World Tennis Magazine

Unique Tennis Perspectives

stephanie dubois

No promise in future of American tennis shown in US Open qualifying

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The Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center got a beat down from Hurricane Irene and 33 Americans entered in the U.S. Open qualifying tournaments got a beat down from the international competition.

The unpleasant results: Not one of 15 U.S. women entered in the 128-draw qualifying got through to the main draw. Worse, not one U.S. women got to the third and final round of qualifying.

Ryan Harrison

On the men’s side, where 18 mostly young and aspiring U.S. players were entered, just one reached the big show and, at 30 years of age, No. 208-ranked qualifier Michael Yani is not quite the future of American tennis.

It shouldn’t be considered a complete loss or waste of resources. Coaches with the prodigiously-funded USTA player development program will tell you that, even in losses, it was an important experience for promising talent Chichi Scholl (19 years old), Jessica Pegula (17) and Taylor Townsend (15), who each won a round, and for Robin Anderson (18), Anne-Liz Jeukeng-Nkamgouo (15) and Nicole Gibbs (18), who all went out quickly.

And that would be a strong point to some degree because qualifying results at a Grand Slam aren’t going to tell you much about a 15-year-old player. At the same time, if you look at the U.S. performance in qualifying on balance, the results these last three days are not good — especially playing on home turf.

Only four women won qualifying matches — Scholl, Pegula, Townsend and Ashley Weinhold. Only Townsend extended an opponent to a third-set in second-round losses.

There were some bad first-round losses. Seeded No. 27, Alexa Glatch lost 6-3, 6-0, Krista Hardebeck was beaten 6-0, 6-2 by Scholl and Gail Brodsky went down love and love to No. 3 seed Stephanie Dubois of Canada.

A year ago, Irina Falconi, 21, was the only American to qualify for the Open. Born in Ecuador, she finished last year at No. 210 and comes into the Open this week at No. 78. She’s making progress, but, at this point, she’s a prospect. Nothing more.

One other woman who needs a mention in No. 66 Christina McHale, 19, who had a win over No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki last week in Cincinnati before going out in the third round to Nadia Petrova. She’s going to elevate to low- to mid-50s in the rankings on Monday. She’s having a strong development year and we’ll see if you can back up her Wozniacki with results at the Open.

United States men had somewhat better fortunes in the qualifying with Denis Kudla, Bradley Klahn and Rejeev Ram joining Yani in the final round. Unfortunately for Ram and Yani, they played each other in the third round, guaranteeing that not only would one Yank make the main draw but at least one would not.

Meanwhile, Klahn, who had beaten No. 14 seed Matthew Ebden in the second round, lost 6-3 in the third to go out, and Kudla, a winner over No. 24 Evgeny Donskoy in the second, lost 6-4, 6-2.

Other first-round winners were Greg Ouelette, Rhyne Williams, Mitchell Frank and Blake Strode. Certainly USTA officials would be quick to support the federation’s development program by pointing out that eight American men won opening-round qualifying matches.

That’s fine, but it’s not enough, of course, unless you’re still measuring the program in baby steps.

That’s not to say there aren’t very talented young U.S. players. Ryan Harrison, 19, has moved to No. 67 in the world with steady if not spectacular progress, and there is 16-year-old Madison Keys, who is ranked mid-400s and who is probably not going to give us a full measure of her talent for at least a couple years.

You look at the rest of the young American talent out there and it’s very hard to say there’s anyone destined for tennis’ elite.

With qualifying over, there will be 13 U.S. men in the main draw, led by Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick and John Isner, and 15 women, with Serena Williams a contender for the title. Six U.S. men and six women are in the main draw with wild cards.

Nadia Petrova adds new crystal to her collection at Citi Open

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By Christopher Lancette

The buzz at the inaugural Citi Open in College Park, Maryland this week centered around a number of players. People raved about top-seed Shahar Peer and rising newcomers like Irina Falconi. No one, it seemed, had Nadia Petrova’s name as the last one on their brackets. It had been three years, after all, since the former world No. 3 had taken home a trophy.

A little rusty after a title win? Petrova had to return to the press room to pick up something rather important -- her trophy

That changed Sunday, when the 29-year-old Russian beat No. 24 Shahar Peer 7-5, 6-2, relying on a powerful ground game and a strong serve that put a new piece of hardware in her hands.

“I’ve been waiting patiently for this,” she said. “I’m very happy to win my tenth title.”

A rare smile edged on to her face as she continued. “I love crystal and I already have a nice collection of it.”

The three-year gap between titles made her a little rusty on what to do after a win, though. Long after her post-match press conference, she returned to the press room to retrieve the trophy she had accidentally left behind.

Crystal in hand, she’s flying out quickly to get back to what she loves most – her new French bulldog. “I saw this little Frenchie and I just fell in love with her,” she said. “I’ve been waking up and counting the days until I see her.”

Despite suffering her sixth consecutive loss to Petrova, Peer also found some good things in her game at the Citi Open.

“I’m very encouraged,” she said. “It’s good momentum for me to win tough matches, to fight through a lot of good matches.”

Peer also appreciated the fan support that turns out for her wherever she goes, in part because of her willingness to embrace challenging issues off the court – as she did in World Tennis Magazine’s video interview with her.

“It is a very good feeling to have a lot people behind you,” said Peer, who planned to take in a Washington Nationals game before leaving town.

The championship match went by fairly quickly. Peer started strong in each set, breaking Petrova’s serve and taking early leads. Petrova regained command each time, though, controlling points and running Peer from sideline to sideline.

“I lost the first game of each set but I was able to turn it around,” Petrova said. “I knew she was not going to be able to hurt me with her first serve.”

Petrova recovered and set the tone with her serve for the rest of each set. She consistently placed serves ranging in speed from 106 to 110 miles per hour in tight places – just inside the T and out wide. She was also able to overcome a few unforced errors she made, including a wide-open overhead that she buried in the bottom of the net in the first set.

“I congratulate Nadia,” Peer said on court after the match. “There aren’t many players I haven’t beaten on this tour and I’ve lost already six times to her. She’s a great player and a great champion.”

For the Citi Open, the fact that the top seeds reached the finals was not the only bright spot.

  • Though fan-favorite Melanie Oudin disappeared early, former college No. 1 and Georgia Tech star Irina Falconi beat three players in the top 100 this week and will herself move into that company when the new rankings are released.
  • Sloane Stephens, another up-and-coming American talent, showed glimpses of her power and her potential. (WTM “The Changeover” video interview coming soon.)
  • Canadian Stephanie Dubois advanced to her first WTA quarterfinal in six years.
  • Tamira Paszek, the 20-year-old effervescent No. 42, turned in a solid week. “I got four good matches in my body and I know I can stay out there in the heat,” she said. “I found my game and played the way I should be playing.” (Stay tuned for a WTM video interview with her, too.)

Championship Sunday, however, belonged to Petrova – even if she didn’t read any of the buzz that other players were considered favorites or hopefuls.

“I brought my laptop with me but I haven’t opened it once,” she said.

She might want to now. The pictures of her with the first-ever Citi Open tournament trophy came out great.

Photo credits © by Won-ok Kim

Falconi, Kendrick, Lucic Highlight US Open Qualifiers

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It was a memorable Saturday for 20-year-old Irina Falconi, the former Georgia Tech All-American who easily defeated Canadian Stephanie Dubois in the final round of qualifying to earn her first entry into the U.S. Open main draw.

In fact, make that her first entry into any Grand Slam main draw. And it will be even more memorable if she can build on three qualifying wins by getting a win or two when the Open begins on Monday.

Falconi won 6-3, 6-1 over Dubois, the No. 25 seed, but is the only U.S. woman to qualify, and that won’t sit well with the people who run the USTA Player Development program in Boca Raton, Fla., and Carson, Calif. — the two main training sites.

It may be a big step forward for Falconi, who used two years in college to mature, but it’s a small step back for U.S. women after two Americans (Shenay Perry and Carly Gullikson) qualified at the 2009 Open and three (Alexa Glatch, Kristie Ahn and Perry) in 2008.

Meanwhile, only two American men qualified — No. 22 seed Robert Kendrick, who is ranked 147, and No. 219 Ryan Harrison, who got through his final round of qualifying on Friday. Kendrick on Saturday defeated Tatsuma Ito 6-3, 6-3. It’s the second Slam in a row in which Kendrick has qualified, having won his way into the Wimbledon main draw in June.

The U.S. had a chance for a fourth qualifier, but 32-year-old veteran Kevin Kim was beaten in the final round by Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania by 6-1, 6-3. Like Harrison, Berankis trains at the Bollettieri IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

A year ago, three American men qualified for the Open — Donald Young, Michael Yani and Jesse Witten.

There are 16 qualifiers in both the men’s and women’s tournaments and none of them has had a higher career ranking than onetime wonder teen Mirjana Lucic, who at age 16 had reached No. 11 in the world and who, a year later, was a semifinalist at Wimbledon.

Tall, physically strong even as a teenager, she appeared headed for a heralded career in tennis, but was beset by injuries and personal problems before re-committing to the game a couple years ago.

Now 28 and ranked No. 153, she qualified and is playing her first U.S. Open in eight years.

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.

TOUGH LOVE FOR ANA IVANOVIC

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By Blair Henley

It’s been just over two years since a smiling Ana Ivanovic charmed her way to victory at Roland Garros, but all memories of the brunette Serb hoisting any kind of trophy seem to be as distant as her No. 1 ranking.

Just ask Eugene Lapierre, tournament director at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, who denied the 22-year-old a wildcard into the main draw despite the fact that she won the tournament four years ago.

Instead, the wildcard will likely go to Canada’s No. 2 player, Stephanie Dubois, sending 63rd ranked Ivanovic into unfamiliar territory – the qualifying tournament.

Ana Ivanovic
Ana Ivanovic

On paper, Lapierre’s decision seems defensible, however unpopular. After all, the tournament’s 56-person draw puts Ivanovic on the bubble anyway, and it’s not uncommon to give wildcards to local talent.

But Ivanovic is a former champion. In fact, Lapierre admitted that  “she’s a player who has done a lot for our tournament — almost saved it one year.”

That seems like reason enough to let her give it a go. Not to mention the obvious benefits of having the presence of the still-popular Ivanovic guaranteed in the main draw. Dubois, ranked 125th, may be the hometown girl, but let’s be honest, it’s doubtful she’s a bigger draw than Ivanovic.

Right or wrong, the controversy at the Rogers Cup has highlighted the fact that Ivanovic will not be able to slide by on her marketability (read: looks and personality) forever.

If she’s really serious about resurrecting her game after an inexplicable two-year funk, she might want to consider pulling an Andre Agassi. In 1997, Agassi’s ranking sunk to No. 141, leading many to assume his career was finished. But with a new focus on his fitness, he decided to swallow his pride and work his way through the Challenger Circuit, also known as the minor leagues of tennis. Of course, we all know how that turned out.

Who knows if an Agassi-like resurgence is in the cards for Ivanovic, but one thing’s for sure – she’s got to change her approach (not just her coach, which she has done several times in the past two years). Some have speculated that she might benefit from a turn in the qualifying rounds, and while that may be true, there is also the potential that losing early could crush any sliver of confidence she has left.

So what about playing in some slightly smaller tournaments? Her ranking is still good enough for automatic entry into any second tier event, which could be a great place to start as she continues her quest to locate her once-dazzling form.  Losing in a main draw match, no matter what level, won’t be quite as psychologically debilitating as losing in the qualifying.

The Rogers Cup follows two, possibly three, tournaments where Ivanovic will play in the main draw thanks to wildcards. While it’s tough to completely understand Lapierre’s reasoning in Montreal, it may provide a much needed reality check for the almost-superstar. No one gets free passes for life.

After losing 6-3, 6-0 to Alisa Kleybanova in the second round at this year’s French Open, Ivanovic said, “I’m on the right path, and I’m doing lots of things right. I have a plan in place, and I have a really good team around me. I’m very happy with the improvements that have been made.”

Then she went on to lose in the first round at Wimbledon.

Her calm in the face of a career meltdown is admirable, but there comes a point when breaking a racket or launching an incoherent rant during a press conference might actually be cathartic. It must be exhausting to act like each successive loss is independent of a bigger problem.

Ana Ivanovic is an interesting case. Unlike Dinara Safina, another former No. 1 whose gradual self-destruction has been about as subtle as Venus’s “illusion” outfit at Roland Garros, Ivanovic’s slide has seemed oddly avoidable. She says all the right things, she’s been relatively healthy, she looks frustrated, but not panicked in her matches, and every tournament she plays seems like the tournament that will prompt “She’s Back!” headlines.

But so far, that hasn’t been the case. Maybe Ana will look back and thank Mr. Lapierre for giving her the kick in the buns she needed. We’ll soon find out.

CLIJSTERS, DAVYDENKO OUT OF FRENCH OPEN

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Kim Clijsters, the former world No. 1 and reigning US Open champion, has pulled out of the French Open starting on May 23 because she has not fully recovered from an injury to her left foot.

Clijsters, who returned to competitive tennis in 2009 after a two-year retirement and currently the No. 10-ranked WTA Tour player, reached the final in Paris twice, in 2001 and 2003, losing to Jennifer Capriati and Justine Henin.

The 26-year-old from Belgium, who has not played the French Open since reaching the semifinals in 2006, will be replaced in the main draw by Canada’s Stephanie Dubois.

Russian men’s world No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko is struggling with a sore left wrist and has also pulled out, organizers said in a statement.

Davydenko, a French semifinalist in 2005 and 2007 and a quarterfinalist last year, joins US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro and Tommy Haas as withdrawals.