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Mondays with Bob Greene: A Summary of the First Week of the Australian Open 2011

by

STARS

Australian Open

(First Week)

Alexandr Dolgopolov beat fourth-seeded Robin Soderling 1-6, 6-3 6-1 4-6 6-2

Andrea Petkovic beat fourth-seeded Venus Williams 1-0 retired

Petra Kvitova beat fifth-seeded Samantha Stosur 7-6 (5) 6-3

Peng Shuai beat seventh-seeded Jelena Jankovic 7-6 (3) 6-3

Li Na beat eighth-seeded Victoria Azarenka 6-3 6-3

Stanislas Wawrinka beat eighth-seeded Andy Roddick 6-3 6-4 6-4

Flavia Pennetta beat 10th-seeded Shahar Peer 3-6 7-6 (3) 6-4

Miles Raonic beat 10th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny 6-4 7-5 4-6 64

SAYINGS

“It’s super-disappointing because this is just not how I envisioned my Australian Open being. I’ve never had to retire from a Grand Slam, especially after working so hard to pull out the match the other day. Just hoping for some magic that I could recover. But I have peace of mind that I really gave more than my best to be out there.” – Venus Williams, after an injury forced her to retire from her third-round Australian Open match.

“I know I’m not 100 percent. I knew it before walking on the court. That’s why I say there are no excuses. I decided to play not being 100 percent. It’s been difficult in the last three days on my elbow and I just did everything that I could that it will be OK, but it wasn’t enough.” – Justine Henin, after losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova.

“You can’t win a Grand Slam in the first week, but you can lose it.” – Roger Federer, after needing five sets to beat Gilles Simon of France in a second-round match.

“It wasn’t really that I was the best player in the world, but it’s all the Grand Slams I won. That’s what gives really the emotions.” – Justine Henin, speaking about players who have reached number one in the rankings without having won a Grand Slam tournament title.

Roger Federer

“It just wasn’t a good day at the office. – Maria Sharapova, after being upset by Germany’s Andrea Petkovic.

STOP THE PAIN

Screaming in agony, Venus Williams fought through a painful muscle injury to win her second-round match, downing Sandra Zahlavova of the Czech Republic 6-7 () 6-0 6-4. But the injury proved to be too much, and Williams retired from a Grand Slam tournament match for the first time in her career. The injury occurred on the final point of the first-set tiebreak. She took a medical timeout between sets and, when she returned to the court, Williams had her right thigh heavily taped. Despite grimacing in pain through the next two sets, Williams rode her big serve and power game to victory against Zahlavova. The seven-time Grand Slam tournament champion said she had strained a psoas, a lower back muscle with tendons linked to the spine and hip. “I think this is probably the most acute one that I’ve ever had,” Williams said when asked to compare the strain with other injuries in her career. Against her next opponent, Germany’s Andrea Petkovic, Williams called it quits after the first seven points. “I obviously couldn’t play,” said Williams, who was playing in her first tournament since injuring her knee at the US Open.

SODERLING SHOCKER

This was supposed to be the tournament where Robin Soderling would seriously challenge for a Grand Slam title. Alexander Dolgopolov had other ideas. The young Ukrainian pulled off the shock of the Australian Open so far when he ousted the fourth-seeded Swede in a five-set battle. Until meeting Dolgopolov, Soderling had not lost a set in 2011. That changed when Dolgopolov won the second set. Soderling jumped out to a 4-0 led in the fourth set, eventually winning 6-4 to level the match at two sets apiece. And he broke his opponent’s serve to begin the final set. But he lost his own serve in the very next game and Dolgopolov closed out the victory on his fourth match point.

STEPPING

Andrea Petkovic has danced her way into the second week of the Australian Open. Best known for being on the other side of the court when Venus Williams retired for the first time in her career from a Grand Slam tournament match, Petkovic has been best known for her on-court hip-shaking dance after her victories.  “It started off as a bet with my coach,” the 23-year-old German said. “Going into the US Open last year I was playing terrible. I got to the first round and he said, ‘OK,  if you win this, you have to do something special.’ I won 7-6 in the third (upsetting Nadia Petrova) and I wanted to flee the court. But my coach said, ‘Hey, the dance.’ So I did it. And it became popular. Also, I am superstitious – I have played much better since I do the dance. So the dance stays.” When she moved into the fourth round because of the injury to Williams, it was same old thing for Petkovic. At the US Open in September, she advanced to the fourth round when her third-round opponent, China’s Peng Shuai, withdrew after hurting her arm. “I hope I’m not jinxing the other girls,” Petkovic said. “I really feel terrible that everybody has to retire against me in the third round. I hope next time I will make the fourth round with playing the third round.”

SUCCESS DOWN UNDER

The Australian Open is one of Andy Murray’s favorite tournaments. Ever since he won the junior title at Flushing Meadows seven years ago, the Scot has said the tournament he loves most is the US Open. But his successes Down Under over the last two years has caused the Melbourne event to rise rapidly in his affections. Murray was a finalist at Melbourne Park 12 months ago when he played the best tennis of his life before losing to Roger Federer in the title match. Now, he has returned to the fourth round of the Grand Slam tournament with the loss of just 17 games, fewer than he has conceded in the first three rounds on any of his previous Grand Slam tournament appearances. “I like the surface here better than the US Open,” Murray said. “It’s slower and I prefer that. I do like the surface here. It’s very similar to the courts I practice on in Miami. I really enjoy this tournament. It’s definitely one of the easiest to get yourself ready for, because they make life really comfortable here.”

SPEAKER KING

Billie Jean King will give the 2011 commencement address at the University of Vermont on May 22. Known for both her accomplishments on the court and as a champion for equality in women’s athletics, King was recognized by Life magazine as one of the 100 most important Americans in the 20th century. In 1972, King was the first woman named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year. In 2009, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor. And the United States Tennis Association named the site of the US Open the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

SAYING THANKS

Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu visited Melbourne Park to thank all those involved with the Australian Open for their efforts in raising money for flood victims.  Joined by Australian tennis player Alicia Molik and others Baillieu commended the efforts of the tennis community in assisting people affected by the devastating floods throughout eastern Australia. “This has been one of the most extraordinary natural disasters in Australia’s history. It’s going to cost Australians an awful lot, and anything that can be provided to support individuals and families on the ground is going to be much appreciated,” he said. Tennis Australia’s “Rally for Relief” before the tournament began featured some of the biggest names in tennis, including Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Kim Clijsters, Samantha Stosur, Novak Djokovic, Lleyton Hewitt and Caroline Wozniacki. So far the campaign has raised USD $2.3 million.

STRAIGHT TALK

When Tennis Channel aired Caroline Wozniacki’s third-round victory at the Australian Open, announcer Bill Macatee fielded a text message from a “Chris in Florida” who wondered if the top-ranked Danish player “feels like the number one player in the world, never having won a Grand Slam?” Sideline reporter Lindsay Davenport asked, “That wouldn’t be the Chris from Florida who is a Grand Slam winner herself, would it?” It turns out it was former number one Chris Evert, who was watching the match on television. In the booth next to Macatee was led analyst Martina Navratilova, who agreed that the point Evert was making has become an issue for Wozniacki because she is started to get asked about it more and more. Davenport admitted that upon reclaiming the top ranking at one point in her career she didn’t feel like number one in the world since she had not won a Grand Slam title in some time. Evert, Navratilova and Davenport all won Australian Open singles titles during their playing days.

STOPPING PLAY

The start of Maria Sharapova’s third-round match against Julia Goerges of Germany was delayed because of a bubble on the court. When she was approaching the umpire’s chair for the coin toss before the match began, Sharapova noticed something under her left foot. “All of a sudden I looked down and there was a pretty big bubble there,” the Russian beauty said. Umpire Kerrilyn Cramer took a look and the warm-up was halted. Tournament officials called in a technician who used a cordless power tool to drill a couple of holes in the rubberized surface. With the problem fixed, the match went on. Sharapova won. “Maybe it was comical to you; it wasn’t really comical to us. We warmed up and had to sit and wait for a while,” she told reporters. “They took care of it pretty fast.”

STRAIGHT IN

Andre Agassi read aloud a love letter to his wife when she was inducted into the International Tennis hall of Fame. Now, the former world number one joins her in the Newport, Rhode Island, USA, shrine. The announcement of Agassi’s induction was made at a Las Vegas, Nevada, charter school named for the tennis star, the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy. The students, who range from kindergarten through Grade 12, joined Agassi to celebrate his being named to the Hall. Agassi is the sold 2011 inductee in the Recent Player category. Additional 2011 inductees in other categories will be announced at a later date. The induction ceremony will be held July 9 at the Hall in Newport in conjunction with the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, an ATP World Tour event. Now 40, Agassi’s 60 tournament titles include four Australian Opens, two US Opens and one victory each at the French Open and Wimbledon.  He also won the singles gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and had a career 30-6 record in Davis Cup play, leading the United States to Davis Cup titles in 1990 and 1992. When he won the French Open in 1999, he became the first male player in history to win all four Grand Slam tournament titles on three different surfaces: clay, grass and hard court.

SPECIAL PLAYERS

Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and his doubles partner, Rohan Bopanna of India, have won the Willi Daume World Fair Play Trophy. The Indo-Pak Express will receive the prestigious award in Lausanne, Switzerland, on January 27. They also want to play an exhibition match across the Wagah border crossing between the two countries. Qureshi and Bopanna received the prize for their message of peace. The pair has been advocating peace between the two arch-rival countries, and their efforts have started to bear fruit with their: Stop War Start Tennis’ campaign. “A lot of good things have been achieved, the ITF is now supporting this, Peace and Sport is also supporting this,” Qureshi told Pakistani media.

STRUCK DOWN

Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli will be sidelined for six weeks after tearing a calf muscle during her second-round match against Vesna Manasieva. Bartoli, who raced through her first-round match 6-0, 6-0, lost to Manasieva 3-6, 6-3, 6-0. “It felt like an explosion inside my muscle when I pushed off at one point,” Bartoli said. “After that, it was very complicated because I couldn’t use my right leg. … The doctors asked me how I had managed to play another hour and a half. But I’m a competitor. I was up a set; it’s not easy to give up. It might not have been the best decision to take.”

SOUND THE ALARM

An exploded racquet enlivened one match at the Australian Open. Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland defeated 40-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan in a first-round battle, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, but not without an incident. With the 12th-seeded Radwanska leading 6-5, deuce, Date-Krumm served the ball. As Radwanska returned the serve, her racquet exploded, leaving the player with only a portion of the handle in her hands. The 21-year-old Radwanska grabbed another racquet and won the match three points later. Observers said Radwanska had been rapping her racquet on the court in anger during the third set, and that could have contributed to the racquet breaking.

SQUASHED

Dinara Safina’s game, at least, failed to show up for her first-round match. Third-seeded Kim Clijsters, the reigning US Open champion, hammered her Russian opponent 6-0, 6-0. It was just two years ago that Safina was ranked number one in the world before her career was derailed by a back injury. Playing on center court, Clijsters took only 44 minutes to trample her opponent. From midway through the first set, the only question was whether Safina could avoid the “double bagel.” She couldn’t. “I don’t know how to win a point … embarrassing,” Safina said of her performance, which came just a week after she lost 6-0, 6-1 to Marion Bartoli of France in the Moorilla Hobart International, an Australian Open warm-up tournament. ”Something was not right. I have to figure out the answers,” the 24-year-old said. “To lose two tournaments in a row 6-0, 6-1 and now 6-0, 6-0 – it’s really to scratch the head and thing, ‘What the hell am I doing?’ It’s not that I don’t want (to play). I want to come back and I want to play better. Definitely it hurts.”

SURE IT’S STEFFI?

Was it or wasn’t it Steffi? The man who won the auction to buy a plate from Andre Agassi and see a naked picture of Agassi’s wife said he is not positive the naked back in the photo belonged to Steffi Graf. While participating in the auction while he was in Taiwan earlier this month for an exhibition tennis match, Agassi spurred on the lagging bidding by holding up the plate and saying: “You pay more than $4,000 and I will show you a picture of my wife on my phone naked.” Franz Chen, chief executive of Taiwanese porcelain manufacturer Franz Collection, said he won the auction by bidding the equivalent of USD $7,000. Agassi showed him his phone which had a photo of the naked back of a blonde.

SWITCH

Just after Australia’s Jelena Dokic began her first-round Australian Open match against Zuzana Ondraskova, Channel Seven switched from the tennis to its 6 p.m. newscast. Television audiences were warned in advance that this would happen throughout the two weeks of the year’s first Grand Slam tournament. The conclusion of the Dokic-Ondraskova match could have been viewed on the digital channel 7mate until coverage resumed on Channel Seven at 7 p.m.

SERBIAN NO-NO

Ana Ivanovic can’t win even when she’s winning. Not only did the former world number one from Serbia lose her opening round Australian Open match, she also has been retired from the TennisReporters.net Sexiest Female Player reader poll. The reason? Because she’s a winner. Ivanovic won the poll five straight years, from 2005 to 2009, by such a large margin that tennis writer Matt Cronin, who co-owns the website, said they had little option but to take the Serbian beauty off the ballot. “She’s just plain unbeatable in that category. It was time to give other players a chance,” Cronin said. It wasn’t all grim news for the 23-year-old, however. In her honor the award has been renamed the “Ana Ivanovic Sexiest Player Award.” With Ivanovic no longer in the running, Russia’s Maria Kirilenko won the voting, followed by compatriot Maria Sharapova and Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki.

SAD NEWS

Jim McManus, a former player and founding member of the men’s tennis tour, is dead at the age of 70. The ATP said McManus died of complications following a battle with cancer. He was a member of the ATP’s original board of directors in 1972 and was employed by the tour for 28 years. ATP president Adam Helfant called McManus “a true pioneer of the game of tennis” and “one of its greatest and most significant figures.” McManus is survived by his wife and two children.

SNUBBED

Immigration officials have turned down Russian-born Arina Rodionova’s bid to become an Australian citizen, while at the same time approving the citizenship of her sister, Anastasia Rodionova. A glowing endorsement from Tennis Australia touting Arina failed to impress Australian officials, who in a letter of rejection said she was “not the same caliber as her sister.” The 21-year-old Arina has been living for the past five years in Melbourne with her older sister, who won two gold medals at the Delhi Commonwealth Games. But an application for a residency visa in August was denied by the Immigration Department. “She wants to be an Australian,” the 28-year-old Anastasia said. “We will appeal, and hopefully the government will see her a bit different. Maybe after her results here at the Australian Open they’ll see she has the potential.” The Rodionovas were the only sisters playing in this year’s Australian Open, a far cry from last year when there were four sets of sisters in the tournament. It is believed the Rodionovas are the first sisters to represent different countries in the same Grand Slam tournament since Manuela Maleeva of Switzerland and Katarina Maleeva of Bulgaria played in the 1990 French Open.

SAYONARA

Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti said he is retiring because injuries have impeded him from playing at his full potential. “It took me a lot to make the decision, I didn’t want to rush, I wanted to be 100 percent sure. I’m leaving tennis without regret,” said Lapentti. The 34-year-old was surrounded by his family when he made the announcement at the Tennis Club in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Last year Lapentti was hampered by several injuries. He currently has a tendon injury in one of his knees. “I’ll have a farewell match, but I don’t know when and against whom. I have to get over the injury first,” he said. Lapentti started his career in 1993 on Ecuador’s Davis Cup team when he was just 16 years old. He played his first ATP match in 1995 and won a Challenger in Santiago, Chile. His was ranked sixth in the world in November 1999.

SPONSORS

The Aegon International will be played at Eastbourne, England’s Devonshire Park until at least 2013. The venue has been the site of the tournament since 1974. The event began as a WTA-only tournament, but since 2009 has hosted a joint ATP and WTA event. “We’ve had a good track record with the women here,” said Roger Draper, chief executive of the34 Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). “We brought the ATP competition here a couple of years ago and we’re building on that. We’ve got a couple of things up our sleeve to keep the fans happy.” This year’s tournament will be held June 11-18.

SITES TO SURF

Melbourne: www.australianopen.com/en_AU/index.html

ITF: www.itftennis.com/

Tennis Australia: www.tennis.com.au/

Heilbronn: www.heilbronn-open.de/

Fed Cup: www.fedcup.com

Johannesburg: www.satennisopen.co.za/

Zagreb: www.zagrebindoors.com/

Santiago: www.movistaropen.cl/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN AND WOMEN

Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia, hard (second week)

MEN

$113,000 Heilbronn Open, Heilbronn, Germany, hard

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$486,500 PBZ Zagreb Indoors, Zagreb, Croatia, hard

$442,500 SA Tennis Open, Johannesburg, South Africa, hard

$358,250 Movistar Open, Santiago, Chile, clay

FED CUP

World Group

Australia vs. Italy at Hobart, Australia, hard

Russia vs. France at Moscow, Russia, hard

Slovak Republic vs. Czech Republic at Bratislava, Slovak Republic, hard

Belgium vs. United States at Antwerp, Belgium, hard

World Group II

Estonia vs. Spain at Tallinn, Estonia, hard; Slovenia vs. Germany at Maribor, Slovenia, clay; Serbia vs. Canada at Novi Sad, Serbia, hard; Sweden vs. Ukraine at Helsingborg, Sweden, hard

Group I

Europe/Asia Zone, at Eilat, Israel, hard, round-robin, four pools: Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Switzerland

Americas Zone, at Buenos Aires, Argentina, clay, round-robin, two pools: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru

Asia/Oceania Zone, at Nonthaburi, Thailand, hard, round-robin, two pools: China, Chinese Taipei, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Republic, New Zealand, Thailand, Uzbekistan

Group II

Asia/Oceania Zone, at Nonthaburi, Thailand, hard, round-robin, two pools: Hong Kong China, Indonesia, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Turkmenistan

Wozniacki and Surprises in Women’s Quarterfinals

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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

“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 11th-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 7-5 7-6 (4); Kanepi beat 15th-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 45th in the world, the lowest ranked player still in the draw, captured the first set when Kuznetsova double-faulted at break point in the 12th 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.

US Open: Kim Clijsters Quietly Winning

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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.

Kim Clijsters

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; 12th-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia beat Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 7-5 6-2; 20th-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 10th-seeded David Ferrer of Spain, 12th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, 18th-seeded American John Isner, 23rd-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.”

FOR IVANOVIC, REVENGE IS A MONTREAL DISH SERVED COLD

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By Blair Henley

When tact-challenged tournament director Eugene Lapierre denied Ana Ivanovic a main-draw wildcard for the Rogers Cup in Montreal next week, you could say he counted his seeds before they sprouted. Now with Serena Williams, Justine Henin, Samantha Stosur and possibly Venus Williams out with injuries, Lapierre is backtracking – unsuccessfully.

In an interview with the Montreal Gazette last month, Lapierre explained his decision to relegate Ivanovic (the 2006 Rogers Cup champion) to the qualifying rounds, giving the remaining wild card to Canadian No. 2 Stephanie Dubois instead.

“The way I analyzed it was that, yes, she’s a player who has done a lot for our tournament -almost saved it one year. She has a lot of charisma. Everyone likes her. But the fact is that she hasn’t demonstrated (with her play) that she deserves a wild card,” he said. “It’s not the same as a player who has been injured and away for a while. … She is the one who dropped down to No. 65, not because of an injury.”

And it gets worse.

Ana Ivanovic
Ana Ivanovic

“If we didn’t already have the best players in the world, if we didn’t get all the players we think we can get, my choice would certainly be for the wild cards to go to international players, because you want to sell the attraction,” Lapierre said. “But we have them, so it’s normal to give the chance to young players.”

He even went as far as to say, “If I were her coach, I would force her to play qualies.”

Now, just under a month later, the tides have turned. Several seeds have withdrawn from the tournament, and Ivanovic pulled off a major upset over world No. 12 Victoria Azarenka in Cincinnati earlier this week.

But never fear, Lapierre knew exactly what to say:

“There’s still a chance,” he said on Tuesday about giving Ivanovic a main-draw wild card. “Especially now that she’s showing us she still plays like a top-10. We’re looking at it and there should be developments soon.”

Loose-Lips Lapierre did, in fact, offer that wild card to Ivanovic. And she promptly refused it.

“I would have loved to have played in Montreal, but I was quite hurt by the comments of Mr. Lapierre that I was shown in the Montreal Gazette recently,” she wrote on her website. “I don’t think his comments were necessary, and they contradicted everything he had told my management previously: that I was not getting a wild card because I am not Canadian.”

Apparently Lapierre needs to be reminded that the internet allows people to read your hometown newspaper even if they don’t live in your hometown.

“The fact that my original request [for a wildcard] was turned down isn’t really an issue,” she continued. “I would have been happy to play qualifying, but I felt that they kind of stepped over the line with this interview, making public our correspondence and even misrepresenting it. Unfortunately I don’t feel welcome at this tournament.”

Can you blame her?

Even without playing in Montreal, Ivanovic will have played four out of the five weeks leading up to the U.S. Open, so the move shouldn’t disrupt her preparation for the Grand Slam tournament. For now, she can focus on playing in Cincinnati.

As for Lapierre, let’s hope he sticks with the “less is more” approach during future press interviews.

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

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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 10th-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 3rd 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 13th 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 16th-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

SAM STOSUR PLAYS LIKE A MAN

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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

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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 12th 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 10th 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)

ATP

$822,000 Gerry Weber Open, Halle, Germany, grass

$777,300 AEGON Championships, London, Great Britain, grass

$105,000 BSI Challenger Lugano, Lugano, Switzerland, clay

WTA

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

$100,000 Open GDF Suez de Marseille, Marseille, France, clay

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

ATP

$405,000 AEGON International, Eastbourne, Great Britain, grass

$398,000 UNICEF Open, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, grass

WTA

$600,000 AEGON International, Eastbourne, Great Britain, grass

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

JUSTINE HENIN’S BACKHAND – A TREAT TO WATCH

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By Ritesh Gupta

When its on full song, Justine Henin’s backhand is surely one of the most captivating sights in the sport.

Any connoisseur would rank the Belgian’s single-handed backhand as probably one of the best strokes in the history of women’s tennis. And for fans, its just pure delight to see the way Henin executes the same time and again.

Tennis is being increasingly dominated by those who are gifted with the right blend of strong physique and talent. So much so that at times facing the likes of Williams sisters looks like a daunting task. But as seen over the years, if Henin is in form, nothing can stop her. What she lacks in height (Henin is 5ft. 6 inches tall), Henin makes up for the same with her groundstrokes.

Talking of Henin’s backhand again, its just not a weapon which forces the pace or results in winners. Its equally strong in defence and too consistent to frustrate the opponents.

A case in point was the way Henin clawed her way in the final set against Maria Sharapova at the French Open Sunday. The Russian, who is trying to find her way back to the top, attacked Henin relentlessly when the game resumed after being suspended due to darkness at one set each on Saturday. Sharapova took an early lead in the final set but Henin just didn’t give up.

One point aptly summarised Henin’s determination. It came in the eight game of the final set. Serving at 3-4, Sharapova produced a barrage of aggressive strokes. In one of the rallies, it looked as if Henin’s backhand would wilt under pressure. Even as Sharapova’s assaults and even her shrieks touched their peak, it just failed to crack Henin’s backhand. Henin not only broke that service game but she wrapped up the match in style to complete her 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory.

Henin next faces Samantha Stosur of Australia for a place in the quarterfinal stage. If she goes all the way, Henin would be pocketing her fifth French Open title.

Recently, when Henin was interviewed, she felt excited as well as nervous going into the tournament.

Irrespective of how Henin feels, everyone out in the field knows the Belgian is a dangerous opponent.  Especially considering that this year Henin has made a comeback and her hunger for more is getting stronger and stronger.

MONDAYS WITH BOB GREENE: NADAL WINS 5TH TITLE IN 6 YEARS IN RAINY ROME

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STARS

Rafael Nadal beat David Ferrer 7-5 6-2 to win the Internzionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, Italy

Justine Henin beat Samantha Stosur 6-4 2-6 6-1 to win the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany

Iveta Benesova beat Simona Halep 6-4 6-2 to win the Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Fez, Morocco

Jose Acasuso beat Daniel Brands 6-3 6-4 to win the Tunis Open in Tunis, Tunisia

Kaia Kanepi beat Masa Zec-Peskiric 6-3 6-2 to win the Open GDF Suez de Cagnes-sur-Mer Alpes-Martimes 2010 in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France

Mark Philippoussis beat John McEnroe 6-3 4-6 10-5 (match tiebreak) to win the Staples Champions Cup in Boston, Massachusetts, USA

SAYINGS

“The important thing is that I won a very important tournament and finally I am very happy. … I played well, but not as well as Monte Carlo, but the important thing is winning.” – Rafael Nadal, after winning at Rome.

“I don’t have a word in English for it. It’s indescribable.” – Ernests Gulbis, after upsetting Roger Federer.

“Sometimes it takes a loss to wake up and shake you up for your approach the next week. When you always win, sometimes you forget how hard it is. That’s why today I don’t get too worried about this loss.” – Roger Federer, after losing to Ernests Gulbis.

“When I saw Roger Federer winning the French Open (in 2009), I had a lot of respect. That brought back the fire that wasn’t there any more. It’s been a lot of work to get back and it’s not over.” – Justine Henin, after winning her first title since returning from retirement.

“It’s getting pretty close now (to the Open Era record). Already four titles this year, so the next one’s going to be the big one. It’s going to be a big final, a lot of nerves. We’re hoping to tie it before we get out of Europe. We don’t want to get the monkey on our back and have to be thinking about it, so we want to do it as quick as possible.” – Mike Bryan, who with his twin brother Bob have moved within one victory of matching the men’s record for the most doubles titles in the Open Era.

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal

“With all the great matches we had in the past, it’s always something special to see John’s face on the other side of the net. I think he feels the same way, too.” – Bjorn Borg, who played – and lost – to John McEnroe in a seniors tournament in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

“When I’m feeling rotten and no good at tennis, then I’ll say to myself, `Get out of here.’ But on this wave of wins there is no real need for me to think about quitting.” – Venus Williams.

SHE’S BACK

Justine Henin is back in the thick of the battle for the top spot in women’s tennis. Appearing in her third straight final in her third tournament back from retirement, the former world number one from Belgium captured the Porsche Grand Prix by defeating Samantha Stosur 6-4 2-6 6-1. “It means a lot to me on clay,” Henin said of her clay court win. Four of her seven Grand Slam tournament titles have come on the red shale of Roland Garros. Henin said Roger Federer’s French Open win last year inspired her to end her 18-month retirement. “It brought back the fire,” she said after capturing her first title in her return. Henin was runner-up in Brisbane, Australia, and at the Australian Open. “Getting to the final was really good, it’s been a great week,” Stosur said. “She just got very aggressive in the third set, she put me under a lot of pressure and broke my serve three straight times.”

SENOR CLAY

Rafael Nadal is almost unbeatable on clay. The Spaniard won his fifth Rome Masters title in six years, beating fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 7-5 6-2. That improves Nadal’s clay court record to 10-0 this year, including capturing the Monte Carlo Masters to end an 11-month title drought. By winning the 17th Masters Series title of his career, the 23-year-old Nadal tied Andre Agassi’s record. Agassi was 34 years old when he won his 17th. The win snapped Nadal’s tie with Roger Federer, who was upset in a second-round match.

STAYING ON

Having already won two tournaments this year, Venus Williams sees no reason is calling it a career. Besides her two titles, Venus, who will turn 30 in June, reached the final at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Miami, Florida, and the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January. “I guess it’s all a mental thing,” Venus said. “Everyone definitely plays better or plays worse mentally at the big tournaments and I have been blessed enough to play a great mental game and to bring my best tennis in at the toughest time, and I’m still trying to do this every day.” Since making her pro debut in 1994, Venus has won 43 singles titles, including seven Grand Slam tournament crowns – five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open.

SWISS CHEESE

Ernests Gulbis found a lot of holes in Roger Federer’s game. The Latvian stunned the world’s top-ranked player 2-6 6-1 7-5 in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. It was Federer’s first singles match in nearly a month and his first this year on clay. The Swiss star struggled with his serve, landing only 50 percent of his first attempts. The big-serving Gulbis put in 71 percent of his first serves. “My game was definitely not up to speed,” Federer said. “My serve was not working at all. On clay you can lose the feeling sometimes.” Gulbis fought off jitters at the end, winning on his seventh match point after double-faulting twice when within a point of victory. “I was shaking. I didn’t know what to do,” Gulbis said. “It was a terrible feeling.” The feeling was very good when he finally clinched the victory. The 21-year-old Gulbis began working with Hernan Gumy of Argentina in September and also hired a new fitness coach. “My team is perfect now,” Gulbis said. “It’s my coach, my fitness coach and my father.”

Roger Federer played doubles at Rome with fellow Swiss Yves Allegro and won two rounds before falling in the quarterfinals to finalists John Isner and Sam Querrey, two big-serving Americans.

SIGHT ON MARK

The Bryan brothers have the Woodies in their sight. Twins Bob and Mike Bryan beat fellow Americans John Isner and Sam Querrey 6-2 6-3 at Rome to post their fourth title of the year and 60th in their careers. Retired Australians Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde – known as the Woodies – hold the ATP Tour record with 61 career titles and are being inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, USA, later this year. “It’s huge for us to be considered a great team like the Woodies,” Mike Bryan said. “Hopefully we don’t get stuck on 60 for a long time.” The Bryans plan on being in Newport when the Woodies are inducted into the tennis shrine. Then they want to chase the Woodies’ record of 11 Grand Slam tournament titles. The Bryans currently are at eight.

SENIOR CLASH

It was just like old times when John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg faced each on a tennis court. When the match was over, McEnroe had won the Champions Cup semifinals battle in Boston, just as he did the two times they met in the US Open final. This time Mac was on top 6-4 7-6 (3). “It’s something special, the rivalry we have in the past with all those great matches,” Borg said. “Every time we’ve played it’s produced great tennis. Even on the Champions Tour, it’s something special when me and John play. I feel it and John feels it. It’s a nice atmosphere.”

STRAIGHT IN

Two Americans – Ryan Sweeting of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Christina McHale of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey – are in the main draw of the French Open. The two won three-round tournaments to earn wild card berths into the year’s second Grand Slam tournament. Two French players receive wild cards into the US Open. Sweeting and McHale will compete in the main draw at Roland Garros for the first time.

STAPLES CHAMPION

Mark Philippoussis saved his best for last. The Australian won his first career senior title on the Champions Series circuit, besting John McEnroe in the USD $150,000 Staples Champions Cup. The score was 6-3 4-6 10-5 (match tiebreak). The Champions Series circuit is for champion players age 30 and over. The 33-year-old Philippoussis won the first five games of the match before McEnroe made the game competitive. In the tiebreak, Philippoussis hit four aces and three groundstroke winners, capturing six of the last seven points. “I knew I had to play some good tennis today,” Philippoussis said. “I think once he got into the match it got dangerous for me.”

STRUCK DOWN AGAIN

An ankle injury is dogging Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki. The top seed said her ankle was still bothering her when she lost to Lucie Safarova 6-4 6-4 in the Dane’s first match in the Stuttgart Open. “I didn’t feel I could move 100 percent,” Wozniacki said. “She was making me run and that’s why she won. If you can’t move it’s difficult to win.” Wozniacki hurt her ankle when she fell during a match at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. She retired from that match.

SERIOUSLY

Ernests Gulbis has begun being more serious about his tennis career, and it has paid off. The 21-year-old Latvian pushed Rafael Nadal to three sets before losing the semifinal at Rome. And that came after Gulbis upset top-seeded Roger Federer in a second-round match. “I just started concentrating more on tennis, treating it more like my job,” Gulbis said of his improvement. “Last year I didn’t take it as a job. It was more like a hobby. I didn’t have a system. … I’m still not a big tennis freak … but I have a better system.” Nadal was impressed. “He was really difficult to play against,” the Spaniard said after a narrow 6-4 3-6 6-4 win over Gulbis. “All the time he was serving at 210, 215, 216, 217 (kph). A player with this serve can be top 10 for sure.” Of course, Gulbis isn’t going to go completely the other way. “I am flying back tonight,” Gulbis said after losing to Nadal. “It’s Saturday night in Latvia, so I’m going to go out.”

SEEKING HELP

Fernando Verdasco says he might be able to win the French Open because of Andre Agassi’s knowledge. The Spaniard is taking advice from former Roland Garros champion Agassi on how to dodge some of the pitfalls in tennis. “He was my idol, so it’s great to have your idol telling you all the things you should do and shouldn’t do, giving you some advice from all the things he did and maybe he did wrong,” Verdasco said. “He’s helping me be a better player. Having someone like Agassi, who was my idol when I was a kid, telling you things is so special.” Verdasco has been talking with Agassi ever since he started working with Agassi’s former coach Darren Cahill and fitness trainer Gil Reyes.

SKIPPED OVER

When Australian captain John Fitzgerald picked the Davis Cup squad to face Japan, he skipped over teen-ager Bernard Tomic. Instead, Fitzgerald selected a team of Lleyton Hewitt, Peter Luczak, Carsten Ball and doubles specialist Paul Hanley. The 17-year-old Tomic is widely viewed as Australia’s next big star. He became the country’s youngest Davis Cup player when he won two singles against Taiwan in March. The Australia-Japan winner advances to the World Group playoffs in September.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Cagnes-Sur-Mer: Mervana Jugic-Salkic and Darija Jurak beat Stephanie Cohen-Aloro and Kristina Mladenovic 0-6 6-2 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Fes: Iveta Benesova and Anabel Medina Garrigues beat Lucie Hradecka and Renata Voracova 6-3 6-1

Rome: Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan beat John Isner and Sam Querrey 6-2 6-3

Stuttgart: Giselo Dulko and Flavia Pennetta beat Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 3-6 7-6 (3) 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Tunis: Jeff Coetzee and Kristof Vliegen beat James Corretani and Adil Shamasdin 7-6 (3) 6-3

SITES TO SURF

Rome: www.internazionalibnlditalia.it/

Cagnes-Sur-Mer: www.opendecagnes.com/

Munich: www.bmwopen.de/

Belgrade: www.serbiaopen.rs/

Estoril: www.estorilopen.net/1/en/home/default.asp

Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com/

Sao Paulo: www.grandchampionsbrasil.com.br

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

ATP

$530,000 BMW Open, Munich, Germany, clay

$530,000 Estoril Open, Estoril, Portugal, clay

$496,700 Serbia Open, Belgrade, Serbia, clay

$100,000 Israel Open, Ramat Hasharon, Israel, hard

WTA

$2,000,000 Internazionali BNG d’Italia, Rome, Italy, clay

$220,000 Estoril Open, Estoril, Portugal, clay

DAVIS CUP

Africa Zone III, Marrakech, Morocco, clay (round robin, four groups): Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tunisia, Zambia, Zimbabwe

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

ATP

$3,775,000 Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, Madrid, Spain, clay

$113,000 BNP Paribas Primrose, Bordeaux, France, clay

WTA

$4,000,000 Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, Madrid, Spain, clay

DAVIS CUP

Europe Zone III, Athens, Greece, hard (round-robin, two groups): Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, San Marino

SENIORS

Grand Champions Brazil, Sao Paulo, Brazil, hard

MONDAYS WITH BOB GREENE: NADAL TAKES MONTE CARLO

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STARS

Rafael Nadal beat Fernando Verdasco 6-0 6-1 to win the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters in Monte Carlo, Monaco

Samantha Stosur beat Vera Zvonareva 6-0 6-3 to win the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina

Francesca Schiavone beat Roberta Vinci 6-1 6-1 to win the Barcelona Ladies Open in Barcelona, Spain.

Dustin Brown beat Izak van der Merwe 7-6 (2) 6-3 to win the Soweto Open men’s singles in Johannesburg, South Africa

Nina Bratchikova beat Tamarine Tanasugarn 7-5 7-6 (4) to win the women’s singles at the Soweto Open in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Goran Ivanisevic beat Thomas Enqvist 6-4 6-4 to win the Champions Cup in Barcelona, Spain

SAYINGS

“For sure, this year is really special for me. One of the most special because I had a little bit of a hard time for the last year.” – Rafael Nadal, after winning the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters.

“If he plays like this, no one can beat him. He beat everyone in six years here and I’m just one of them.” – Fernando Verdasco, after losing the Monte Carlo final to Rafael Nadal.

“This is going to be the one he loses. He has to lose some time and I’m feeling fit and playing well.” – Goran Ivanisevic, promising to be the first player to beat Thomas Enqvist on the ATP Champions Tour. In the final of the Barcelona Champions Cup, Ivanisevic made good on his promise.

“I wasn’t very good today. It was the first time in a few years that the court felt so small. I just could not find the court. When it’s like that, it’s difficult to play.” – Andy Murray, after losing to Philipp Kohlschreiber in his opening match at Monte Carlo.

“To be able to play that well in a final is a great feeling. You always hope you’ll do that, but to actually go and perform that way is very, very pleasing.” – Samantha Stosur, after crushing Vera Zvonareva 6-0 6-3 to win the Family Circle Cup.

“You know, you just gotta try to change something up. Just maybe break a racquet, forget about what was happening for the past half an hour and start all over again.” – Vera Zvonareva, who smashed a racquet in frustration while losing to Samantha Stosur.

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“I played at a very high level and I was having fun playing. Roberta had some problems with her ankle, so it wasn’t easy for her. It just wasn’t her day.” – Francesca Schiavone, after beating Roberta Vinci to win the Barcelona Ladies singles.

SIXTH STRAIGHT

Rafael Nadal feels right at home in Monte Carlo and has the trophies to prove it. The Spaniard won his sixth straight Monte Carlo Masters, becoming the only player to win six consecutive titles at the same tournament since the Open Era began in 1968. And Nadal’s win on the clay courts in Monaco tied him with Britain’s Reggie Doherty, who won the Monte Carlo event six times overall between 1897 and 1904. Nadal’s 6-0 6-1 crushing of fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco was his first tournament title since the Rome Masters in May 2009. “Last year I didn’t play well but won. This year the level is completely different,” Nadal said. “I have been playing well since the start of the season.” It was Nadal’s 32nd straight match win at Monte Carlo and his 37th career title. “I hope one day Rafa gets tired of winning here,” Verdasco said.

SOWETO STUNNER

It wasn’t the usual suspects who found themselves in the final of the Soweto Open. And when the ATP Challenger was over, it was Jamaica’s Dustin Brown who had beaten South Africa’s Izak van der Merwe 7-6 (2) 6-3 at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Center. South African newspapers called Brown’s huge serve, booming returns and angled chip shots “Rasta magic.” It was enough to win his third Challenger title as Brown finished with 11 aces to four for Van der Merwe. It was a double defeat for Van der Merwe, who with fellow South African Davis Cup member Raven Klaasen fell in the doubles final to Nicolas Mahut and Lovro Zovko 6-2 6-2.

Another who stumbled twice in Soweto was Thailand veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn. The 32-year-old lost the singles final to Nina Bratchikova 7-5 7-6 (4), then, with teammate Marina Erakovic of New Zealand, fell in the doubles final to Vitalia Diatchenko of Russia and Eirini Georgatou of Greece 6-3 5-7 16-14 (match tiebreak).

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal

SENIOR STOPPER

Goran Ivanisevic knew what he was talking about. “This is going to be the one he loses,” Ivanisevic said of Thomas Enqvist, who had never tasted defeat since joining the ATP Champions Tour. Ivanisevic backed up his words and won his first title since Budapest, Hungary, in 2008. Enqvist had won five consecutive tournaments on the senior circuit. Instead, it was Ivanisevic, who won only one clay court title on the ATP Tour during his professional career, who came away with the top prize. With the win, Ivanisevic moves into first place in the ATP Champion Tour rankings, taking over for John McEnroe. Enqvist advanced to second place in the rankings.

SWINGING FOR US OPEN

The US Open is becoming even more open to tennis players of all ages. At the age of 61, Richie Bustamante is seeking a spot in the US Open draw. Bustamante, from East Norwich, New York, USA, is one of many around the United States who are fighting for a wild-card entry into the US Open qualifying tournament in August. The first of 16 sectional tournaments was held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City with 150 men and 44 women entered. The youngest was 14-year-old Angela Assal of the Bronx, New York. The men’s national final will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, in July, with the women competing for their one wild-card berth at Stanford, California.

SERENA IN ROME

Serena Williams will return to action at the Italian Open. The world’s top-ranked woman asked for and received a wild-card entry into the Rome tournament. Williams has not played since winning the Australian Open in January, having been sidelined with a lingering knee injury. She won the Italian Open in 2002 en route to her only title at Roland Garros.

SUFFERING

Tendinitis in his right wrist has caused Juan Martin del Potro to pull out of the Barcelona Open. The injury has sidelined the 21-year-old since he lost to Marin Cilic at the Australian Open in January. Del Potro is the reigning US Open champion, having won his first Grand Slam singles crown last September. In a statement on the Barcelona Open website, del Potro said his wrist is improving but he has been unable to train properly. Also withdrawing from the Barcelona Open with a wrist injury was Russian Nikolay Davydenko.

SENT PACKING

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Andy Murray, the world’s fourth-ranked player, was embarrassed at the Monte Carlo Masters, losing 6-2 6-1 to Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber. Even the crowd booed Murray for what seemed to be lackluster play. “I wasn’t very good today,” the Scot admitted. “I tried different things. I tried serve and volleying a couple of times. I tried hitting some high balls. It did not really make a whole lot of difference.”

SITTING IT OUT

Russia will play its Fed Cup semifinal against the United States without Svetlana Kuznetsova. The world’s fifth-ranked player will skip the international team competition and instead play a WTA Tour event in Stuttgart, Germany, the day after the Fed Cup ends. “I will have to miss the semifinal with the United States because my personal schedule is too tight,” Kuznetsova said. “It’s unreal to go to Stuttgart directly from the United States.” The Russian is recovering from a shoulder injury and has not played since losing a fourth-round match at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida. Three times she received on-court treatment for her shoulder during the match.

Without Kuznetsova, world number three Dinara Safina and Maria Sharapova, the Russian Fed Cup team will be led by Elena Dementieva. Captain Shamil Tarpischchev also has named Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Ekatarina Makarova and Alla Kudryavtseva to the tie, which will be held in Birmingham, Alabama. The Americans will counter with 18-year-old Melanie Oudin, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and doubles specialist Liezel Huber. The United States has left a spot vacant, hoping either one of the Williams sisters, Serena or Venus, will be healthy enough to compete.

Flavia Pennetta, Francesca Schiavone, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci will be in the lineup as defending champion Italy takes on the Czech Republic in a semifinal match. The Czech team will be composed of Lucie Safarova, Petra Kvitova, Lucie Hradecka and Kveta Peschke. Italy has won the last three Fed Cup encounters between the two nations.

SHUDDERING HALT

Caroline Wozniacki injured her right ankle, forcing a sudden halt to her semifinal match against Vera Zvonareva at the Family Circle Cup. After injuring her ankle in a tumble, the top-seeded Dane fell behind Zvonareva 5-2 before calling it quits. Wozniacki tripped while sliding in to retrieve a drop shot. After being helped from the court, she had her ankle taped and played one more game before pulling out.

SUSPENSION AHEAD?

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is reviewing the rules that prevented it from suspending Wayne Odesnik after the American pleaded guilty to importing banned substances into Australia. Under current rules, the governing body of tennis can only suspend players who are being investigated for a failed drug test. Currently, players cannot be prevented from playing for possessing a banned substance. Stuart Miller, the ITF anti-doping manager, says there’s clearly a need to review those rules.

SERB PAROLED

Damir Dokic is out of jail. The father of Jelena Dokic was paroled by a Serbian court a year after being convicted of threatening to blow up the car of Australian ambassador Claire Birkin because of articles in the Australian press in which the player accused her father of beating her. Dokic was sentenced to 15 months in prison, but the sentence was later reduced to 12 months.

SPLITSVILLE

Novak Djokovic has split with his American coach Todd Martin. The 22-year-old Djokovic started working with Martin last year, but said it has become too complicated working at the same time with two coaches who styles are so different. The Serb is continuing to working with Marian Vajda. “Todd is a fantastic person who has so much experience and he shared everything with me,” Djokovic said. “But it just did not work out in the end and we separated with no hard feelings.”

STAYING POWER

It took an extra day before Joao Souza could win his first tournament title as a pro. The Brazilian captured the rain-delayed Bancolombia Open singles final in Bogota, Colombia, upsetting top-seeded Alejandro Falla of Colombia 4-6 6-4 6-1. Souza, who knocked off second-seeded Santiago Giraldo of Colombia in the semifinals 6-3 6-3, has only played one match outside South America since turning pro, losing his opening match at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida, USA, this year. The victory boosted Souza’s ranking to 153rd in the world, his best yet.

SMITH IN CHARGE

Andy Murray’s former coach Leon Smith is Great Britain’s new Davis Cup captain. The 34-year-old Scot takes over for John Lloyd, who resigned following Britain’s embarrassing loss to Lithuania last month. Smith most recently had been the Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) head of men’s player development. The new coach hopes to persuade Murray to return to Davis Cup after he skipped the tie against Lithuania.

SUCCESSFUL DEFENSE

When Mahesh Bhupathi retired because of a left leg injury, it meant Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic had become the first doubles team in eight years to successfully defend their title at the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters. The top-ranked pair were leading Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi 6-3 2-0 when Bhupathi couldn’t go on. “Of course with Mahesh getting injured, it’s not the way you want to win, but we played well the whole weekend,” Zimonjic said. “It’s my fourth title here and it’s nice to win at least one tournament more times than Daniel has.” Nestor has now won 67 doubles titles, while Zimonjic has captured 35. Zimonjic also won Monte Carlo in 2004 with Tim Henman and in 2005 with Leander Paes.

SHERR IN NEW ROLE

Lewis H. Sherr has been named Managing Director, Corporate Partnerships, by the United States Tennis Association (USTA). He will be responsible for new corporate sales and partnership development for the USTA, the US Open, the Olympus US Open Series, community based programs and all USTA properties. Sherr most recently was senior vice president, Marketing Partnerships, for Madison Square Garden (MSG) and MSG Entertainment.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Barcelona: Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci beat Timea Bacsinszky and Tathiana Garbin 6-1 3-6 10-2 (match tiebreak)

Charleston: Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova beat Vania King and Michaella Krajicek 6-3 6-4

Johannesburg (men): Nicolas Mahut and Lovro Zovko beat Raven Klaasen and Izak van der Merwe 6-2 6-2

Johannesburg (women): Vitalia Diatchenko and Eirini Georgatou beat Marina Erakovic and Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-3 5-7 16-14 (match tiebreak)

Monte Carlo: David Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic beat Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi 6-3 2-0 retired

SITES TO SURF

Barcelona: www.barcelonaopenbancosabadell.com/

Athens: www.statusathensopen.gr/

Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com/

Fed Cup: www.fedcup.com/

Rome: www.internazionalibnlditalia.it/

Stuttgart: www.porsche-tennis.de/

Fez: www.frmtennis.com/

Tunis: www.tct.org.tn/

Cagnes-Sur-Mer: www.opendecagnes.com/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

ATP

$2,100,000 Barcelona Open BancSabadell, Barcelona, Spain, clay

$113,000 Status Athens Open, Athens, Greece, hard

DAVIS CUP

Asia/Oceania Zone Group IV at Amman, Jordan, hard (round robin): Bahrain, Brunei, Iraq, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Qatar, Singapore, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

FED CUP

World Group Semifinals

Italy vs. Czech Republic at Rome, Italy

United States vs. Russia at Birmingham, Alabama, USA

World Group Playoffs

Belgium vs. Estonia at Hassell, Belgium; Ukraine vs. Australia at Kharkiv, Ukraine; Germany vs. France at Frankfurt, Germany; Serbia vs. Slovak Republic at Belgrade, Serbia

World Group II Playoffs

Poland vs. Spain at Sopot, Poland; Sweden vs. China at Helsingborg, Sweden; Canada vs. Argentina at Montreal, Canada; Slovenia vs. Japan at Maribon, Slovenia

America’s Zone Group II at Guayaquil, Ecuador, clay (round robin, two groups): Bahamas, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Trinidad & Tobago

Europe/Africa Zone Group II at Cairo, Egypt, clay (round round, two groups): Algeria, Egypt, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, Moldova, Morocco, Turkey

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

ATP

$3,026,000 Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Rome, Italy, clay

$125,000 Tunis Open, Tunis, Tunisia, clay

WTA

$700,000 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart, Germany, clay

$230,000 Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem, Fes, Morocco, clay

$100,000 Open GDF Suez de Cagnes-sur-Mer Alpes-Maritimes 2010, Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, clay

DAVIS CUP

Asia/Oceania Zone Group III, Tehran, Iran, clay (round robin, two groups): Bangladesh, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Vietnam

FED CUP

Europe/Africa Zone Group II, Yerevan, Armenia, clay (round robin, two groups): Armenia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, South Africa