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sofia arvidsson

Del Potro’s Latest Title Has French Flavor — Mondays With Bob Greene

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STARS

Agnieszka Radwanska beat Julia Goerges 7-5 6-4 to win the Dubai Duty Free Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Jurgen Melzer beat Milos Raonic 7-5 7-6 (4) to win the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Juan Martin del Potro beat Michael Llodra 6-4 6-4 to win the Open 13 in Marseille, France

David Ferrer beat Nicolas Almagro 4-6 6-3 6-2 to win the Copa Claro in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Timea Babos beat Alexandra Cadantu 6-4 6-4 to win the Whirlpool Monterrey Open in Monterrey, Mexico

Sofia Arvidsson beat Marina Erakovic 6-3 6-4 to win the Memphis International in Memphis, Tennessee, USA

SAYING

“I’m sorry I beat three French players in this tournament.” – Juan Martin del Potro, who won the Open 13 in Marseille, France, after beating Frenchmen Richard Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Michael Llodra during the week.

“I just like indoor hard courts a lot. And there’s a different kind of atmosphere here, too. It feels like home. I have my own parking spot because I won here. Normally I play better when I’m having more fun somewhere.” – Sofia Arvidsson, who won in Memphis for the second time in three trips to the final, making it her best event by far on the WTA tour.

“I don’t know what’s happened to the weather here. I love it here, but it was very cold and it was windy out there, and it’s been a bit crazy with the dust too. I have been eating kilos of dust when I’ve been training. It’s not the same as some of the desserts.” – Jelena Jankovic, on the conditions in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

“It’s strange that at the age of 24 I am considered old. It’s a great challenge for us players who have been around for a while. They are pushing us to get better, and I still believe that I can.” – Ana Ivanovic, referring to the rise in 2011 of Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova and other younger players.

“I played a really good match today, I kept my head in the game. I knew it was tough. He’s probably the best server on tour at the moment. Sometimes you just walk left to right without doing anything, but I felt like when the ball was in play and when I had my chances, I played really solid.” – Jurgen Melzer, after beating Milos Raonic to win the men’s singles in Memphis.

“It doesn’t feel like it’s too far out of my grasp. It’s like somebody dangling a piece of cake in front of my face and then taking it away at the last second. I’ll definitely be back.” – Milos Raonic, after losing the final at Memphis for the second straight year.

“I’ve been extremely close. I’m working hard, making all the right decisions and hopefully down the road I will pick up a few more. Did I miss some big opportunities? I think I put it more down to that than actually not playing as good (as previous years). At times I think I was even playing better. I’ve had some tough losses over the last couple of years, which have denied me a few Slams, I believe.” – Roger Federer, saying he could still win another Grand Slam tournament, something he hasn’t done since the 2010 Australian Open.

“I would like to come back and be one of those top players and be really successful again. I could make a list of the tournaments I want to win, but first of all I want is an Olympic Games medal. To wear it around my neck, shining, that would be special.” – Jelena Jankovic.

STROKIN’

Juan Martin Del Potro (GERARD JULIEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Juan Martin del Potro’s latest tournament title had a huge French flavor, and not just because the tournament was played in Marseille, France. The Argentine captured his 10th career ATP crown by beating local favorite Michael Llodra 6-4 6-4 at the Open 13. It was del Potro’s third consecutive victory over a Frenchman. After downing Russian Nikolay Davydenko in his first match, Del Potro began his French run by stopping Richard Gasquet, and then knocked off Jo-Wilfried Tsonga before eliminating Llodra. The 2009 US Open champion, del Potro was devastating on serve, conceding only 13 points and never facing a break point in the title match. “Beating Davydenko, Gasquet and Llodra is a great performance,” said del Potro, who annexed his first indoor title in his fourth final attempt. “It shows how I have improved.”

SUCCESS

Timea Babos is finally a champion. The Hungarian won her first WTA title by beating Alexandra Cadantu of Romania 6-4 6-4 in Monterrey, Mexico. The 18-year-old Babos dominated when serving, not allowing a single break point. Until the week before Monterrey, Babos had won only one match in a main draw. But she reached the semifinals at Bogotá, Colombia, before capturing the Monterrey Open title.

STOMPIN’

Not even a broken toe could slow down Jurgen Melzer. The Austrian won his fourth career title and first since 2010 by beating Milos Raonic in the final of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis. “If anybody would’ve said last Friday, especially in the morning after seeing the doctor, that I’ll be holding the trophy next Sunday, I would’ve called him a fool,” Melzer said. “But sometimes, you know, life plays games like that. Maybe it took a little bit of the pressure off in the beginning.” Melzer broke his right bit toe when he caught his foot in a hotel bedspread in the dark. A doctor discovered the break on an X-ray on Feb. 17. The Austrian returned to practice two days later and had to survive three-set tiebreakers in his first two rounds at Memphis. He showed no signs of discomfort as he won his first title since capturing Vienna in 2010. “If I play like this to win a tournament, I’ll break a toe any day,” Melzer said. It was only Raonic’s second loss of the year, his first being to Lleyton Hewitt in the third round of the Australian Open. The Canadian now has a 15-2 mark.

SURVIVOR

Agnieszka Radwanska survived her opening-round match, rallying from a 5-3 deficit in the third set to beat qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak. The rest of the week belonged to the Pole, who won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and rose in the rankings to fifth in the world. After her tight first-round battle, Radwanska lost only one more set, that being the second set against Jelena Jankovic before she ripped off a 6-0 third set.
During the week Goerges eliminated former number two Svetlana Kuznetsova and former number one Caroline Wozniacki before falling to Radwanska 7-5 6-4.

SPANISH STAR

Manuel Orantes, who upset Jimmy Connors to win the 1975 US Open, will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in July. The Spanish star of the 1970s and 1980s is the third member of the Class of 2012 to be announced, but the only inductee in the Master Player Category. It was previously announced that tennis administrator Mike Davies has been elected in the contributor Category and Randy Snow has been elected in the Recent Player Category for his achievements as a wheelchair tennis player. The Induction Ceremony will be held July 14 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. Orantes, now 62, was ranked as high as number two in the world. He won 33 singles titles and 22 doubles titles while finishing runner-up to Bjorn Borg at the 1974 French Open. He was a Davis Cup stalwart for Spain, compiling a record of 60 wins and 27 losses. In 2009, Orantes was presented the Davis Cup Award of Excellence by the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Tennis Federation.

SIDELINED

An ankle injury forced top-ranked Victoria Azarenka to pull out of the Dubai Tennis Championships. Even though the Australian Open champion injured his left ankle during a semifinal match at the Qatar Open, she was able to capture that tournament. But the 22-year-old, who has won 17 straight matches to begin this season, rested for a few days, hoping the ankle would heal. During the break, the Belarusian went home to spend some time with her family.

SPEAKS OUT

Agnieszka Radwanska has a problem with world number one Victoria Azarenka. The 22-year-old Pole said she was “angry” and had lost respect for Azarenka, alleging that the Belarusian’s behavior in Doha, Qatar, had not been good for the image of the game. Radwanska was referring to Azarenka hobbling and wincing between rallies during parts of their semifinal match. But during the rallies Azarenka had no problem moving as she took a straight-sets victory. Radwanska also took the time to criticize the shrieking of Maria Sharapova. She described it as “pretty annoying” and “just too loud.” Radwanska then said: Of course everybody can make some noise. This is tennis. But I think it’s just too loud. I don’t think it’s very necessary to scream that loud.”

SLIPPING

Andy Roddick is having a hard time getting started this year. The one-time world number one lost his first-round match to Xavier Malisse 7-6 (8) 7-5 at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships. Roddick was the defending champion at the Memphis, Tennessee, USA, tournament. It’s the earlier exit Roddick has made from the Memphis tournament in 12 appearances as he dropped to 27th in the ATP world rankings. Seeded second in the tournament, Roddick has been slowed by hamstring and ankle problems this season. He failed to capitalize on two set points in the first set and was broken in the last game of the match by the 31-year-old Belgian.

SINGULAR EFFORT

Memphis, Tennessee, is the lone WTA indoor tournament held in the United States these days as the women’s tour has grown world-wide and, for the most part, played outdoors. What a huge change. Twenty years ago, the 1992 WTA Kraft Tour played indoor tournaments in Chicago, Illinois; Denver, Colorado; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Oakland, California; Nashville, Tennessee; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Indianapolis, Indiana, and the Virginia Slims Championships in New York City.

SIXTH IN TITLES

Lisa Raymond continues to write her name in the record books. With Liezel Huber as her partner, Raymond won the doubles title at Dubai for the first time. It was Raymond’s 77th WTA doubles title as she passed Jana Novotna for sixth in the Open Era. The veteran American now trails only Martina Navratilova, Rosie Casals, Pam Shriver, Billie Jean King and Natasha Zvereva, all inductees of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Together, Raymond and Huber continue to dominate the women’s tour. The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title was their seventh as a team and third is as many weeks.

SONY SIGNUP

Venus William is seeking to play her first tournament since last August when she enters the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, in March. The elder Williams sister, who received a wild card into the hard-court event, hasn’t played singles since withdrawing from the US Open before her second-round match because of an autoimmune disease. Venus did team with Liezel Huber to win a doubles victory that capped a Fed Cup shutout for the United States against Belarus. Venus Williams has won the singles at Key Biscayne in 1998, 1999 and 2001. She was a finalist in 2010 and missed last year’s tournament with an injury.

Tournament officials also gave wild cards into the men’s singles to Fernando Gonzalez and David Nalbandian.

SOFIA’S HOME

You can’t blame Sofia Arvidsson for loving Memphis, Tennessee, USA. The Swede won the Memphis International title for the second time – her only career titles on the WTA tour. And it was the third time she has reached the final of the indoor tournament. She won the title in 2006 and was runner-up to Maria Sharapova in 2010. Arvidsson’s only other trip to a final was at Québec City in 2005, where she was runner-up to Amy Frazier. Sofia has won twice as many matches in Memphis that at any other – 18, with the next-highest being Québec City, where she has won nine matches. “I just love this place. It’s my second home,” Arvidsson said. “The fans here are great and the tournament takes such good care of the players, so it makes us all feel good.” In this year’s final, Arvidsson lost the first two games before beating Marina Erakovic 6-3 6-4. Erakovic was playing in her second final, and has yet to win a title.

SABATINI HONORED

Argentina’s Gabriela Sabatini received her Hall of Fame ring during the Copa Claro tournament in Buenos Aires. The one-of-a-kind ring is being presented to Hall of Famers at tennis events around the world over the next several years. Christopher Clouser, chairman of the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum in Newport, Rhode Island, USA, presented the ring to Sabatini in an on-court ceremony. She won the US Open in 1990, defeating Stefanie Graf, and teamed with Graf to win the Wimbledon women’s doubles in 1988. As a member of the Argentine Olympic team in 1988 and 1996, Sabatini won a silver medal in 1988.

SPEAKING HER MIND

Caroline Wozniacki says she has lost respect for Martina Navratilova after the Hall of Famer said on television that the Dane had never deserved to be atop the world rankings. “I would never say Martina was number one when there was no-one playing,” Wozniacki said, “or that she was the best when no-one was playing. That would be disrespectful.” During a news conference at the Australian Open Navratilova said, “Clearly nobody feels Wozniacki is a true number one.” The 55-year-old Hall of Famer also criticized the ranking system that placed Wozniacki at number one for 68 weeks, saying it places too much emphasis on the quantity of wins rather than their quality. “She was unbelievable,” Wozniacki said of Navratilova. “She won so many Grand Slams, her touch was unbelievable. Martina Hingis was unbelievable as well – for me my favorite player. But I think they should respect players that are playing now as well. Because they know how hard it is. You don’t just wake up and say OK I want to win this tournament, and it just happens like this. At that point, you are like, they should just think a little bit.”

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Buenos Aires: David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco beat Michal Mertinak and Andre Sa 6-4 6-4

Dubai: Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond beat Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina 6-2 6-1

Marseille: Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin beat Dustin Brown and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6 6-3 10-6 (match tiebreak)

Memphis (men): Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor beat Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 4-6 7-5 10-7 (match tiebreak)

Memphis (women): Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka beat Vera Dushevina and Olga Govortsova 6-3 6-4

Monterrey: Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci beat Kimiko Date-Krumm and Zhang Shuai 6-2 7-6 (6)

SURFING

Dubai: www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com/
Delray Beach: www.yellowtennisball.com
Acapulco: http://abiertomextenis.com.mx
Kuala Lumpur: www.bmwmalaysianopen.com
Indian Wells: www.bnpparibasopen.com/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$1,700,475 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, hard
$1,155,000 Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco, Mexico, clay
$442,500 Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, Delray Beach, Florida, USA, hard

WOMEN

$220,000 Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco, Mexico, clay
$220,000 BMW Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, hard

SENIORS

Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, Delray Beach, Florida, USA, hard

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$4,694,969 BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard (first week)

WOMEN

$5,536,664 BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard (first week)

Mondays with Bob Greene: Kim Clijsters Wins WTA Championships

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STARS

Kim Clijsters beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 5-7 6-3 to win the WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar

Gael Monfils beat Ivan Ljubicic 6-2 5-7 6-1 to win the Open Sud de France in Montpellier, France

Jurgen Melzer beat Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-7 (10) 7-6 (4) 6-4 to win the Bank Austria Tennis Trophy in Vienna, Austria

Mikhail Kukushkin beat Mikhail Youzhny 6-3 7-6 (2) to win the St. Petersburg Open in St. Petersburg, Russia

Sofia Arvidsson beat Pauline Parmentier 6-2 7-6 (4) to win the Internationaux Feminins de la Vienne in Poitiers, France

SAYINGS

“At the moment I’m kind of relieved it’s over. It seemed like it would never end. It was a tough battle. We showed some great tennis and some great fitness. I think we showed the crowd some great women’s tennis tonight.” – Kim Clijsters, after winning her third season-ending WTA Championships.

“I had to step it up, and I did and I had the momentum. I just couldn’t keep it all the way through. You know, you cannot win every match. I’ve made the finals of the Championships and I lost one match today. I’ve had a fantastic week, a fantastic year. I won six tournaments, I’ve beaten so many good players.” – Carolina Wozniacki, who lost to Kim Clijsters in the WTA Championships final.

“I’m happy with the first final, but I was up 7-6 5-3, I served for the match. I had big chances to win this title, but it’s the first time. I was a little bit nervous. Jurgen played good in this moment and I lost.” – Andreas Haider-Maurer, after losing to Jurgen Melzer in Vienna, Austria.

“I am so happy about this title, and it’s even more special because it is in France and in front of my crowd.” – Frenchman Gael Monfils, following his victory in Montpellier, France.

“Four hundred (wins) is special. It’s a lot of matches, a lot of history, but I hope I’m not going to stop here.” – Ivan Ljubicic, who won his 400th career match victory in Montpellier, France.

“It wasn’t a goal I set for myself to hit more than 1,000 aces, but I knew coming into these last three tournaments that I was close and that I was very likely to reach it. It’s pretty neat being the company of these four really good players.” – John Isner, who became the fifth player to hit 1,000 or more aces in a single season.

“It was unbelievable walking out to a standing ovation on a national holiday. It was just a great atmosphere. It’s all been worthwhile, all the practice, and it was a good start. … The main thing is that there’s no pain. I’m fit and I know I can go long matches. … It’s awesome to be back playing.” – Thomas Muster, playing his first ATP Tour-level match since 1999 and losing to fellow Austrian Andreas Haider-Mauer in Vienna, Austria

“To have the opportunity to play Pete at Madison Square Garden is thrilling. Playing in front of the New York fans has always been exciting and I’m sure Pete and I will give them something to cheer about.” – Andre Agassi, on an upcoming exhibition he will play against Pete Sampras in New York’s Madison Square Garden.

SOARING

Kim Clijsters crowned one of her best seasons by winning her third WTA Championships singles title, defeating top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 5-7 6-3 in the final. With her 40th career tournament title, Clijsters becomes only the fifth player in WTA history to win the season-ending event three of more times. Martina Navratilova won the tournament eight times, Steffi Graf five, Chris Evert four and Monica Seles three. In 2010, Clijsters won five tournaments, including her third US Open. Against Wozniacki, the Belgian mother jumped out to a 6-3 4-1 lead before her Danish opponent won seven of the next eight games, including breaking serve to begin the third set. After that, it was all Clijsters. “This may be disappointing for Caroline, but she has a great future,” said Clijsters, who during the week became the eighth player to surpass the USD $20 million career prize money mark.

It wasn’t all fun and games for Clijsters during his stay in Doha, Qatar. She escaped injury when the official car taking her to her WTA Championships semifinal match was hit by a truck that “came out of nowhere,” she said. “There was a lot of glass.” Despite the accident, Clijsters went on to defeat Samantha Stosur.

Clijsters, who left the women’s tennis tour to get married and have a daughter, said she plans on retiring from tennis again following the London Olympics in 2012 and having a second child. She told the Guardian newspaper of London that she owns a tennis club in Belgium. “We’re going through the process of rebuilding it, so when I retire from tennis that’s something that will interest me very much,” she said.

STANDING ON TOP

Despite losing in the WTA Championships final, Caroline Wozniacki finishes the year as the WTA’s top-ranked player. The 20-year-old Dane sealed the year-end number one ranking by beating Italian Francesca Schiavone in the season-ending tournament. “I’m only the 10th one to finish the year as number one, so I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved,” she said. Wozniacki won six titles this season and took over the number one ranking in October after reaching the quarterfinals of the China Open.

SET TO LEAD

Four-time Grand Slam tournament champion Jim Courier has taken over as captain of the United States Davis Cup team, replacing Patrick McEnroe. “I’ve always known, once I got a taste of playing Davis Cup, if I were given an opportunity to be the captain I would certainly want to take it,” Courier said. McEnroe served as captain for 10 years and led the US to the Davis Cup title in 2007.

Kim Clijsters

STARRING

Gisela Dulko of Argentina and Flavia Pennetta of Italy finished the season as the number one-ranked doubles team in the world for the first time. The duo captured six titles this season, including the season-ending WTA Championships. During the season the two won 17 consecutive matches, the WTA’s longest streak since March 2007. They reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and the US Open.

SURPRISE

Mikhail Kukushkin was the surprise winner when he captured his first career title by upsetting top-seeded Mikhail Youzhny 6-3 7-6 (2) at the St. Petersburg Open in St. Petersburg, Russia. The winner’s previous best result came in Moscow last year when he reached the semifinals. Ranked 88th in the world, Kukushkin grabbed a 6-2 lead in the second-set tie-break, and then won the title on his first match point. “I won because I was running for every ball and played solid tennis,” Kukushkin said.

SAYONARA

Elena Dementieva announced her retirement after 13 years on the WTA tour. The Russian won the Beijing Olympics singles gold medal in 2008 and 16 WTA singles titles. Twice she reached the final of a Grand Slam tournament, only to lose to a fellow Russians – Anastasia Myskina at the 2004 Roland Garros and Svetlana Kuznetsova at the 2004 US Open. She won two tournaments this year, the Medibank International in Sydney, Australia, and the Open GDF Suez in Paris, France. Dementieva has been ranked inside the Top 20 for almost eight consecutive seasons and reached a career-high singles ranking of number three in the world. She also was ranked in the top five in doubles. She won a silver medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and represented Russia in 18 Fed Cup ties, leading the team to the title over France in 2005.

SWISH

John Isner has joined an illustrious group. The American slammed 12 aces in his three-set loss to Frenchman Gael Monfils in Montpellier, France, bringing his total number of aces for the season to 1,011. Isner joins Goran Ivanisevic, Ivo Karlovic, Pete Sampras and Andy Roddick as the only players to hit 1,000 or more aces in a single season. The record is 1,477 aces hit by Ivanisevic in 1996. Isner slammed more than 100 of his aces in his record-breaking match at Wimbledon against Nicholas Mahut.

SUPER SUPPORT

Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian will pay former pro tennis player Lisa Bonder more than USD $10 million in back child support plus USD $100,000 a month for a child Bonder has admitted was not Kerkorian’s biological daughter. Bonder was married briefly to the casino mogul after a long relationship. She acknowledged during a child support battle that she had faked a DNA paternity test by using saliva she obtained from Kerkorian’s adult daughter. She said the biological father actually was Hollywood movie producer Stephen Bing. Kerkorian, 93, has had joint custody of the girl, who lives with her mother. Bonder, 45, was married to Kerkorian for 28 days in 1999. Once the majority shareholder of what is now MGM Resorts International, Kerkorian is the legal father of the child because the couple married.

SAYS PAY UP

India’s Supreme Court has ruled that Mahesh Bhupathi must pay taxes on money the player claims he gave his father for tennis tips before turning pro in 1995. Chief Justice S H Kapadia and Justices K S Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar took less than five minutes to toss out Bhupathi’s appeal against an earlier verdict. The justices also refused to remove the stinging observation made by the Karnataka High Court that the agreement for payment by the son to the father was a sham transaction.

SECOND PLACE

Vera Zvonareva is the fifth Russian to be ranked in the top two in women’s tennis as she supplanted Serena Williams behind top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki. The 26-year-old Zvonareva joins Anastasia Myskina, Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina as the Russian players who have been ranked in the top two spots on the WTA Tour. Sharapova and Safina are the only Russians to be ranked number one.

SAYS NOT FOR PROFIT

Australian tennis star Lleyton Hewitt says he wasn’t trying to profit from his newborn baby when he encouraged fans to pay for a text service revealing the child’s name. The 29-year-old Hewitt instead blamed the media for putting a “spin on reality” by criticizing his use of the Text A Star service to announce the name. “Some sections of the media have, as usual, found it opportune to place some spin on reality by suggesting we have taken this approach just to make money,” Hewitt wrote on his website. “Certain media people believe that (they) are the only ones who should have an exclusive. In this instance, we made a decision that my fans deserve to know first and the general public second.” Text A Star charges subscribers $2 (Australian) per text to receive two messages a week from their favorite sports stars. It is not known how much Hewitt would make from the venture.

STOSUR HONORED

Samantha Stosur has won the Diamond ACES Award for the 2010 season. The ACES Award is given to the player who consistently goes above and beyond to promote the sport of women’s tennis to fans, media, and local communities by performing off-court promotional and charitable activities. “Sam is not only one of the world’s best athletes, she is extremely aware of the opportunity of giving back to women’s tennis and connecting the sport with media and sponsors,” WTA CEO Stacey Allaster said. The ACES award was first introduced in 1995 in memory of former Tour CEO Jerry Diamond. Since then, 10 players have won the award: Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Gabriela Sabatini, Amanda Coetzer, Lindsay Davenport, Martina Hingis, Anastasia Myskina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic, Elena Dementieva and Stosur.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Doha: Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta beat Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 7-5 6-4

Montpellier: Stephen Huss and Ross Hutchins beat Marc Lopez and Eduardo Schwank 6-2 4-6 10-7 (match tiebreak)

Poitiers: Lucie Hradecka and Renata Voracova beat Akgul Amanmuradova and Kristina Barrois 6-7 (5) 6-2 10-5 (match tiebreak)

St. Petersburg: Daniele Bracciali and Potito Starace beat Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 7-6 (6) 7-6 (5)

Vienna: Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic beat Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 7-5 3-6 10-5 (match tiebreak)

SITES TO SURF

Valencia: www.valenciaopen500.com/

Basel: www.davidoffswissindoors.ch/

Bali: www.commbanktennis.com/

Taipei: www.taipeiarena.com.tw/

Paris: www.fft.fr/bnpparibasmasters/2010/

Ortisei: www.itfvalgardena.com

Phoenix: www.goldwaterwomensclassic.org/

Sydney: www.thechampionsdownunder.com.au/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

ATP

$1,900,000 Valencia Open 500, Valencia, Spain, hard

$1,707,000 Swiss Indoors, Basel, Switzerland, hard

$125,000 Challenger Astana President’s Cup, Astana, Kazakhstan, hard

WTA

$600,000 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions, Bali, Indonesia

$100,000 Taipei Ladies Open, Taipei, Taiwan, carpet

SENIOR

The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman Legends Championships, Grand Cayman

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$3,075,000 BNP Paribas Masters, Paris, France, hard

$88,000 Val Gardena – Sudtirol, Ortisei, Italy, hard

WOMEN

$75,000 Goldwater Tennis Classic, Phoenix, Arizona, USA, hard

SENIOR

The Champions Downunder, Sydney, Australia, hard

WIMBLEDON PROSPECTS DIM FOR GLAMOUR GIRL SHARAPOVA

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By Charles Bricker

Maria Sharapova’s famous right shoulder appears to be fine, though let’s not get carried away by the 121 mph serve she walloped last week on the grass at Birmingham, England.

And the 17-5 record with two tournament titles she’s carrying into Wimbledon this week probably look impressive — to the more pedestrian tennis fans.

But when you strip away the veneer and look more closely at this comeback season for tennis’ most glamorous player, prospects for another successful Wimbledon look a lot dimmer.

Without question, Maria is playing and, more importantly, serving with more authority and accuracy. But there isn’t a win among those 17 triumphs that rates much more than a yawn, and that includes final victories over No. 102 Sofia Arvidsson at Memphis and No. 49 Kristina Barrois at Strasbourg.

Outwardly, she hasn’t changed much. She’s still more or less a stick figure at 6-foot-2 and maybe 130 pounds and, judging by her shrieks last week in Birmingham, where she lost the final to No. 11 Na Li, she’ll be in good voice at Wimbledon.

There are some cosmetic differences. She’s changed her service motion to accommodate the health of her newly repaired shoulder and she’s turned into a two-bouncer. Deep breath at the line before serving, then two bounces. Up goes the toes on her lead (left) foot, then a high toss and wham.

And the flowing ponytail behind the visor might be replaced at Wimbledon by the pulled-back/braided ponytail look she wore at Birmingham, but we’ll see when she takes the court against No. 127 Anastasia Pivovarova on Tuesday.

Despite her 17-5 record and her comfort zone on grass, no match is a gimme at this point for Maria — though she couldn’t ask for a tidier draw to reach the fourth round against Serena Williams. And reached the second week at Wimbledon would be a triumph in itself for her.

Now 23, she’s six years removed from her Wimbledon title and so much has happened to a young woman who could have, at this moment in tennis history, been at or near the top of the game. But she’s been felled by misfortune and a shoulder which was not, physically, designed for crashing 100 mph plus serves.

Still, she’ remains philosophic. Two days ago at Wimbledon, she spoke a bit about how her life has proceeded since she was Wonder Woman at age 17.

“Everyone is going to have setbacks,” she began. “Some are going to have bigger setbacks than others. Some are going to have injuries. Some are going to get away from the game for a little bit.

“We travel 10, 11 months a year and constantly play tournaments and we’ve done it from a very young age. Things are bound to happen. I mean, I was unfortunate that I had to have a pretty severe operation at a young age. At that point in your career, it’s not exactly the best situation.

“I certainly knew that some have never come back from it. A majority of players who come back from shoulder surgery never came back to play tennis again. It always crosses your mind, creates a setback.”

But, she insisted, “I never gave up on coming back. I always wanted that feeling of competing and hitting. First, trying to hit for more than a few minutes a day.Then it was trying to get back to competition because that’s what I love.

“I woke up every morning trying to get back to that. When you’re on the court, you have to put many things in perspective and realize that it’s not all rainbows and butterflies, that you’re going to have your days and moments where it’s going to be not so fun.”

What is good about Sharapova’s game at this point? She hasn’t lost her aggressiveness and desire to be a risk-taker on court, and she still hits a heavy ball from the baseline. What’s not so good? The service isn’t consistent enough yet and, while she’s much more improved since those early days back on court after surgery, it’s all about repetition in matches now. Eventually, you have to believe, it will come — unless there are, as she put it, more setbacks.

Winning Memphis and Strasbourg was something of a confidence builder, but she knows there is a certain hollowness to those titles. She played no one ranked higher than No. 66 at Memphis and no one higher than No. 49 at Strasbourg.

Meanwhile, in the tournaments that count most, she’s had mixed results. Lost first round at the Australian Open to Maria Kirilenko, then played probably her best match of the year in losing in three in a two-day, interrupted match to Justine Henin in Paris.

She likes playing Birmingham and has a good history there, though most top players would rather rest the week before a Slam. Sharapova won four matches — against No. 108, No. 86, No. 144 and No. 185, then lost 7-5, 6-1 in the final to Li.

She’s never played Pivovarova, who just turned 20 and who has spent much of the year in Challengers and trying to qualify for WTA events. She had her best tournament at the French Open, where she won three qualifying matches, then two rounds in the main draw.

I think Sharapova is sobered enough by her own physical history to know this is no easy passage to the second round. It’s a great fantasy plot to think Maria will reassert her brilliance on the lawns where she rocked tennis six years ago. But I think she knows that there are no more fantasy lands for players coming back from shoulder surgery. It’s all hard work and time now, and she’s got a lot more of it in front of her if she’s going to return to the game’s elite.

Charles Bricker can be reached at nflwriterr@aol.com