Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic ousted Virginie Razzano of France 7-5 6-0..

Beating the rain and winning their men’s second-round matches were 10^th-seeded David Ferrer of Spain, 12^th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, 18^th-seeded American John Isner, 23^rd-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain, Tommy Robredo of Spain, Michael Llodra of France and Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain.

Robredo advanced to the third round when Julien Benneteau of France retired while trailing 6-4 6-6 (2-1). Ferrer beat Germany’s Benjamin Becker 6-3 6-4 6-4; Lopez outlasted Benoit Paire of France 6-4 6-7 (4) 5-7 7-6 (3) 6-2; Gimeno-Traver defeated Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 4-6 6-2 6-0 7-6 (2); Youzhny beat Dudi Sela of Israel 6-1 6-3 4-6 6-3; Isner stopped Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7) 6-4; and Llodra downed Victor Hanescu of Romania 7-6 (2) 6-4 6-2.

Last year Clijsters ended her two-year retirement during which she married American professional basketball player Brian Lynch and gave birth to their daughter, Jada. In her third tournament back on the tour, she won her second US Open.

While Clijsters’ victory was big news, some were still talking about how her semifinal foe, Serena Williams, lost the match on a point penalty assessed when she went off on a profanity-laced tirade at an official who had called a foot fault on her.

Even after Clijsters won her third-round match Friday, she was asked about Serena pulling out of this year’s Open because of foot surgery.

“Look, my tournaments are not based on what Serena does,” Clijsters said testily, answering a question in her post-match interview. “Obviously I try to focus on what I have to do best, and that’s trying to play good tennis and trying to see how far I can go. Whether she’s here or not, my attitude is always the same.”

Clijsters also won the US Open in 2005. The following year she was injured and could not defend her title. Then came her retirement, marriage and family. She and her husband have homes in both her native Belgium and New Jersey, where he grew up.

“They’re both home,” Clijsters said. “I think you create that home atmosphere. You know, I even try to create it in our hotel room.

“It’s obviously nice to go to a place that you’re familiar with and you can cook yourself and do everything kind of yourself. But, obviously, my childhood memories are in Belgium. I still live on the same street as my parents used to live, where I grew up. My grandparents live next door. That’s obviously what I go back to when I go back after the US Open.”

Right now her sight is set on yet another US Open victory. She has won three hard court titles his year, including a US Open warm-up event in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. There, she beat Ivanovic when the Serb retired from the match while trailing 2-1. The two will battle in the fourth round.

“She had some injuries when I played her in Cincinnati in the semifinals,” Clijsters said. “The first three games we played I think were pretty good tennis. We can kind of have a rematch here.”

2009 US Open finalists Caroline Wozniacki, Kim Clijsters named top women’s seeds at 2010 US Open

August 24, 2010 by WTM

FLUSHING, N.Y., August 24, 2010 – The USTA announced today that Caroline Wozniacki and Kim Clijsters – who met in the women’s singles final at the 2009 US Open – have been named the top seeds in women’s singles at the 2010 US Open. The 2010 US Open will be played at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., August 30 – September 12.

Ranked No. 2 in the world, Wozniacki is the No. 1 seed at a Grand Slam event for the first time in her career and is seeking her first Grand Slam title. She will be followed by Clijsters of Belgium, the defending US Open Champion. Wozniacki and Clijsters lead the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour this year with three singles titles each. Two-time US Open champion Venus Williams is seeded third and is the only American woman to be seeded in the event. Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, the 2008 US Open runner-up, is seeded fourth. The world’s No. 1-ranked player, Serena Williams, was forced to withdraw from this year’s US Open due to injury.

After a breakthrough season in 2009 in which she won three titles and reached her first Grand Slam final at the US Open, Wozniacki, 20, has continued her strong play in 2010 with three more titles, including a victory yesterday at the Rogers Cup, an Olympus US Open Series event in Montreal. She is also the No. 1 seed at this week’s Pilot Pen Tennis in New Haven, Conn., where she is the two-time defending champion.

In addition to Clijsters and Venus Williams, former US Open champions seeded at this year’s tournament are No. 11 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and No. 14 seed Maria Sharapova. Francesca Schiavone, the 2010 French Open champion, is seeded sixth.

For 2010, the US Open followed the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings to determine the women’s singles seeds. This is the ninth consecutive year that the US Open has seeded 32 players in both singles events.

The singles draws for the 2010 US Open will be revealed live on the US Open Draw Announcement Special on ESPN2, Thursday, Aug. 26, at 12 p.m. ET. Chris McKendry will host the one-hour show from Bristol, Conn., along with U.S. Fed Cup Captain Mary Joe Fernandez and Brad Gilbert. U.S. Davis Cup Captain Patrick McEnroe will lead the on-site coverage from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.

2010 US Open Women’s Singles Seeds

Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark
Kim Clijsters, Belgium
Venus Williams, United States
Jelena Jankovic, Serbia
Samantha Stosur, Australia
Francesca Schiavone, Italy
Vera Zvonareva, Russia
Li Na, China
Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland
Victoria Azarenka, Belarus
Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia
Elena Dementieva, Russia
Marion Bartoli, France
Maria Sharapova, Russia
Yanina Wickmayer, Belgium
Shahar Peer, Israel
Nadia Petrova, Russia
Aravane Rezai, France
Flavia Pennetta, Italy
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia
Zheng Jie, China
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Spain
Maria Kirilenko, Russia
Daniela Hantuchova, Slovak Republic
Alexandra Dulgheru, Romania
Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic
Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic
Alisa Kleybanova, Russia
Alona Bondarenko, Ukraine
Yaroslava Shvedova, Kazakhstan
Kaia Kanepi, Estonia
Tsvetana Pironkova, Bulgaria

MONDAYS WITH BOB GREENE: A SUMMARY OF THE FIRST WEEK OF WIMBLEDON

June 28, 2010 by WTM

STARS

(Wimbledon – First Week)

John Isner won the longest-known match in tennis history, outlasting Nicolas Mahut 6-4 3-6 6-7 (7) 7-6 (3) 70-68

Vera Dushevina beat fifth-seeded Francesca Schiavone 6-7 (0) 7-5 6-1

Kaia Kanepi beat sixth-seeded Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-4

Daniel Brands beat seventh-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 1-6, 7-6 (5) 7-6 (8) 6-1

Fabio Fognini beat eighth-seeded Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (9) 6-2 6-7 (6) 6-4

Klara Zakopalova beat 10^th-seeded Flavia Pennetta 6-2 6-3

Chris Eaton and Dominic Inglot beat top-seeded and defending doubles champions Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic 7-5 5-7 7-6 (4) 6-7 (3) 8-6

SAYINGS

“You can’t even dream of something like this.” – John Isner, after winning the longest match in tennis history.

“I want to play, but I can’t see.” – Nicolas Mahut, when play was halted for the night because of darkness with the fifth set tied 59-59.

“We want more! We want more!” – Court 18 fans when play was halted at 59-59.

“Nothing like this will ever happen again. Ever.” – John Isner.
“[John is] a champion. He served unbelievable. Every time I was that close to breaking him he just served aces, aces, bombs. I could not do anything. I tried very hard, but he was just too good.” – Nicolas Mahut, after losing to John Isner.

“I walked on court at about 11-all in the fifth and now I’m off and they’re still going. This is absolutely amazing. In a way, I wish I was them, in some ways I wish I wasn’t them. This is a very special match. I hope somehow this is going to end.” – Roger Federer, talking about the middle day of the three-day match between Isner and Mahut.

“She said, `Oh, you’ve been coming here a long time.’ And I said, `Yes, 49 years in a row,’ and she goes, `Oh, that’s wonderful.’ … It was really an honor and a big thrill for me, because it is on my bucket list.” – Billie Jean King, relating her conversation with Queen Elizabeth.

“I live another day. This one is one I should have lost. That’s sometimes how grass-court tennis works.” – Roger Federer, after overcoming a two-set deficit on opening day to beat Alejandro Falla 5-7 4-6 6-4 7-6 (1) 6-0.

“I think about the lost opportunity. On the other hand, I played a great match. I had Federer against the ropes.” – Alejandro Falla.

“I played very well. Well, maybe not that well. “ – Michelle Larcher de Brito, after losing to Serena Williams 6-0 6-4

“It’s almost embarrassing to go out and play a Grand Slam match like that.: — James Blake, following his straight-set, first-round defeat.

SHELL-SHOCKED

It wasn’t a match for the record book – it WAS the record book. It took three days for John Isner to win his first-round match against Nicolas Mahut, and the only thing that stopped them was darkness. The match lasted 11 hours, 5 minutes, with the final set alone taking 8 hours, 11 minutes to play. Isner finally won 6-4 3-6 6-7 (7) 7-6 (3) 70-68. With thanks to the record-keepers at Wimbledon, the International Tennis Federation and the ATP Tour, the match made the following changes to the record book:

It was the longest-known match in tennis by a long shot. The second longest was 6 hours, 33 minutes when Fabrice Santoro beat Arnaud Clement in a first-round match at Roland Garros in 2004.

The 183 games obliterated the old singles match mark of 112 games when Pancho Gonzales defeated Charlie Pasarell in a first-round match at Wimbledon in 1969. The longest doubles match was 122 games in a 1973 Davis Cup tie between the United States and Chile.

In comparison, the fewest games played in seven matches to win a Grand Slam men’s singles title in the Open Era is 147, by Guillermo Vilas at the 1977 US Open.

The previous longest fifth set in a Grand Slam men’s singles match was 21-19 when Andy Roddick beat Younes El Aynoui in a 2003 Australian Open quarterfinal. The previous longest set in Grand Slam men’s singles was 25-23 when John Newcombe beat Marty Reissen in the 1969 US Open round of 16.

Mahut served 103 aces in the match – 10 fewer than Isner and the second-most in a match since the ATP began keeping records in 1991. The record prior to the Isner-Mahut match was 78 by Ivo Karlovic in a 2009 Davis Cup tie against the Czech Republic. Karlovic lost that match to Radek Stepanek.

That makes the record for combined aces in a match 216. The old mark was 96 set by Karlovic and Stepanek.

There were 168 consecutive service holds, and until the final game the last break of serve had been in the second game of the second set.

In a game between two big servers that had so many aces, it was remarkable that the last two points of the match came on winners – a forehand passing shot and a backhand down the line.

At the All England Club, the courtside electronic scoreboard got stuck at 47-47 when the score really was 48-48, then went dark entirely. When the two got to 50-50, the Wimbledon website’s live scoring feature began over at 0-0 with the notation to add 50 to each score. When Isner and Mahut returned to play on the third day, both the courtside scoreboard and the website’s live scoreboard had been re-programmed to display the correct score.

SITE SEEN

Queen Elizabeth II attended her first Wimbledon match in 33 years, applauding Briton Andy Murray’s victory on Centre Court and shaking hands with former and current champions. Among those who greeted the Queen were Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Serena and Venus Williams, Murray and Roger Federer. The last time the Queen had been at Wimbledon, she handed the women’s championship trophy to Great Britain’s own Virginia Wade. Murray is the only British player still left in the singles draws. Her visit was upstaged by John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, who were playing their fifth set the entire day without losing serve.

SHORT DAY

After playing and winning the longest match in tennis history, John Isner returned the next day for his second-round match as was eliminated in the shortest men’s match of this year’s tournament. Isner lost 6-0 6-3 6-2 to Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands in 74 minutes. “Right now, I just can’t wait to sit down on a couch for a prolonged period of time,” Isner said. “I spent a lot of hours on my feet the last three, four days. I just need to sit back and rest and let my body recoup.”

SHOCKED

Two-time defending champions Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic failed to make it past the second round in men’s doubles this year. The top-seeded pair lost to Great Britain’s Chris Eaton and Dominic Inglot 7-5 5-7 7-6 (4) 6-7 (3) 8-6. Canada’s Nestor and Serbia’s Zimonjic had won 13 straight matches at the All England club, winning the title in both 2008 and 2009.

SKIPPING THROUGH

Frenchman Gilles Simon didn’t have to hit a single ball to gain a third-round berth. That’s because his opponent, Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko, withdrew from the tournament with a right rotator cuff injury. Marchenko had a truncated first-round win when his opponent, Michael Berrer, quit after two sets.

SHIAVONE SHUFFLED OFF

The sun shines only briefly on tennis players. Italy’s Francesca Schiavone discovered that truth quickly. Fifteen days after she won her first Grand Slam tournament title at Roland Garros, she suffered a first-round loss on the grass at Wimbledon. A year ago, Schiavone was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon. This time, she was ushered out of the tournament by Russia’s Vera Dushevina. “Different surface, a different feeling,” Schiavone said. “I did not take my chances. It’s not easy on grass if you do not serve so good.” Dushevina wasn’t surprised that she won. “I had a plan,” she said. “Francesca is the French Open champion but I have been junior champion here and I know how to play on grass.”

SPITTING FINE

Victor Hanescu apologized for spitting at hecklers in his third-round match, but still is USD $15,000 poorer. The Romanian was fined USD $7,500 for unsportsmanlike conduct after swearing and splitting in the direction of hecklers in the crowd on Court 18. He was fined another USD $7,500 for not using “best efforts” at the conclusion of his match against Germany’s Daniel Brands. Hanescu foot-faulted and served a series of double faults in the final game of his match before retiring while trailing 0-3 in the fifth set. He had been issued a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct earlier in the set. “I lost my control briefly in the fifth set after another insult from someone in the crowd,” Hanescu said. “I should have never done that, but I am human and I made a mistake.”

SOLID CASE

A challenge from the German Tennis Federation has been rejected by a federal appeals court in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The three-judge panel of the 3^rd US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a 2008 federal jury verdict in Delaware rejecting the federation’s antitrust claims against the ATP for restructuring the tour’s schedule and demoting the clay court tournament in Hamburg, Germany, to second-tier status. The move eliminated Hamburg as a key warm-up for the French Open. The German federation and the Qatar Tennis Federation – which owns a stake in the Hamburg tournament – have not decided yet whether to try to take the case to the United States Supreme Court.

STAGE FRIGHT

Lindsay Davenport has won three Grand Slam singles titles and two doubles crowns, including Wimbledon in 1999. Yet she says returning to Wimbledon has given her a slight case of stage fright. “I’m a little nervous and stressed out,” Davenport admitted after her first mixed doubles match, which she and Bob Bryan won. “I was getting sick to my stomach before we went out there, like, ‘What are we doing?’ But I miss having a purpose at home on some days, so it was fun getting up to practice for this.” The tournament is Davenport’s first since the 2008 US Open. The 34-year-old mother of two is going to play only doubles at Wimbledon and two other tournaments in California. She said she will definitely not play the US Open, but has left open any other plans to play in other events.

SLAMMIN’ SISTERS

Serena and Venus Williams are seeking their fifth consecutive Grand Slam tournament women’s doubles championship and 13^th overall. The two are seeded number one in doubles, while also seeded numbers one and two in the singles. Last year they met for the Wimbledon singles title, Serena wining the crown, then teamed up to win the doubles.

SWITCHING COACHES

Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka has ended his relationship with his coach, Dimitri Zavalioff, after working together since the start of Wawrinka’s career. “Thanks to him I have won the Roland Garros junior title, two ATP World Tour events and reached number nine in the ATP Rankings in 2008,” Wawrinka said. “He played a major role in my career and I am extremely grateful.” Wawrinka, who suffered at first-round loss at Wimbledon this year, has not named a new coach.

STEPPING UP

Yen-Hsun Lu is breaking new ground. He became the first Taiwanese man to reach the second week of a Grand Slam tournament when he bested Florian Mayer of Germany in a third-round match. Lu was leading 6-4 6-4 2-1 when Mayer retired injured. Lu had reached the third round of the 2009 Australian Open. Hsieh Su-Wei became the first Taiwanese woman to reach the fourth round of a major, that coming at the Australian Open in 2008.

STEPANEK HURT

The Czech Republic won’t have Radek Stepanek when it meets Chile in a Davis Cup World Group quarterfinal next month. The right-hander has been sidelined with a left knee injury. Czech Davis Cup captain Jaroslav Navratil picked Jan Hajek to join Tomas Berdych in the singles for the July 9-10 competition in Coquimbo, Chile. Completing the Czech team will be doubles specialists Lukas Dlouhy and Frantisek Cermak.

SEEKING TO BE BRITISH

Dustin Brown may have become the first Jamaican to play at Wimbledon in 40 years, but he wants to play Davis Cup for Great Britain. Brown, who has climbed more than 350 places in the rankings to 105, lost his first-round match to 16^th-seeded Jurgen Melzer 6-3 4-6 6-2 6-3. He says he has fallen out with the Jamaican Tennis Federation and hopes to play for Britain. His Jamaican father has British roots, while his mother is German. “Something has to happen also from the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association),” Brown said. “If they are interested, then they have to step towards me.”

STARRING

Irina Falconi of Georgia Tech and Robert Farah of the University of Southern California have been named the 2010 Campbell/ITA National College Players of the Year in the United States. Farah is a senior from Cali, Colombia, and has been his team’s captain for three seasons, that include consecutive National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) team titles. Falconi is a sophomore from Jupiter, Florida, USA and has been ranked number one throughout the entire spring season.

STARTING SOMEWHERE

Opportunity Tournaments will be held in three Southern California locations with the winner of each event awarded a wild card into the qualifying draw of the Mercury Insurance Open, which begins July 31 in La Costa, California, USA. The Opportunity Tournaments are open to all interested female players and requires a USD $40 entry fee. The draw size for each event will be limited to 32 players and acceptances will be made according to Sony Ericsson WTA Tour ranking, college record and/or junior record. Among early entries into the Mercury Insurance Open are Samantha Stosur, Dinara Safina, Nadia Petrova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ana Ivanovic. Former two-time tournament champion Lindsay Davenport has accepted a wild card into the doubles where she will partner fellow American Liezel Huber.

SITES TO SURF

Wimbledon: www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/index.html

Braunschweig: www.nordlb-open.de/

Turin: www.sporting.to.it

Cuneo: www.countrycuneo.com

Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com

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

Budapest: www.gazdefrancegrandprix.com

Newport: www.tennisfame.com/

Pozoblanco: www.tennispozoblanco.com

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

ATP

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

$132,000 NORD/LB Open 2010, Braunschweig, Germany, clay

$105,000 Sporting Challenger, Turin, Italy, clay

WTA

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

$100,000 Cuneo 2010, Cuneo, Italy, clay

DAVIS CUP

Americas Zone Group IV, at Panama City, Panama, clay (round-robin with top two nations promoted to Americas Zone Group III): Barbados, Honduras, Panama, Trinidad & Tobago, US Virgin Islands

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

ATP

$442,500 Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, Rhode Island, USA, grass

$105,000 Open Diputacion Ciudad Pozoblanco, Pozoblanco, Spain, hard

WTA

$220,000 GDF SUEZ Grand Prix, Budapest, Hungary, clay

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

DAVIS CUP

World Group Quarterfinals

France vs. Spain at Clermont-Ferrand, France

Russia vs. Argentina at Moscow, Russia

Croatia vs. Serbia at Split, Croatia

Chile vs. Czech Republic at Coquimbo, Chile

Americans Zone Group II Second Round: Venezuela-Peru at Maracaibo, Venezuela; Paraguay-Mexico at Encarnacio, Paraguay

Americas Zone Group II Playoffs: Bolivia-El Salvador at Cochabamba, Bolivia; Guatemala-Netherlands Antilles at Guatemala City, Guatemala

Asia/Oceania Zone Group I First Round Playoffs: Chinese Taipei-Philippines at Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Korea-Uzbekistan at Gimcheon, South Korea

Asia/Oceania Zone Group II Second Round: Indonesia-Thailand at Jakarta, Indonesia; New Zealand-Pakistan at Taranaki, New Zealand

Asia/Oceania Zone Group II Playoffs: Malaysia-Pacific Oceania at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Sri Lanka-Hong Kong, China at Colombo, Sri Lanka

Europe/Africa Zone Group I First Round Playoffs: Belarus-Netherlands at Minsk, Belarus

Europe/Africa Zone Group II Second Round: Ireland-Lithuania at Dublin, Ireland; Slovenia-Bulgaria at Otocec, Slovenia; Cyprus-Portugal at Cruz Quebrada, Portugal; Bosnia and Herzegovina-Estonia at Tallinn, Estonia

Europe/Africa Zone Group II Playoffs: Turkey-Great Britain at Eastbourne, Great Britain; Norway-Monaco at Monte Carlo, Monaco; Egypt-Denmark at Cairo, Egypt; FYR Macedonia-Hungary at Godollo, Hungary

WIMBLEDON DRAW COULD FORTELL SERENA-SHARAPOVA, HENIN-CLIJSTERS FOURTH-ROUNDERS

June 18, 2010 by WTM

A fourth round encounter with Maria Sharapova could be in the cards for top seed Serena Williams as the draws for the 2010 Wimbledon championships were released Friday.

Sharapova famously defeated Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final as a 17-year-old. Williams won her third Wimbledon title last year, defeating sister Venus in the singles final.

Williams opens with Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal while Sharapova plays Kateryna Bondarenko of the Ukraine in the first round. Sharapova will likely have to get by Daniela Hantuchova in the third round before a potential fourth-rounder with Serena.

No. 6 seed and French Open finalist Sam Stosur and No. 3 seed Caroline Wozniacki and 2009 US Open finalist highlight the second quarter of the draw – to potentially play Serena in the semifinals.

Kim Cljisters, seeded No. 8 and playing Wimbledon for the first time since 2006, could face fellow Belgian Justine Henin in the round of 16. Henin, seeded No. 17, potentially would have to get passed No. 12 seed Nadia Petrova in the third round. No. 4 seed Jelena Jankovic is the highest seed in the quarter. The Serbian former world No. 1 has a curious opening round match against promising British teenage Laura Robson.

Clijsters, who last year played in an exhibition test match for Wimbledon’s retractable roof against Steffi Graf last year, opens against Italy’s Maria Elena Camerin.

The bottom quarter of the draw is highlighted by Venus Williams, the No. 2 seed, who opens against Rossana de los Rios of Paraguay, who like Clijsters, is one of the few mothers competing on the WTA Tour. Former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, unseeded, takes on Shahar Peer of Israel, seeded No. 13, in an interesting first-round match. Francesca Schiavone, the No. 5 seed and reigning French Open champion, opens against Vera Dushevina of Russia and is seeded to potentially face Venus Williams in the quarterfinals.

For the full women’s draw, go to www.Wimbledon.org.

FEDERER SEEDED NO. 1 AT WIMBLEDON, DESPITE BEING NO. 2

June 16, 2010 by WTM

Despite being ranked No. 2, Roger Federer will be No. 1 at Wimbledon.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club, using their prerogative to seed as they place, seeded the six-time Wimbledon champion Federer No. 1 in the men’s singles field, ahead of Rafael Nadal, who took over the top ranking from Federer on June 7.

Nadal won his only title at Wimbledon in 2008, defeating Federer 9-7 in the fifth set. He did not defend his title last year due to knee problems.

Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event where seedings can differ from a player’s ranking. Organizers take into account a player’s performance on grass in the previous two years.

Nadal’ s return to the No. 1 spot, earned after winning a fifth French Open title on June 6, prevented Federer from surpassing Pete Sampras’s record of 286 weeks at the top. Federer has been No. 1 for 285 weeks.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic was seeded third for Wimbledon, while Andy Murray of Britain was seeded fourth. Andy Roddick of the U.S., last year’s losing finalist, was named the No. 5 seed.

The women’s seedings follow the WTA Tour singles rankings list, the All England Club said. Top-ranked Serena Williams, the defending champion, is the top seed ahead of her sister Venus. Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki is the No. 3 seed, followed by Jelena Jankovic of Serbia at No. 4.

French Open champion and sixth-ranked Francesca Schiavone of Italy was named fifth seed after world No. 5 and Olympic champion Elena Dementieva of Russia pulled out with a calf injury.

For full seeding and tournament information, go to www.Wimbledon.org

SAM STOSUR PLAYS LIKE A MAN

June 11, 2010 by WTM

By Blair Henley

Francesca Schiavone may have rained on Samantha Stosur’s French Open parade, but the 26-year-old Australian’s run of upsets at Roland Garros this year cemented her status as a new “it-girl” on the women’s tour.

The media took advantage of any opportunity to get to know Stosur in Paris, asking her countless questions about everything from her mindset to her signature sunglasses.

But there’s one more question I would love to know the answer to:

How does it feel to be told you play like a man?

ESPN analyst and former touring pro Mary Carillo made the analogy during Stosur’s match against Justine Henin. After a slow start Stosur proceeded to dominate the four-time French Open champion, kicking in serves that bounced above head-level and running the Belgian relentlessly from side to side with superhuman amounts of spin.

Aussie great Pat Cash was quick to give his opinion after Stosur upset top-seeded Serena Williams in the next round.

“She’s got the perfect game for clay: big, powerful,” he said. “She plays like a man. Big serve and brings a lot of pressure.

On one hand this is the ultimate compliment.

Stosur’s approach to the game is the opposite of dramatic. Her racket bag is like her briefcase. The court is her office, and she’s just there to get the job done. There is no shrieking. There are no obnoxious celebrations. She acts like she’s been there before, even when she hasn’t. She is the antithesis of the many attention-seeking players on the women’s tour.

Add that to the fact that she has an unusually high-bouncing, penetrating kick serve as well as punishing groundstrokes with topspin to spare and it seems like Carillo and Cash have made a fair assessment.

But it just so happens Stosur also looks like she could leg press the weight of my car and beat Mike Tyson in an arm-wrestling contest.

In short, it seems unlikely that such an analogy would have been used if she had a physique more closely resembling ultra-feminine stars Maria Sharapova or Ana Ivanovic.

Even Serena Williams, who has more power behind her shots than just about anyone on the women’s tour is, for the most part, spared that crass comparison. Why is that?

The trouble comes when fans, commentators and even fellow players have difficulty separating the game-style and the person.

Just ask Amelie Mauresmo.

Lindsay Davenport apologized for comments she made after losing to a muscular Mauresmo in the semifinals of the 1999 Australian Open. Davenport said she felt “like she was playing a guy.”

Martina Hingis went even further that same year calling the broad-shouldered Frenchwoman “half a man.” The comment was quickly retracted.

After Stosur steamrolled (man-handled?) Jelena Jankovic 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals at Roland Garros last week, the willowy Serb made similar comments.

“To be honest, she kind of has almost a game like a man,” Jankovic said. “That’s what it feels like. When I look at how the men play, she has a very good kick, which not many women have. It’s very heavy, the spin. And then she runs around the forehand. She’s been very impressive.”

And that is the definition of a backhanded compliment.

Unlike Cash and Carillo’s observations, Jankovic’s words seemed more like an attempt to make excuses at her opponent’s expense for an embarrassingly bad loss.

Interestingly, Davenport and Hingis were blasted in the press for their words over ten years ago, but Jankovic got off scot-free. The two situations differ in only one way. Mauresmo had acknowledged her same-sex preferences to the media prior to the remarks being made.

Sam Stosur has always handled the media with grace. There’s no doubt she would brush off these comments if asked about them directly – heck, she may even be flattered by them. But people should use caution before throwing the gender card around at will.

After all, you’d think twice before telling a guy he plays like a girl, right?

MONDAYS WITH BOB GREENE: NADAL AND SCHIAVONE ARE THE WINNERS OF THE FRENCH OPEN 2010

June 7, 2010 by WTM

STARS

French Open

Men’s singles: Rafael Nadal beat Robin Soderling 6-4 6-2 6-4

Women’s singles: Francesca Schiavone beat Samantha Stosur 6-4 7-6 (2)

Men’s doubles: Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor beat Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy 7-5 6-2

Women’s doubles: Venus Williams and Serena Williams beat Katarina Srebotnik and Kveta Peschke 6-2 6-3

Mixed doubles: Nenad Zimonjic and Katarina Srebotnik beat Julian Knowle and Yaroslava Shvedova 4-6 7-6 (5) 11-9 (match tiebreak)

Boys singles: Agustin Velotti beat Andrea Collarini 6-4 7-5

Girls singles: Elina Svitolina beat Ons Jabeur 6-2 7-5

Boys doubles: Duilio Beretta and Roberto Quiroz beat Facundo Arguello and Agustin Velotti 6-3 6-2

Girls doubles: Timea Babos and Sloane Stephens beat Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino and Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor 6-2 6-3

Other

Jan Hajek beat Radek Stepanek 6-0 retired to win the Unicredit Czech Open in Prostejov, Czech Republic

SAYINGS

“I love this place with all my heart because it gave me so much joy. Winning here in Paris is ever so special. It’s a huge pleasure. I’m very lucky, and I was very fortunate in life to have had the opportunity of experiencing all this at the age of 24. Never in my wildest dream would I have dreamt of such beautiful presents. Life has been very kind to me.” – Rafael Nadal, after winning his fifth French Open.

“Rafa always plays kind of the same. He has more or less one game, but he does it so well it’s enough to not lose a match on clay for a whole year.” – Robin Soderling, after losing the French Open final to Rafael Nadal.

“I want to go home to Mommy and Daddy. This is my goal for the moment. Usually we do good dinner or good lunch, 10 people, usually. Now I think I have to buy a new house, bigger, for 50 people.” – Francesca Schiavone, explaining her plans after winning Roland Garros.

“Congrats Schiavo! Great to see one of the nicest, funniest, coolest, honest and hard-working girls win the trophy!” – Kim Clijsters, tweeting Francesca Schiavone.

“I am disappointed, not just because I lost, but it has been a big journey and a great two weeks. I guess I wanted the full fairytale, but it didn’t quite happen.” – Samantha Stosur, after losing the final.

“I told her you have to be brave. You have to take risks. You have to go out there and do something special. This is not a little tournament. This is Roland Garros. Something extraordinary is needed.” – Corrado Barazzuti, Italy’s Fed Cup captain who acts as Schiavone’s unofficial coach.

“To be number one in singles and doubles simultaneously is such a great moment, something that I wouldn’t have imagined. It took a lot of hard work and was not easy for us to get to the top, and I hope we can hold onto this accomplishment for a long time.” – Serena Williams.

“It’s really tough when you play one Williams. When you play two, it’s really not an easy win.” – Venus Williams, after she and sister Serena Williams won their fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament doubles title.

“They all come to an end at some stage. You hope it doesn’t happen, but they do. I mean, it was a great run. Now I’ve got the quarterfinal streak going, I guess.” – Roger Federer, who failed to reach the semifinals of a major for the first time since Roland Garros in 2004.

“We’ve knocked on the door a couple times, semis and final last year. It was a pretty bitter loss to these guys that we beat today, and it was nice to avenge that.” – Daniel Nestor, after he and Nenad Zimonjic won the men’s doubles title.

“I just wanted so much that the adventure could keep going. It’s always difficult to lose, especially in a place I love as much as Roland Garros, without showing your best tennis.” – Justine Henin, after losing to Samantha Stosur.

“I don’t think I played a bad match, so it’s easier to go out this way.” – Roger Federer, after losing to Robin Soderling.

“I made a big mistake. I made him come back into the match with my unforced errors and then he caught the momentum and he was playing really well.” – Novak Djokovic, after losing to Jurgen Melzer in the quarterfinals.

SPANISH GOLD

By recapturing his Roland Garros championship, Rafael Nadal also reclaimed the number one ranking in men’s tennis. The Spaniard crushed Robin Soderling 6-4 6-2 6-4 – it wasn’t as close as the score indicates – in the final of the year’s second Grand Slam tournament. Nadal becomes only the second man in history to win five or more French Opens. Sweden’s Bjorn Borg finished with six Roland Garros titles, but it took him seven tries to win his first five. Nadal’s victory was his fifth in six years as he gained revenge on the man who upset him on the red clay of Paris last year. Nadal’s triumph at Roland Garros completes a 22-match winning streak in which he became the first player to win all three clay-court ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in the same year. He last held the number one ranking on June 29, 2009, when he was surpassed by Roger Federer. That leaves Federer one week shy of equaling Pete Sampras’ all-time record of 286 weeks as number one.

With his seventh career Grand Slam tournament title – one Wimbledon and one Australian Open to go along with his five French Opens – Nadal is the first player to qualify for the season-ending 2010 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, which will be held in London in late November. Only the top eight players will compete for the singles title in the showpiece event.

SUPER SCHIAVONE

When Francesca Schiavone fell to the court, her white outfit covered with red clay, she started a rush to the record books. She turns 30 years old this month, making her the second-oldest player in the Open Era to win a first Grand Slam tournament title. Great Britain’s Ann Jones was 30 years, 8 months when she won Wimbledon in 1969. Not only was Schiavone the first Italian woman ever to win a major, she was the first to reach a major final and the first in the Open Era to reach a semifinal at a Grand Slam tournament. “I can still improve,” Schiavone told Italian reporters earlier in the week. “I can still be more explosive. I can still put more spin on my shots. I can still hit deeper. I can still improve my serve. I’m just beginning.” Like Schiavone, Samantha “Sam” Stosur was also playing in her first major final. And she agreed with her conqueror. “It doesn’t matter what the age. If you’ve got that desire, anyone can do it,” the 26-year-old Australian said. “It proves you don’t have to be a teen-age wunderkind superstar.”

What a difference a year makes. Last year, Schiavone and Stosur met in the first round of the French Open and Stosur won 6-4 6-2. This year’s meeting between the two was the first time in the Open era that both finalists were appearing in a Grand Slam tournament final for the first time.

STRONG DRAW

This year’s finalists – Italy and the United States – won’t have an easy time of it when they play their first-round Fed Cup World Group ties in 2011. Italy will travel to Australia while the United States will play at Belgium. Other first-round matches in the women’s international team event will have France at Russia and the Czech Republic at Slovakia. The World Group II first-round matches next year will have Spain at Estonia, Germany at Slovenia, Canada at Serbia and Ukraine at Sweden. The United States will play host to Italy on November 6-7 for the 2010 Fed Cup championship. In last year’s final, Italy beat the Americans.

SHOWMANSHIP

When Robby Ginepri sprawled onto the red clay chasing a shot in his French Open match, he surprised the crowd by performing a series of pushups. “I felt a little stupid slipping and falling on my face, so I tried to get the crowd back to my side,” Ginepri said of his impromptu exercises. The crowd loved it, but Ginepri was immediately broken by his opponent, Novak Djokovic, and never regained his momentum. “You know, maybe that took a little bit of my focus away doing that. I’ll probably never do pushups again on court,” Ginepri said. It had been a tight match until that point, but Ginepri won only three more games in the match.

SUPREME EFFORT

Serena Williams has joined an elite group of players who have been ranked number one in the world in both singles and doubles. Serena and her sister Venus clinched the number one doubles ranking when they won their French Open semifinal. The Americans went on to capture their second Roland Garros title, defeating Katarina Srebotnik and Kveta Peschke 6-2 6-3. It was their 12^th Grand Slam doubles crown. They became only the third women’s doubles pair to win four major titles in a row. Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver did it in 1983-84, and Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva did it in 1992-93. By moving atop the rankings in both singles and doubles, Serena becomes the sixth woman to accomplish the feat and the first since Kim Clijsters in 2003. Others in the group are Navratilova, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport.

SKINNIEST OF MARGINS

Who knew when they won their first-round match 6-2 6-3 that Nenad Zimonjic and Katarina Srebotnik would have so many close shaves before winning the mixed doubles title at Roland Garros. Seeded sixth, the pair played four consecutive match tiebreaks in the five rounds, besting Julian Knowle and Yaroslava Shvedova in the final 4-6 7-6 (5) 11-9 (match tiebreak). “We saved a lot of match points this week and I don’t even know how we won today, so it’s a great feeling,” Zimonjic said. And in their final three matches, they lost the first set before rallying to victory. Zimonjic later added the men’s doubles title to his growing trophy case, giving him seven Grand Slam tournament titles. Srebotnik has won four major titles, all in mixed doubles.

STILL GRACIOUS, STILL SMILING

Roger Federer, his reign as French Open champion ended in the quarterfinals and his spot as the number one player also gone, took a look at his record stretch of reaching 23 consecutive Grand Slam tournament semifinals. “They all come to an end at some stage,” he said of his first failure to reach the final four of a major since losing in the third round at Roland Garros to Gustavo Kuerten in 2004. “It’s been an amazing run. If I could have signed for all those semis in a row, I would have done it right away.”

STEAMED

When the wheels fell off of his game, even the line calls went against Novak Djokovic. The third-seeded Serbian was cruising along with a two-set lead over Jurgen Melzer in the French Open quarterfinals. Djokovic led 2-0 in the third set when the Austrian became his remarkable comeback. Then, with Melzer serving for the match at 5-4 in the fifth set, he was wrong-footed by a Djokovic crosscourt shot. Melzer asked the umpire to inspect the mark. Carlos Bernardes climbed down from the chair, took a close look and ruled the ball was out. “From my side and my perspective, it was looking good,” Djokovic said. “There was no space between the line and the mark, and that means the ball is good. I don’t know why the chair umpire got that decision wrong.” Melzer then served out the upset victory, leaving Djokovic to wonder about the line call.

STILL SWINGING

Lindsay Davenport hasn’t quite called it quits yet. The former number one player will team with fellow American Liezel Huber and play doubles at the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad, California, USA, later this summer. Huber and Davenport reached the doubles quarterfinals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Davenport won singles titles at the Carlsbad tournament in 1998 and 2004 and won the doubles in 1998 with Natasha Zvereva and 1999 with Corina Morariu. She has not played in a tournament since 2008 when she reached the third round in singles and doubles at the US Open.

SLIPPERY SLOPE

Olympic skier Bode Miller’s quest to play in the US Open is over. “I had no time to prepare, no time to come have a guy hit 1,000 balls at me like I used to do when I was little,” Miller said. “If you don’t do that, you don’t have any reason to have expectations.” Miller won three Alpine skiing medals at the Vancouver Olympics, bringing his career total to five. When he was in high school, he was a state tennis champion in Maine. Miller was attempting to earn a wild-card spot in the US Open qualifying. The United States Tennis Association (USTA), in an effort to put the “Open” in the US Open, is holding a series of qualifying events during the summer with the 16 sectional winners advancing to Atlanta, Georgia, to play for two spots in the US Open qualifying – one in the women’s draw, the other in the men’s draw. Anyone could enter the competition.

SORE

A right hip injury could sideline Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for the grass-court season. The Frenchman injured his hip in his fourth-round French Open match against Mikhail Youzhny. Tsonga retired from the match and underwent scans that confirmed a muscle lesion in his hip. The former Australian Open runner-up is expected to rest “for about 10 days,” according to his agent. Tsonga then will undergo another checkup to determine where he can resume playing.

STARRING

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) presented honors during the ITF World Champions Dinner, held annually during the French Open. The ITF’s highest accolade, the Philippe Chatrier Award, went to three-time Roland Garros champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil. Other award recipients were singles champions Roger Federer and Serena Williams; doubles champions Bob and Mike Bryan, and Serena and Venus Williams; junior champions Daniel Berta of Sweden and Kristina Mladenovic of France, and wheelchair champions Shingo Kunieda of Japan and Esther Vergeer of the Netherlands. Vergeer won her award for a record 10^th consecutive year.

SIDELINED

Beijing Olympics singles champion Elena Dementieva could miss Wimbledon because of a calf injury. The Russian retired from her French Open semifinal match against eventual winner Francesca Schiavone after losing the first set 7-6. Dementieva said she first suffered the problem to her left calf in a second-round win over Anabel Medina Garrigues. “It’s very painful to even walk,” the Russian said. “I got it after my second match and I aggravated it. Today it was just a sharp pain. It was a bit too much. I couldn’t really move on the court.”

STRAIGHT IN

Two Great Britain Davis Cup players and three teen-agers have been given wild-card entries into the AEGON Championships being played at The Queen’s Club in London. Great Britain. Two British players – James Ward and Jamie Baker – have been joined by 17-year-old Bernard Tomic of Australia, 18-year-old Ryan Harrison of the United States and 19-year-old Grigor Dimitrov, the 2008 Wimbledon boys champion from Bulgaria. “We always try to use our wild cards to give an opportunity to British players, young international prospects or established players who are returning from illness or injury,” said tournament director Chris Kermode. “We had initially given a wild card to Mario Ancic, who has been out of the game for a long time through illness, but unfortunately he has sustained a back injury and had to pull out.” Others who have had to withdraw from the tournament because of injuries include Fernando Verdasco, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Ernests Gulbis.

SORRY

Former Wimbledon junior girls champion Laura Robson has apologized for calling some of her fellow players “sluts.” In an interview with Vogue magazine, the 16-year-old British player said they needed to be “more discreet.” Now, Robson admits she made a “totally inappropriate, throwaway comment without considering the consequences.” The WTA said Robson did the right thing by apologizing.

SINO HELP

France will help China develop tennis players. According to Jean-Pierre Dartevelle, vice president of the French Tennis Federation (FFT), France will provide training for the Chinese coaches and players, including setting up a training base for Chinese elite players who travel to Europe for practice and competition.

SPONSOR

Oriflame, one of Europe’s fastest growing beauty brands, will become the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour’s official cosmetics partner beginning in 2011. The company, founded in Sweden in 1967, sells directly through more than 3.3 million “consultants” worldwide. Oriflame has a global presence in more than 60 countries. Under the terms of the two-year agreement, Oriflame will become an official partner of the WTA in Europe, Russia, Commonwealth of Independent States, Middle East and Africa, and will enjoy a significant presence at 26 WTA events in those markets, including the season-ending WTA Tour Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Prostejov: Marcel Granollers and Davis Marrero beat Johan Brunstrom and Jean-Julien Rojer 3-6 6-4 10-6 (match tiebreak)

SITES TO SURF

Halle: www.gerryweber-open.com/

Marseille: http://opengdfsuez-marseille.com

Lugano: www.challengerlugano.ch/

Eastbourne: www.lta.org.uk/Watch/AEGON-British-Tennis-Series/AEGON-International/

Den Bosch: www.unicefopen.nl/

Rafael Nadal: www.rafaelnadal.com

Francesca Schiavone: www.schiavonefrancesca.com/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)