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Mental Giants Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic Notch Wins at Sony Open Tennis

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Novak Djokovic in press at Sony Open Tennis on Sunday. 

By Yeshayahu Ginsburg

March 24, 2013 — Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic each got through their third round matches on Sunday while dropping only six games each, showcasing their mental prowess and vigor. Djokovic was untroubled in his dominating match of Somdev Devvarman, strolling through a second set that was nowhere near as close as the 64 scoreline indicated. Meanwhile, Sharapova was seemingly forced to work much harder in her own 6-4, 6-2 win over Elena Vesnina.

Novak Djokovic

Djokovic, a clear favorite, will next face Tommy Haas in the fourth round, while Sharapova will go up against Klara Zakopalova, who ousted last week’s BNP Paribas Open semifinalist Maria Kirilenko in straight sets.
Though it may not initially come to mind, Sharapova and Djokovic can probably each be described as the most laid-back top players on their respective tours. Both are fiery competitors on the court, but once they step off court, each is easygoing and willing to joke around with their team and other top players. Djokovic and Sharapova, in particular, did several commercial spots together for HEAD Tennis previously, and it gives a good insight into their personalities.
But having an easygoing personality doesn’t hold these players back from being fierce competitors on court.
Djokovic, today, gave two important insights into what drives him on court. He spoke of the inspiration that he receives from his fans, saying, “It’s incredible just to see the amount of passion that the people have who support me and who feel that what I do inspires them.” That’s a strong quote and really helps the fans feel involved in the game itself.
The Serb also explained that there was a mental component that wasn’t quite there yet in his game a few years back. He was a consistent top 3 player, but he couldn’t consistently beat Federer and Nadal until 2011.
“It was a process of learning, understanding who I am, what I need to do on and off of the court, maturing. I was patient. I did have my doubts definitely through this period, but (my team) and great friends always believed in my abilities and convinced me that I could do it. I also believed very much that I could be No. 1 of the world.”
Maria Sharapova

Sharapova also gave a lot of insights into her own mental state on court today. She spoke about taking everything one match at a time, even though she can take world No. 1 at the end of this tournament if Serena loses early. She showed a personal side in her tennis too, talking about memories of coming to this tournament with her parents when she was younger.
It’s important to realize that there is a great deal that goes into these players’ games. It is so much more than just talent and executing on the court. It’s the little things that can add a mental edge or a boost in confidence.
It is wanting to inspire fans, or memories as a child, or even an intense desire to be just a tiny bit better than ever before. And for some players, that means being serious and totally zoned-in all the time. But for others, it’s about being relaxed or able to take a joke. Or, as Sharapova easily deflected when asked if her screaming has evolved over the years, “That’s not for me to judge. It’s more for you.”

"Lucky Loser" Lauren Davis Out of Luck in Miami

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Lauren Davis in action against Alize Cornet

By Jane Voigt

MIAMI, FL (March 24, 2013) — How does a tournament fare when it loses star power? Sure, Venus Williams is out, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were never in, and Juan Martin del Potro lost early. That doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to see here at Sony Open Tennis, where a slew of story-lines and drama played out today.
Case in point: American and “Lucky Loser” Lauren Davis.
Davis’ chance to play in the main draw of the Sony Open Tennis finally materialized, as luck would have it, a couple of days ago. In her three previous appearances in Miami, Davis lost in qualifications with her first attempt coming in 2010 when she was ranked No. 896 in the world.
But when the No. 2 seed Victoria Azarenka withdrew with an ankle injury the day of her second round opener (as a seed, Azarenka had a bye in the first round) on Friday, Davis jumped all over what many would call fate or a godsend. For Davis the green light was an obvious invitation to swing out.
Up against her friend and fellow American teen, Madison Keys in the second round, Davis fought through to a win taking the dramatic third-set tiebreak 9-7. Her victory came the same day as Jamie Hampton, another team America player lost her third-set tiebreak to Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro, the No. 20 seed.
Davis had landed on the high plain and awaited Alize Cornet of France, the tournament’s 32nd-seed, in the third round.
With Cornet at 23 years old and Davis at just 19, both young women had a lot riding on their match today. Davis, ranked No. 81, continued to feel the breezes of a breakthrough and wanted nothing more to move on in the draw. Cornet aimed to sustain her upward trend in the rankings, which peaked in February 2009, at world No. 11, and fell to a low of No. 89 in 2011.
However, Lauren Davis’ luck ran out today. On fire from the first game and throughout the first set, Davis completely overwhelmed Cornet. Davis blasted winners off first serves and smacked backhands with the conviction of a champion. The match would certainly go her way, at least that was the vibe a predominantly American audience exuded.
Both women hunkered down as rallies lengthened, with fan murmurs rising as each stroke popped inside the small stadium and an anticipation became palpable. Who would make the error, the gusty winds proving a technical hazard from one end of the court.
They threw in loopy moon balls and Cornet executed precise drop shots that forced Davis to peddle with the speed of light up to the net and face the foreseen error. She consistently arrived late.
In the eighth game, Davis went down 0-40, and saved three break points only to lose her hold on the match with a double fault.

Davis after being stung by a wasp.

To add insult to injury, Davis was stung by a wasp.
In the third set, Davis obviously had nothing in the tank and a welt on her upper thigh to boot. Her crisp groundies struggled to penetrate the court. Cornet, although dragging, was quicker to take advantage of opportunities that had propelled her at the start of the match.
As the time clock ticked away — for a grueling 2 hours and 23 minutes — Cornet found rhythm and stamina and her serve, which were totally missing early on, while Davis meanwhile struggled to maintain her form. Cornet pressed the 19-year-old American in the second set, staking ground for her comeback and eventual win, 2-6 6-3 6-2.
“We were both pretty worn down at the end,” Davis admitted. “She kept the ball in play better in the end.”
Davis, though, was not discouraged by her loss. She knew the experience would benefit her game and pro career, which only began two years ago.
“It’s been a great experience,” she said, still showing signs of disappointment. “It was a pleasant surprise to make it this far. I’m happy to improve. I need to adjust my diet and fitness. I needed more endurance today.”
Davis will now return to the Evert Tennis Academy. She moved from Cleveland, her birthplace, to Boca Raton and smiled as she recalled the moment.
“It was the best decision of my life to move from Cleveland,” she said emphatically. “It’s like a family there for me. I’ve learned so much.”
Over the course of her young career, Lauren has scored wins over Yanina Wickmayer, a top 25 player, and Sorana Cirstea earlier this year in Hobart. Today, Cirstea surprised No. 6 seed Angelique Kerber in a lopsided 6-4 6-0 victory also in Miami.
Although Davis’ match could be categorized as lopsided, it ended up as a match of attrition.
Fans were obviously disheartened, as they tromped down the stairs and out to another match. But they should remain heartened. Davis’s five-foot-two stature embraces a huge heart, competitive spirit and game that could lift her to the top 20 in the near future.

A Low Roar: Putintseva Steels Past Robson in Dubai

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With all eyes on her, Yulia Putintseva held her nerve for a decisive victory over Laura Robson in Dubai.

Patient. Poised. Polite.
Few who have watched the “delightfully offensive” Yulia Putintseva Show would use any of those words to describe the demonstrative Kazakh’s on-court demeanor. But as the 18-year-old calmly broke Laura Robson to serve for the match in the final set, many were wondering where the drama had gone.
One day earlier, a shuddering tennis world braced itself for the notoriously over-the-top teenager’s debut. Known for her multilingual affirmatives and incendiary celebrations, Putintseva has set herself apart as her generation’s cartoon villain. To be fair, something like this is, to a slightly lesser degree, what audiences are used to seeing at any given moment from the Putintseva Show. Her wildcard into Dubai’s main draw (at the expense of former finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova) seemed as much a nod to her perceived entertainment value as her talent; assigning her Center Court against Robson, a peer with whom Putintseva had had history in juniors, put the Kazakh in primetime.
Anticipation had reached a fevered pitch as the match got underway. Diehard tennis fans, hip to the often circus-like atmosphere of Yulia Putintseva matches, expected a verbal bloodbath between the youngsters. As the match wore on, it became clear that the Show had undergone drastic retooling. Perhaps knowing the world was watching, the young Kazakh was shockingly quiet in showing off deft feel and exposing her rival’s weaker movement en route to winning the opening set. Drawing errors from the hyper-aggressive Robson, Yulia forced viewers to watch her for her tennis, without any antics to serve as diversions. Some were put off by this unplugged, otherwise weaponless Putintseva; others had signed on too long ago to jump ship now.
Despite making vast improvements after an off-season at the Mourataglou Academy, the diminutive Putintseva still struggles with consistency. To play her brand of brash defense, she must stand close to the baseline so she might successfully absorb pace from players like Robson. As the British phenom edged the match towards a deciding set, Putintseva was falling farther and farther behind the baseline, allowing her taller, more powerful opponent to dictate. Fans who were looking for jubilation when she was winning were equally disappointed to find no histrionics when she was losing. No racquets were smashed. No heavens were screamed up to. When the match reached equilibrium, it had caught up with Yulia Putintseva.
Instigators looking for a boiling point were hopeful in the third set. Putintseva, ostensibly unable to accuse officials of conspiring against her with incorrect calls, challenged a shot that had been called wide. When Hawkeye overturned the call, umpire Kader Nouni called for a replay rather than awarding her the point. Robson had no play on the ball; even British commentators David Mercer and Annabel Croft felt the hitherto reserved Putintseva had been wronged. But rather than theatrically arguing the decision, Yulia politely asked for confirmation, won the replayed point, and proceeded to break Robson a few points later.
A fellow spectator and blogger tweeted me about Putintseva, how her faultlessly calm disposition was, well, boring:


To which I responded:


It is evident that Yulia Putintseva talks a big game. She is on record as having aspirations of winning a major title and being No. 1 (in 2013). But she has yet to assert herself as a clutch match-closer. In her two matches in Australia, she served for the both in the second set, only to lose both sets in tiebreakers. As if on cue, Putintseva sensed the moment and froze. The young woman who is “never scared to lose” did little to silence a talented opponent, and found the set leveled at 5-5, winning only 2 points in 3 games.
Serving to avoid a heartbreaking loss, Putintseva played an inspired game to hold at love. The ensuing tiebreaker that I had promised forty minutes earlier was ugly, one of those tired affairs played on guts alone. Putintseva began the season losing one such sudden death game. But she somehow parlayed the momentum from that revitalizing hold into an 8-6 squeaker.
As Robson’s final forehand sailed long, it became apparent to both the crowd in Dubai and fans around the world that the fiery Kazakh had saved her best reaction for last. Celebrating a win that will propel her into the game’s top 90, Yulia Putintseva unleashed those expertly contained emotions and showed us how much this victory truly meant.

(GIF courtesy of @TheGrandSlams)

After 17 Years on Tour, Jill Craybas Soldiers On

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By McCarton Ackerman, Special for Tennis Grandstand

For American player Jill Craybas, most of her contemporaries have retired from the tour, moved into coaching and then retired from that. But at age 38, she still feels like there’s plenty for her to accomplish in pro tennis.
Craybas turned pro in 1996 after winning the NCAA women’s singles title and has remained a constant fixture on the WTA Tour for the last 15 years. While she never advanced into the elite echelons of the pro game, being a steady and reliable mid-carder with a career high ranking of No. 39 has still yielded some impressive numbers. She’s won 1 WTA singles title and five WTA doubles title throughout her career (including a doubles title last year in Bad Gastein, Austria), as well as three ITF singles titles and two ITF doubles titles. From 2000-2011, she played in the main draw of 45 consecutive Grand Slam events and finished inside the top 100 every year from 2001-2010.
There have also been numerous high profile wins throughout her career, including defeating Serena Williams at Wimbledon in 2005 and Kim Clijsters in Miami in 2006. She’s even represented the US in several Fed Cup ties and in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
And while the handful of players on tour who are over 35 tend to be doubles specialists, she is still sticking to singles. But despite all that she’s accomplished, Craybas is still as eager to succeed as she was when she first turned pro.

Jill Craybas

“Even though last year was a struggle for me and I didn’t do very well, I still really enjoy going out there and practicing and learning,” said Craybas. I put a little bit too much pressure on myself last year, so I lost the enjoyment during matches. This year, I’ve made a promise to myself that I was going to try and enjoy things regardless of what happens.
After dropping outside of the top 150 for the first time in 15 years, Craybas returned to the USTA Pro Circuit last spring, the tennis equivalent of the minor leagues in baseball. Last week, she was competing against at the Fresh Start Women’s Open, a $25,000 event in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. In her first round match against fellow American Chieh-Yu Hsu, she played in front of four spectators (which included her coach and two USTA officials) in temperatures so low that both players could see their breath. Fighting for over three hours against a backboard opponent, a lingering calf injury and line calls that repeatedly frustrated the normally mild-mannered Craybas, she still dug deep to prevail in a marathon match.
“I never thought bad line calls could actually make you lose a match, but there was one match in my career at a WTA event in Pattaya (Thailand) where it did and from that point on, I feel like I’ve gotten so aggravated with line calls now,” said Craybas. “I can feel myself welling up and getting so pissed, but it happens all the time. That’s just part of the game and you hope it evens out on both sides.”
After clearing more than $2 million in prize money throughout her career, the $430 check players get for losing in the second round of this tournament would hardly be motivating for Craybas. But while many players would be content with a career that most can only dream of, she is still soldering on for one final push.
“It’s a tough thing to give up because tennis has been such a big part of my life and I still love it,” said Craybas. “Even though I feel like I haven’t been playing my best tennis, it just motivates me even more to go out there and get to the point that I know I’m capable of. I’m just hungry to want to get better.”
However, Craybas also admits that she is starting to want other things in life. She’s started to take photography and cooking classes as a way of testing out her options after tennis and has considered whether she wants to start a family.
“As much as I love traveling and being on tour, I’ve really started to enjoy being at home too,” said Craybas. “I love the photography and cooking as well. It’s a good problem to have because there’s so much that I want to do with my life, but it’s also made my brain a little scattered too.”
For now though, she is content to solder on. She’s currently heading to another $25,000 event in Arizona before heading to the red clay of Mexico for a WTA Tour event. Despite being asked how much longer she intends to play at nearly every tournament she goes to, Craybas believes that she’ll know when it’s truly time to walk away.
“I’ve asked a lot of my friends who are no longer on tour about how you know when it’s time to retire and literally every single one of them said, ‘You’ll know. The fact you’re even asking means you’re not ready.’ I’m still really determined to end things on a good note.”

Ana Ivanovic Off the Market, Dating Friend of Novak Djokovic

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January 24, 2013 — Serbian tennis player Ana Ivanovic is known nearly as much for her on court game as her off court relationships. Her past love escapades have included tennis player Fernando Verdasco and golfer Adam Scott, and now it seems she has found a new love match.
Ivanovic was caught by paparazzi getting intimate with a “mystery man” on the beaches of Australia earlier this month, and was also spotted arriving in Melbourne with the same fellow for the start of the Australian Open — he’s in the white shirt in the video below.

The lucky lad’s name is Mark Stillitano, a 26-year-old former tennis player hailing from Monaco. The Novak Djokovic fans in the audience may recognize Stillitano as he has often been seen traveling with the world No. 1 as part of his team. His exact role is unclear but Stillitano may just be a good friend of Djokovic’s who travels with and supports his comrade on the road.

Novak Djokovic and Mark Stillitano

Not much else is known about Ivanovic’s good looking and stylish beau and that’s perhaps a good thing. His relative anonymity could serve their romance well as Ivanovic would be wise to steer clear of any more high-profile relationships. She needs a good stabilizing force and let’s hope her choice to date one of Djokovic’s friends is a sign of a healthy relationship going into the future.
Oh, and here’s one more photo of Stillitano for good measure. She seems to have a type, no?

UPDATE: Seems we now know a little more about Stillitano. He is British-born, coming from a fairly wealthy family, and his mother sells elite villas on the French Riviera. Stillitano himself works for “Bombardier,” which is headquartered in Montreal, Canada but has sites in over 25 countries, including Monaco. The firms is the world’s only manufacturer of both planes and trains. Ah, so all those trips with Ana are actually for “business.” I see.
(h/t to @returnwinner and @macakdragi)

Li Na: The “Nail” in Sharapova’s Australian Open Coffin

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James Crabtree is currently in Melbourne Park covering the Australian Open for Tennis Grandstand and is giving you all the scoop directly from the grounds.

By James Crabtree

MELBOURNE — Conflicting with popular opinion The Great Wall of China is alive, travels extensively and has a broad sense of humour.
Maria Sharapova met the wall Thursday, and attempted to use all her artillery to beat it. In fact, Li Na defence was better than just a wall. The Russian champion, who is known to hit the ball harder than anyone, only served to hit something that would be absorbed then sent back with interest.
Sharapova, perhaps relishing her fortune and thinking towards a final that wouldn’t include Serena Williams, started horribly. The first points on Sharapova’s serve went to Na as back to back double faults. In contrast Li Na started reliably, not giving any points away. The next few games were close and if you weren’t paying attention you wouldn’t have realised that Na had raced out to a 4-1 lead.
This was the wrong script. Sharapova, who had barely lost a game all tournaments, was now losing games. In contrast Li Na was beating a player she had lost her last three meetings with.
The Russian showed a brief reprisal by securing the next game on a wild Na forehand, and the Russian attack seemed imminent.
The cavalry never came, with Sharapova’s inability to play smart tennis that included variations in pace and angle. Na rounded out the set on an easy service game.
The second set started with more of a tussle. Sharapova served well and the score line was a much more even 2-2, with Chris Evert predicting a victory for the Russian, via twitter.
Still, Na’s game plan was solid. A strategy that may have been inspired by her new coach Carlos Rodriguez, and Justine Henin’s former.
Just like the first set Li Na was winning the tough points, the longer rallies and all the important deuce and advantage points. All the games were furthering her lead.
There was to be no Sharapova comeback predicted by Evert. All in all this was a tough and tense encounter that did not reflect a 6-2 6-2 score-line. It was however Li Na’s day, literally, in the sun.
The stats rarely lie. Sharapova had 17 winners and 32 unforced errors whilst Na had a much more even 21 winners and 18 unforced errors. “Today, as I said, I felt like I had my fair share of opportunities. It’s not like they weren’t there. I just couldn’t take them today.” Sharapova stated after her loss.
Sharapova’s conceded twelve games today. In the five matches prior she conceded a total of nine.
Nobody would have predicted Serena Williams and Maria Sharpova to lose in consecutive days.
After the match Li Na thanked the crowd, whom are quickly considering her part of the family. She added she “always plays well in Melbourne,” a fact that is becoming more apparent every year. A fact that would work well in her favour Saturday against Azarenka, a player she has lost her last four meetings with.

Lesia Tsurenko: Making Her Own Luck

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Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko reached her first WTA semifinal in Brisbane and her first third round at a Grand Slam on Thursday.

 
For the majority of the past decade, the blue and yellow banner of Ukraine was carried by the Bondarenko sisters on the WTA Tour. Alona and Kateryna were the 2008 Australian Open champions in doubles, and each had a noteworthy career in singles in her own right. Alona peaked at No. 19 in 2008, won two career titles and recorded career wins over Jelena Jankovic, Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova. Kateryna, the younger of the two, reached the quarterfinals at the 2009 US Open, won her only WTA title at Birmingham in 2008 and recorded wins over Venus Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Ana Ivanovic and Li Na.
However, with Alona suffering multiple injuries and requiring surgeries over the past two seasons and Kateryna marrying and becoming pregnant, 2012 marked the first time in 10 years that no Ukrainian woman finished in the top 100 in the WTA rankings.
Enter Lesia Tsurenko.
The 23-year-old from Vladimirec was born in 1989, grouping her with higher-ranked players like Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, Dominika Cibulkova and Sabine Lisicki; however, unlike her peers, she only turned professional in 2007. Tsurenko doesn’t come from a sporting family; in fact, she comes from the polar opposite. Her father Viktor used to work in international relations for a nuclear power plant before retiring; her mother Larisa is an economist; her older sister Oxana is a lawyer. Lesia herself studied at Ukraine’s National University of Physical Education and Sports and speaks three languages.
A journey woman of sorts for the early part of her WTA career, Tsurenko began to make strides in 2012. She played in the main draw of all four Grand Slams for the first time and she reached her first career WTA quarterfinal in Memphis. Behind her great two-handed backhand, she was the #1 for Ukraine’s Fed Cup team for the first time in her career in a tie against the United States, and defeated Francesca Schiavone and Sara Errani on clay. She finished the year just outside of the top 100 at No. 102.
Tsurenko travelled to Brisbane to open 2013 and lost in the final round of qualifying; however, she was granted entry into the main draw when Maria Sharapova withdrew with a collarbone injury.
It was made known afterwards that Tsurenko received the lucky loser spot because the two higher-ranked losers in qualifying did not sign in by the deadline. As the underdog in all of her Brisbane matches, Tsurenko defeated both Jarmila Gajdosova and Daniela Hantuchova on her way to the semifinals; she would take the first set from Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova before the Russian would rally for the three set win. As a result of her first career WTA semifinal, Tsurenko broke back into the top 100 at No. 83 – a new career high.
As the entry deadline for the Australian Open had already passed, Tsurenko still needed to play qualifying, but would now be the top seed.
While some players might have had difficulty playing in qualifying with a ranking high enough for the main draw, Tsurenko put her nose to the grindstone and just went about business. She received perhaps the toughest opening round draw against Bethanie Mattek-Sands, a former top 30 player coming back from injury. Tsurenko won the match in three sets and had little difficulty in her other two matches to make the main draw.
She was drawn in the only qualifier spot that opposed a seeded player and would face off against Pavlyuchenkova for the second time in almost as many weeks. This time, however, Tsurenko would get her revenge against the higher-ranked Russian, winning 7-5, 3-6, 7-5. In the second round, she faced off against teenaged qualifier Daria Gavrilova in the sweltering heat on Thursday; after falling behind *4-0 in the opening set, Tsurenko won seven of the next eight games to take command of the match and would pull out the 7-5, 6-3 win.

Tsurenko’s hot start to 2013 is proving that the hand you’re dealt is close to irrelevant if you don’t know how to play your cards. Whatever the result of her third round match against Caroline Wozniacki, she’ll rocket past her previous career-high when the new rankings are released. A stroke of good fortune kicked off her 2013, but hard work and dedication has allowed her to take advantage of it. If you’re not convinced, you can take her word for it.

“I have a boyfriend and his name is tennis. It takes all my time.”

Where has Super Sam Stosur gone?

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James Crabtree is currently in Melbourne Park covering the Australian Open for Tennis Grandstand and is giving you all the scoop directly from the grounds.

Sam Stosur

By James Crabtree

MELBOURNE — Sam Stosur’s game is incomparable as is her corresponding fitness level. We cannot guess how hard Sam works on court, but from her body alone we can assume she works harder than anyone off it. Just look at Sam’s arms, chiselled to perfection and worthy of any Biggest Loser trainer. Besides the physique, she has the gut wrenching heavy hitting, wrist breaking ripping topspin forehand that includes traces of Nadal D.N.A. Her sharp and crisp volleys are that of a doubles specialist, unmatched on the women’s tour, unmatched since Navratilova. Super Sam has a cutting slice Graf backhand, and an Edberg curling rolling top spin serve that is perhaps the best in the game of either sex.
Now we don’t want to bring up what happened with Jie Zheng or a week earlier with Sofia Arvidsson, but we still want to know what happened.
The question that all assumed was asked. Do you think you choked?
“I don’t know. Whatever word you want to put on it. At 5-2 up in the third, double break probably is a bit of a choke, yeah.”
Sam responded pretty matter-of-factly, when some of us wanted her to lie. She always responds like this, she is always polite and far too honest when we want her to blame something obscure; blame the ankle or an undiagnosed event like a hurting toe.
Yes there has been talk of ankle problems, and then there was the Navratilova comment about her serve that she seemed genuinely hurt by. Additionally she has not won a title since the U.S. and only has 3 career titles while having played in 15 finals.
“I got tight and then you start missing some balls.” Said Sam as we thought to ourselves why wasn’t Jie Zheng getting tight after letting go of a first set advantage.
So what really is going on?
To the majority of Australia it doesn’t make sense, the last three years she has not made it past the third round. Sam won the U.S. Open on a very similar hard court. Now at home in Australia she can’t buy a win.
Besides, these are not the players she should be choking against. These are players who should be choking against her. We can accept a finals loss to Serena or a semi against Sharapova. We cannot accept a second round goodbye.
Why oh why is Sam losing to people she should be double bageling? Why is she giving them so much respect?
Can it all be in the mind?
We never want to bring up the past, because that is going backwards but remember when Sam lost in the 2010 French Open final to Francesca Schiavone, a match that most thought would be hers.
That’s when everyone gave up on Stosur. That was when she was first labelled a choker.
She bounced back. Only a year later Super Sam had become the first Aussie female to capture a Grand Slam since Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
Hopefully what has happened to her in Australia recently is just a blip, bad times before the good.
The days of not believing in Sam Stosur surely cannot be over.

Ashleigh Barty and Elina Svitolina: Teenagers Try Their Hand on Day 1

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Ashleigh Barty

By Victoria Chiesa

There has been much discussion in recent years regarding the rising median age on the WTA Tour. Players such as Martina Hingis, Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati all proved that they were capable of becoming world-beaters at a young age; however, as the physicality of women’s tennis has increased over the past decade, the 15 and 16 year-old prodigies fans were accustomed to seeing in the ’90s and early ’00s have been replaced by veterans breaking through in their mid-to-late 20s.
In 2012, there were six teenagers in the year-end top 100. Annika Beck, born February 16th, 1994, is currently the youngest player in the top 100 and ranked 71, while Sloane Stephens is the highest ranked teenager and is seeded No. 29 at the Australian Open.
Some, such as Stephens and Laura Robson had deep runs in Grand Slams in 2012, knocking off quality players along the way; Stephens reached the fourth round at Roland Garros, while Robson sent Kim Clijsters into retirement and defeated Li Na on the road to the fourth round at the US Open. Others, including Donna Vekic, Ashleigh Barty and Elina Svitolina finished just outside the world’s elite 100. Two of the members of this teenaged contingent were in action at Melbourne Park on day one, as Barty and Svitolina both took on seeded players in the form of Dominika Cibulkova and Angelique Kerber.
Svitolina, 18, was the Roland Garros junior champion and the world’s No. 1 junior in 2010, while Barty, 16, was the Wimbledon junior champion in 2011. Barty owns four titles on the ITF senior circuit while Svitolina has five, including a victory at the WTA 125k event in Pune, India last fall.
For two girls in relatively close in age, I took notice of their contrasting on-court demeanors when it was brought up on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/jdsquaredd/status/290694530552963072
Svitolina, who I first became acquainted with a few seasons ago as a result of this video, delivered as expected; her shrieks of ‘C’mon!’ after every point won in the early going were paired with disappointed shrugs and racket tosses after every point lost. A capable ball-striker off of both wings, Svitolina was cracking winners from the baseline and was able to hanging with the German through the first four games.
Barty, two years Svitolina’s junior, had a completely different attitude. Praised for her cool head and calm demeanor, Barty has the game to match; capable of doing everything on the court, Barty threw in a solid mix of baseline strikes and net approaches to keep Cibulkova off-balance. Her emotional level rarely changed throughout the match, as she stayed remarkably even-keeled in front of her home crowd. When a Cibulkova backhand found the net to give Barty a *53 lead in the opening set, there were no histrionics from the Australian; rather, a casual, muted fist pump was her only celebration.
Nonetheless, the experience of their opponents would overwhelm them. Kerber would win six of the last seven games, absorbing and redirecting the Ukrainian’s pace as only she can, to come away with a 62 64 win. Cibulkova would put together a run of nine straight games to take command against Barty, who grew increasingly erratic as the match wore on; the Slovak would take a 36 60 61 win in just under two hours.
While a learning experience for both, the first day in Melbourne showed that although the teenaged contingent has made great strides, improvements in consistency and mental fortitude are the keys that will bring them closer to beating the best.

Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova: Shaking Off the Rust and the Doubts

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Venus Williams wins on Day 1 of the 2013 Australian Open

By David Kane

When marketing tennis, it’s rarely about how well the game is played. To appeal to an audience broader than diehards, the question of “who’s playing” can be equally if not more important. Notorious for its shocking upsets and unheralded finalists, the WTA has struggled to corral its biggest names onto the back ends of its best tournaments. With the tour’s stars going through injuries and inconsistency (even unretirements), tournaments instead began relying on “matches worthy of a final” that in reality occurred days, sometimes weeks before the championship match.
Venus/Clijsters. Henin/Sharapova. Azarenka/Serena. All are marquee match-ups that took place before a Slam’s prestigious second week.
Of late, the women’s side has formed its own “Big Four,” but those cracking early match-ups still exist thanks to a most uncommon denominator in Venus Williams, who could play No. 2 seed (and kindred spirit) Maria Sharapova should both reach the third round.
The American has inspired many in how she has balanced a pro career with the energy-sapping Sjogren’s Syndrome. Battling through the ups and downs of a chronic illness, she achieved her goal of making the Olympic team and won another gold medal with her sister. Finishing 2012 with a title in Luxembourg, the veteran started the new season undefeated in Hopman Cup.
Sharapova has faced tough times as well; taken out of the game with a shoulder injury, the Russian spent years struggling to regain the form that took her to multiple major championships. Her Roland Garros victory was not only a fulfillment of the Career Grand Slam, but also an emphatic triumph over adversity.
However, triumph over adversity is not necessarily “elimination of.”
Venus has worked hard to mitigate the effects of Sjogren’s, including a change in diet and selective scheduling. But the very nature of the disease is its unpredictability; for as many days as Venus may feel great, there have been (and will be) days where she pulls up lame, as she did in the first round of Wimbledon.
Drawing Galina Voskoboeva in the first round looked to be a bad omen for the American. The tall Kazakh mixes raw power with quirky finesse not unlike Tsvetana Pironkova, a player who has owned Venus, particularly at Slams. How would she hold up under Voskoboeva’s undoubtedly relentless assault of slices and dropshots?
While her ranking no longer shows it, Sharapova too has dealt with the residual effects of shoulder surgery. Though ostensibly healed, the constant tweaking with her service motion left her with a perennially shaky delivery that can produce a string of double faults out of nowhere. An ugly serving day can lead to some ugly losses, as her big game can crumble when the confidence in her serve disappears.
The collarbone injury that took Sharapova out of Brisbane was worrisome only in the notion that the Russian would come to Melbourne rusty, which could trigger one of those “no good, very bad days” on serve and on the court. Who was to say that, despite facing a less intimidating foe in Olga Puchkova, Sharapova wouldn’t hit herself off the court?
Taking the court in one of her EleVen creations, Venus silenced those buzzing around Hisense Arena predicting an upset with startling efficiency, dropping only one game to her talented opponent. Looking more like a young upstart with streaks of blue hair rather than a hobbled veteran, the American was always the aggressor and never allowed Voskoboeva to wrest control. By the end, Venus was twirling her way into the second round, erasing many doubts in the process.
As Venus was making mincemeat of one opponent, Sharapova was grounding out another. After struggling through two long games to begin the match, the No. 2 seed clicked into form in a manner that should put fear into her opposition. Exposing Puchkova’s poor movement and poorer forehand, Sharapova double-bageled her compatriot, romping through a second set where she hit only three unforced errors. Three-quarters of the way to a Career Slam Double Bagel (Sharapova has pitched no hitters at the French and US Open), the Russian looked equally dominant to start her Australian campaign.
Chaos may no longer reign in women’s tennis, but depth is here to stay. With intriguing matches to be found throughout the fortnight, the WTA may have found the best of both worlds with a meatier and – dare I say it? – more marketable product.