Williams Beats Azarenka. VENUS Williams!

Wow! Unsurprisingly, a Williams sister beat World #2 Victoria Azarenka in Japan yesterday. The surprise is that it was Venus Williams who did it, and the score was 6-2 6-4. Even more surprising comes the remarkable news that Venus has now never lost to Azarenka, and this was their third meeting. Azarenka has been feeling sick for the last three days and was clearly not at her best:

Azarenka talked about her physical condition afterwards in her post-match press conference.

"I haven't been feeling well the last few days and haven't been able to practice," Azarenka said. "It has been very frustrating. But I got out there for the people. Everyone was waiting a long time for this match, so there was no way I wasn't going to go out there. I appreciate people coming out and paying for the tickets - they should see the players play. And I tried my best. I did whatever I could do today.

"But you have to be at your best to play against a top player like her. So all the credit to her."

Williams scored her first win over a Top 2 player since beating Dinara Safina at Wimbledon in 2009.

"I don't think Victoria was feeling her best - hopefully she'll be feeling better and ready for Beijing - Lord knows I know what it's like not to feel great," Williams said. "But other than that, obviously it's great to win today, but the tournament's not over, it just started, so I have to continue playing well now."

Williams and Azarenka's other two meetings came at the Olympics in 2008 (Williams won, 63 62) and Dubai in 2010 (Williams won, 63 75). Williams improves to 3-0 in her head-to-head against Azarenka.

World #1 Serena Williams is not playing in the Pan Pacific Open (and probably will skip the entire Asian swing) but will most likely return to the WTA Tour just to play the WTA Year End Championships in Istanbul next month, where she is the defending champion.

Serena turns 32 years old on Thursday. Two weekends ago she beat Azarenka to win her 17th major title at the 2013 US Open.

Hat/tip to the Daily Bagel

Celebrity Friday: Caroline Wozniacki

Caroline Wozniacki will become the new World #1 tennis player in the world on Monday, dethroning Serena Williams, who has had the top spot for the last 49 weeks. Wozniacki has won 5 titles this year and reached the final of the US Open in 2009 and has never won a major title, while Serena won the 2010 Australian Open and 2010 Wimbledon  titles and did not play the US Open this year.

Wozniacki, like Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina are just two recent top-ranked players who have yet to win a major title. It should be noted that Kim Clijsters became ranked  World #1 without winning  a major title, but has since won 3 US Open crowns. The question for the 20-year-old Dane is will she be like Jankovic and Safina, or like Clijsters? Or possibly, like Ivanovic, who won her sole major title in 2008 at the French Open and was ranked #1, only to see her rating plummet precipitously afterwards.

Serena, by the way, is returning to the tour on Monday, at the tournament in Linz, Austria. Venus Williams says she will not compete again in 2010.

Best (Women's) Tennis Matches of 2009

After a year's hiatus in 2008, MadProfessah's list of the Best Tennis Matches of the Year has returned, this time, twice as long! You can still see that inaugural post, the Best Women's Matches of 2007.

Here are the most memorable tennis matches by women in 2009:

1. S. Williams USA d. E. Dementieva RUS, 6-7(4) 7-5 8-6,Wimbledon Championships semifinal, London.

Unanimously recognized as the best match of 2009 by competitors, fans and commentators, the semifinal showdown between Elena Dementieva and Serena Williams was the pivotal moment in the most important tournament of the year. The Russian was popularly regarded as having the most powerful ground strokes of any player on tour but also one of the weakest serves. Serena, of course, is well-known for having the best serve of any player on the WTA Tour and is also very powerful on both wings. Even so, few expected the battle royale which resulted with Dementieva holding a match point at 7-6(4), 5-4 which Serena saved after an extended rally ending with an error by the Russian. Despite the disappointment of not winning the match in the second set, Dementieva was able to exhibit incredible mental fortitude by extending the match to a record 2 hours and 49 minutes, the longest women's semifinal in Open tennis history. But Serena was able to prevail and it was this match which demonstrated that no one was going to be able to stop her from winning her 3rd career Wimbledon title, not even her sister, the best grass court player of her generation.

2. S. Williams USA d. D. Safina RUS, 6-0 6-3, Australian Open final, Melbourne.

None of the 2009 Grand Slam finals were stellar matches, but Serena Williams' dismantling of the World #1 player in the final of the Australian Open was still noteworthy. Although not as devastating as the incredible beatdown of Maria Sharapova Serena displayed in the 2007 final (in that match Sharapova was not playing badly but there's absolutely no one who could have beaten Serena the way she was playing that day), the 2009 final still ended up with a similar result: the humiliating defeat of the Russian player in the final of the Australian Open. It was Serena's 10th major title and her second consecutive Grand Slam title in a row.

3. S. Kuznetsova RUS d. S. Williams USA, 7-6(3) 5-7 7-5, Roland Garros quarterfinal, Paris.

It was clear at the outset that the person who won this match would go on to win the French Open title. The surprising aspect of this match was that the person who exhibited the superior mental toughness was Svetlana Kuznetsova, not 10-time major champion Serena Williams. Kuznetsova faced a set point in the first set but won that point and ended up winning the first set in a tiebreak. In the second set Kuznetsova held a significant lead at 5-3 and was 3 points from victory but ended up losing 4 consecutive games to lose the second set. Serena was up a break and had a lead of 3-1 in the decisive set when things fell apart and she never held a lead again. As Serena said, "It was like, 'Here, do you want to go to the semis? Because I don't.' She was like, 'OK.'" The win was a huge boost for the Russian, who Serena had beaten to win the first major of the year, and Kuznetsova went on to win the second major of the year and her second career major title.

4. C. Wozniacki DEN d. S. Kuznetsova RUS, 2-6 7-6(5) 7-6(3), U.S. Open 4th Round, New York City.

The teenaged sensation had made a name for herself on the tour all year long but it was only at the final major of the year that the Danish player made her major breakthrough to defeat 2-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. The Russian was dominating in the first set, firing on all cylinders and simply overwhelming the youngster with her forehand and backhand. However, in the second set Kuznetsova started to make more errors and Wozniacki improved her retrieving abilities, often making the Russian hit two or three attempted winners to try to win the point, eventually leading to an overhit error. Eventually the second set was won by Wozniacki due to at most two points that could have gone either way. In the third set both players held and consolidated breaks of service but, surprisingly, it was the more inexperienced player who ended the match the victor. Wozniacki would go on to reach her first career Grand Slam final and end the year ensconced in the Top 5.

5. V. Williams USA d. D. Safina RUS, 6-1 6-0, Wimbledon semifinal, New York City.

Venus Williams humiliated the world #1 by delivering the worst thrashing in a Grand Slam to a top-seeded player ever and one of the most lopsided scores in a grand slam semifinal in the Open era. For the third time in the third major of the year, Safina's mental infirmities overwhelmed her not insubstantial strengths as a player but this time the meltdown occurred in a semifinal and not a final. Strangely, none of the supreme confidence and expert shotmaking Venus displayed in this match were apparent in the final against her sister the next day. Then again, it's easier to look good when your opponent is busy trying to look so awful.

6. M. Oudin USA d. M. Sharapova RUS, 1-6 7-6(3) 6-3, U.S. Open 3rd Round, New York.

Melanie Oudin is the third highest-ranked American player after the Williams sister who made a name for herself by dismissing former World #1 Jelena Jankovic in the fourth round of Wimbledon. She is nearly a full foot shorter than the statuesque 3-time major champion Maria Sharapova. However, despite losing the first set easily, Oudin never seemed to panic or feel that she was unable to win the match despite the stark difference not only between the two player's heights but the difference in their levels of success on the WTA tour. Oudin was aided by Sharapova's wobbly serve--the Russian former #1 double-faulted 21 times, the most of any player in a WTA tour match all year. The American also had a very partisan and rowdy New York City crowd behind her who never gave up on the diminutive American despite Sharapova's service-break lead in the final set. The 17-year-old became the youngest American semifinalist at the U.S. Open since Serena Williams nearly 10 years before on her way to winning the first of her 11 major titles.

7. S. Williams USA d. V. Williams USA, 7-6(2) 6-2, Wimbledon Championships final, London.

It's not often the Wimbledon final doesn't make into the Top 5 Best Matches of the Year but 2009 was that kind of year (on the Women's side). For the fifth time of the decade (and second consecutive year) the Williams sisters would face each other in the Wimbledon final. At the time, Venus was widely regarded as the finest grass court player of her generation with 5 titles and Serena was the current defending champion of two of the four majors and is clearly the best player of the decade. Unfortunately (as usual) the showdown did not live up to its potential. Venus demolished her semifinal opponent without breaking a sweat the round before and was never seriously challenged in London until the final. Serena got through the match of the year by defeating Elena Dementieva in an incredible match that lasted nearly 3 hours. However, in the final it was Venus who seemed the less physically present, and Serena was definitely the more mentally focused, thus leading to the relatively lopsided score after the relatively close first set, which was filled with deep powerful hitting and incredible ball retrieval by both players.

8. C. Wozniacki DEN d. V. Azarenka BLR, 1-6 6-4 7-5, Sony Ericsson Championships round-robin, Doha.

In the last tournament of the year, the young Caroline Wozniacki met the young Victoria Azarenka for the third time in 2009, having lost both matches played against the feisty Belorussian . After losing the first game of the match, Azarenka won 6 games in a row to take the first set. The second set featured an amazing 14-deuce fifth game and lasted almost 80 minutes, nearly half the duration of the entire match. Despite losing the second set, Azarenka served for the match at 5-3 in the deciding set but only had a match point on Wozniacki's serve at 4-5 but made an error to even the match at 5-all in the third. Eventually Wozniacki broke to go up 6-5 and won the match on a service winner. Azarenka and Wozniacki will most likely be rivals for many major titles well into the future.

9. K. Clijsters BEL d.V. Williams USA, 6-0 0-6 6-4, U.S Open 4th Round, New York City.

The first two sets of this highly anticipated match-up between the beloved mother of Jada and the 7-time Grand Slam champion were the two most lopsided sets of tennis of the year, with Clijsters starting off hot and Venus Williams committing error after error followed by a set where Williams settled down and started painting the lines with successive winners despite the Belgian's legendary flexibility. This match was a canonical example of "Big Babe Tennis" with both players banging away from the baseline, impressing the audience with huge serves, blistering groundstrokes and powerful athleticism. In the end, Clijsters' superior control was the edge that gave her the victory.

10. F. Pennetta ITA d. V. Zvonareva RUS, 3-6 7-6(8) 6-0, U.S. Open 4th Round, New York City.

Flavia Pennetta became the first Italian women to reach the Top 10 in August 2009 a few weeks before this classic showdown with the always combustible Russian Vera Zvonareva in the 4th Round of the U.S. Open. In the second set, Pennetta saved no less than SIX match points, several with winners on her racquet and ended up winning the middle set. Zvonareva was so mentally frazzled by this result that she failed to win a single game and lost the deciding set 6-0. An incredibly memorable result for the popular Italian.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Here are some honorable mentions for memorable matches of the year by women

D. Safina RUS d. A. Mauresmo, 4-6 6-3 6-4, Wimbledon 3rd Round.
S. Williams USA d. S. Kuznetsova RUS, 5-7 7-5 6-1, Australian Open quarterfinal.
J. Dokic AUS d. A. Kleybanova USA, 7-5 5-7 8-6, Australian Open 4th Round.
M. Oudin USA d. J. Jankovic SRB, 6-7(8) 7-5 6-2, Wimbledon 3rd Round.
C. Suarez Navarro ESP d. V. Williams USA, 2-6 6-3 7-5, Australian Open 2nd Round
K. Clijsters BEL d. S. Williams USA, 6-4 7-5, U.S. Open semifinal.
K. Clijsters BEL d. C. Wozniacki DEN, 7-5 6-3, U.S. Open final.
M. Oudin USA d. N. Petrova RUS, 1-6 7-6(2) 6-3, U.S. Open 4th Round.
V. Williams USA d. S. Williams USA, 6-1 2-6 7-6(3), Dubai Championships semifinal.
V. Azarena BLR d. S. Williams USA, 6-3 6-1, Sony Ericsson Open final.
S. Williams USA d. V. Williams USA, 6-2 7-6(4), Sony Ericsson Championship semifinal.

Safina Retires, Handing Serena Year-End #1 Ranking

Dinara Safina finished two games of her match with Jelena Jankovic at the Year-End Championships in Doha, Qata before retiring due to a back injury, a result which handed back Serena Williams the World #1 ranking without the two having to compete against each other.

"My body just gave up," the 23-year-old Safina told reporters after her hopes of becoming the first Russian to finish a year as world number one ended.

"I did everything possible to play here. I went yesterday to put injections, cortisone, but I could not handle this pain any more."

It was a sad end to the season for Safina, who spent 25 weeks at the top of the rankings but whose lack of grand slam titles, compared to the 11 of Williams, left many questioning her suitability for the No.1 spot.

"I think I should have taken a break after the U.S. Open but I was chasing this number one, so I was fighting with my body. God knows? Maybe I had to stop after the U.S. Open."

The withdrawal of Safina, who will be replaced by compatriot Vera Zvonareva in White Group, has left a void in the tournament that has already been struggling to attract fans to the Khalifa Tennis Centre on the shores of the Persian Gulf.

Serena opened her tournament with a 7-6(6) 7-5 win over 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and will face her sister Venus Williams tonight in a match that means much more to defending champion Venus who if she loses will most likely be eliminated, than the new World #1.

WTA Year-End Championships Begin in Doha

The Sony Ericsson Championships have begun in Doha, Qatar. The prestigious tournament is the last tournament of the year and one of the most lucrative. This year it will also determine who ends up the year as #1: Dinara Safina, who has lost in not one but two major finals this year (Australia and Roland Garros), or Serena Williams who won in two (Australia and Wimbledon).

Craig Hickman has the draw:

White Group
Dinara Safina
Caroline Wozniacki
Victoria Azarenka
Jelena Jankovic

Maroon Group
Serena Williams
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Elena Dementieva
Venus Williams

The year-end championships features an unusual format where the eight competitors are split into two groups, playing a round-robin tournament for the top two spots. Then the top two in each group play against the top two in the other group in an elimination semifinal round for the last match of the year.

Venus Williams won last year, beating her sister along the way. Today she plays Serena again.

Serena Williams Regains World #1 Ranking

Serena Williams will regain the World #1 ranking on Monday, after winning more matches at the China Open in Beijing did erstwhile #1 Dinara Safina. The Russian suffered the worst loss of a top-ranked player in the history of the WTA rankings when she lost to the #227-ranked player in the world on Monday.

Serena Poised To Regain World #1 Ranking

Current World #1 Dinara Safina lost to the 227-ranked player Zhang Shuai at the China Open in Beijing today, and may lose her hold on the top ranking as a result. World #2 and 11-time major champion Serena Williams just needs to win her next match, against Ekaterina Makarova, to reclaim the World #1 ranking.

Venus Williams was also upset in Beijing, losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and reducing her chances of qualifying for the WTA Tour Championships in Doha that she won last year. So far, Safina, Serena, Elena Dementieva, Caroline Wozniacki and Svetlana Kuznetsova have qualified for the prestigious and lucrative year-end championships.

US OPEN 2009: Blake, Roddick, Safina, Sharapova GONE!

Maria Sharapova. Andy Roddick. Dinara Safina. James Blake. All these seeded players lost on Saturday at the US Open. Former champions Sharapova (2006) and Roddick (2003) both lost to up and coming Americans who hail from Georgia. Sharapova lost to 17-year-old Melanie Oudin from Marietta, who had beaten MadProfessah-pick Elena Dementieva in the round before (and first came to attention earlier this summer for beating former World #1 Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon). The 6'3" Sharapova served up a bucketful of double faults and lost 3-6 6-4 7-5 to the 5'6 Oudin.

Roddick lost to 6'9" John Isner from Athens, Georgia despite only losing his serve once in a tough 5-set match 7-6 (3), 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 7-6 (5). Roddick played well (only 20 unforced errors to 51 winners, compared to 90 winners to 52 errors for Isner, including 38 aces for the taller American).

Safina lost (finally) to Petra Kvitova while James Blake lost to Tommy Robredo.

Meanwhile Serena Williams is already in the quarterfinals and her sister Venus plays Kim Clijsters for a quarterfinal berth later today.

US OPEN 2009: Women's and Men's Seeds Announced

The seeds for the 2009 US Open have been announced. The women's seeds are:

1. Dinara Safina, Russia
2. Serena Williams, United States
3. Venus Williams, United States
4. Elena Dementieva, Russia
5. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia
6. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia
7. Vera Zvonareva, Russia
8. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus
9. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark
10. Flavia Pennetta, Italy
11. Ana Ivanovic, Serbia
12. Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland
13. Nadia Petrova, Russia
14. Marion Bartoli, France
15. Samantha Stosur, Australia
16. Virginie Razzano, France
17. Amelie Mauresmo, France
18. Li Na, China
19. Patty Schnyder, Switzerland
20. Anabel Medina Garrigues, Spain
21. Zheng Jie, China
22. Daniela Hantuchova, Slovak Republic
23. Sabine Lisicki, Germany
24. Sorana Cirstea, Romania
25. Kaia Kanepi, Estonia
26. Francesca Schiavone, Italy
27. Alisa Kleybanova, Russia
28. Sybille Bammer, Austria
29. Maria Sharapova, Russia
30. Alona Bondarenko, Ukraine
31. Elena Vesnina, Russia
32. Agnes Szavay, Hungary

The men's seeds are:

1. Roger Federer, Switzerland
2. Andy Murray, Great Britain
3. Rafael Nadal, Spain
4. Novak Djokovic, Serbia
5. Andy Roddick, United States
6. Juan Martin Del Potro, Argentina
7. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France
8. Nikolay Davydenko, Russia
9. Gilles Simon, France
10. Fernando Verdasco, Spain
11. Fernando Gonzalez, Chile
12. Robin Soderling, Sweden
13. Gael Monfils, France
14. Tommy Robredo, Spain
15. Radek Stepanek, Czech Republic
16. Marin Cilic, Croatia
17. Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic
18. David Ferrer, Spain
19. Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland
20. Tommy Haas, Germany
21. James Blake, United States
22. Sam Querrey, United States
23. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany
24. Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spain
25. Mardy Fish, United States
26. Paul-Henri Mathieu, France
27. Ivo Karlovic, Croatia
28. Victor Hanescu, Romania
29. Igor Andreev, Russia
30. Viktor Troicki, Serbia
31. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia
32. Nicolas Almagro, Spain

The draw will be announced on Thursday and the tournament starts on Monday August 31st.

Clijsters Returns; Beats Bartoli, Schnyder & Sveta

Former World #1 Kim Clijsters of Belgium returned to the WTA Tour in Cincinnati Open and has dispatched 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli (6-3 6-2), crafty lefty Patty Schnyder (6-2 7-5) and 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova (6-4 4-6 6-2 ) in consecutive matches. Clijsters plays World #1 Dinara Safina in the quarters on Friday.


The day did not go as well for the Williams Sisters, who less than 5 weeks after meeting each other in the Wimbledon final forthe second consecutive year played their worst tennis in years to lose hours apart. Venus Williams lost to Flavia Penneta (who has turned into something of a bete noire for the 7-time major champion) 7-6 (2) 6-4 while Serena Williams lost 7-5 6-4 to Sybille Bammer.

WIMBLEDON 2009: Women's Final Prediction

Venus Williams USA (3) v. Serena Williams USA (2).

The 2009 Wimbledon Women's Final is set, and for the fourth time this decade, it will feature Venus and Serena Williams playing each other. Venus will be appearing in the final for the eighth time, having won 5-times (losing twice to Serena in 2002 and 2003) including the last two years in 2007 and 2008.

So far I have correctly predicted the last 6 matches of the Women's draw with only the final remaining. In my bracket selection at the beginning of the tournament I picked Serena to defeat Venus, primarily because the younger sister is currently the defending champion at two of the four majors and has 10 majors overall to Venus' 7 major titles.

However, after seeing each of their matches, including Serena's instant classic semifinal 6-7(4) 7-5 8-6 win against Elena Dementieva on Thursday, I now think that Venus will be able to win her 6th Wimbledon title by defeating her sister for the second consecutive year. Although it is hard to compare how well they played in their respective semifinals since Venus' opponent Dinara Safina didn't give her an opportunity to show how well the 5-time champion's game shines on grass in her 6-1 6-0 demolition of the World #1.

MadProfessah's pick: Venus Williams in 3 sets.

WIMBLEDON 2009: Venus Demolishes Safina; Serena Guts Past Dementieva

5-time (and current) Wimbledon champion World #3 Venus Williams routed World #1 Dinara Safina 6-1 6-0 in well under and hour to reach the Wimbledon final for the third consecutive year (and the eighth of her career).

This followed an epic three-hour slugfest between 10-time major (and reigning Australian and US Open) champion Serena Williams and World #4 Elena Dementieva which the younger Williams sister won 6-7(4) 7-5 8-6.

So, for the fourth time Serena will play Venus in the finals of Wimbledon. Serena leads that series 2-1, losing for the first time (in straight sets) last year. Head-to-head the two are tied, 10-10 overall including 2-2 on grass, but Serena leads 5-2 in major finals overall.

At the beginning of the tournament, I predicted an all-Williams final (again!) on the fourth of July, and gave Serena the edge, but I need to review both matches before I make my final prediction.

WIMBLEDON 2009: Ladies' Quarterfinals

The Wimbledon quarterfinals are being played Tuesday (women) and Wednesday (men).

Dinara Safina RUS (1) versus Sabine Lisicki GER

Venus Williams USA (3) versus Agnieszka Radwanska POL (11)

Francesca Schiavone ITA versus Elena Dementieva RUS (4)

Victoria Azarenka BLR (8) versus Serena Williams USA (2)

I predict that the winners will be Safina (in 3 sets), Venus Williams (in 2 sets), Dementieva (in 2 sets) and Serena Williams (in 3 sets).

WIMBLEDON 2009: Round of 16 Set

The weather has been lovely in London at this year's Wimbledon Championships. There are 16 men and 16 women left when play resumes on Monday.

On the men's side of the draw most of the favorites remain, as Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Roddick are all still in the hunt. Here's who plays whom in the Fourth Round:

Lleyton Hewitt AUS
versus
Radek Stepanek CZE (23)

Tomas Berdych CZE (20)
versus
Andy Roddick USA (6)

Andy Murray GBR (3)
versus
Stanislas Wawrinka SUI (19)

Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP
versus
Gilles Simon FRA (8)

Igor Andreev RUS (29)
versus
Tommy Haas GER (24)

Dudi Sela ISR
versus
Novak Djokovic SRB (4)

Fernando Verdasco ESP (7)
versus
Ivo Karlovic CRO (22)

Robin Soderling SWE (13)
versus
Roger Federer SUI (2)

I predict the quarterfinalists will be Hewitt, Roddick, Murray, Simon, Haas, Djokovic, Karlovic and Federer. I would not be surprised if Berdych, Andreev and Ferrero pull upsets.
I think there's a very good chance of a Murray-Federer final, but the 14-time major champion will have to get past the 2009 French Open finalist, the 6'10 giant and the World #4 player to make it there.

On the women's side, the Round of 16 draw looks like:

Dinara Safina RUS (1) versus Amelie Mauresmo FRA (17)

Caroline Wozniacki DEN (9) versus Sabine Lisicki GER

Venus Williams USA (3) versus Ana Ivanovic SRB (13)

Agnieszka Radwanska POL (11) versus Melanie Oudin USA

Virginie Razzano FRA (26) versus Francesca Schiavone ITA

Elena Vesnina RUS versus Elena Dementieva RUS (4)

Victoria Azarenka BLR (8) versus Nadia Petrova RUS (10)

Daniela Hantuchova SVK versus Serena Williams USA (2)

Here my predictions for the quarterfinalists are: Mauresmo, Wozniacki, V. Williams, Radwanska, Razzano, Dementieva, Azarenka and S. Williams. I would not be too surprised if Lisicki, Oudin and Petrova win instead.

I am predicting another all-Williams women's final, but I need to see more before I predict which Williams will win the title this year!

WIMBLEDON 2009: Nadal, Safina seeded #1; Monfils exits

Gael Monfils injured his wrist and will skip Wimbledon
for the second consecutive year

2008 Wimbledon champion and World #1 Rafael Nadal is seeded #1 at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, which start Monday June 22 in London. Dinara Safina who has never been past the third round at the tournament but is currently World #1 and has lost in 3 Grand Slam finals in the last year, is also seeded #1.

Nadal is seeded #1 ahead of World #2 and 5-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer who he beat in last year's final; a match that John McEnroe called the best tennis match he had ever seen and sportwriter Jon Wertheim has written a book about called Strokes of Genius.

Safina is seeded #1 ahead of 2-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams at #2 and 5-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams at #3. The All-Englnad Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club basically followed the world rankings for the Top 10 seeds on the women's side (and only 8 of the Top 10 seeds on the Men's side, with Fernando Verdasco and Gilles Simon swapping places at #7 and #8).

FRENCH OPEN 2009: Kuznetsova Wins 2nd Major Title

Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Dinara Safina 6-4 6-2 to win her second major title, the 2009 French Open, in Paris on Saturday. Safina is the World #1 and will remain there on Monday. She has appeared in 3 major finals, 2008 French Open, 2009 Australian Open and the 2009 French Open and lost all 3. She also lost the Gold Olympic medal match to Elena Dementieva in Beijing in August 2008.

Kuznetsova won the 2004 US Open and lost the 2006 French Open final and the 2007 US Open finals to Justine Henin. She is now at 2-2 in major finals, with a surprising 11 wins and 18 losses overall in WTA tour finals.

On to Wimbledon!

FRENCH OPEN 2009: Women's Final Preview

Dinara Safina RUS (1) vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (7)

The two best players on clay this season are Dinara Safina and Svetlana Kuznetsova and they will meet in the 2009 Roland Garros final tomorrow. It should be a classic match, but all-Russian matches, like all-Williams matches, disappoint more often than not.

Safina has been plowing through the draw like a scythe, with only one slight hiccup against Belarussian youngster Victoria Azarenka who had the World #1 plaintively asking her coach "I don't know what to do, tell me what to do!" Kuznetsova, because of her now-deserved reputation for mental infirmity late in important matches has not been the favorite of most tennis pundits. However, since she was able to beat Serena Williams in one of the best matches of the year in the quarterfinals: 7-6(3) 5-7 7-5 and despite showing some mental weakness again in her semifinal against Samantha Stosur Kuznetsova again was able to gut out a win 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3. Can she make it three in a row? I doubt it.

It is fascinating that the 2006 finalist (Kuznetsova, lost to Justine Henin) is playing against the 2008 finalist (Safina, who lost to Ana Ivanovic). The 2007 finalist (Ivanovic) won the title the following year. Can the 2008 finalist (Safina) repeat this effort? Most likely.

Both Russians are closely matched physically, with huge serves, excellent forehands and backhands as well as exquisite movement on clay. I still believe that Kuznetsova is the most talented, but tennis is also (at least) 50% mental, and by getting to #1 in the world, Safina has demonstrated the mental toughness required. While Kuznetsova has demonstrated improvement in that area in this tournament I still give Safina the edge in this category.

Head to head, Safina leads their rivalry 8 to 5, although they are tied 4-4 in matches on clay and 1-1 at matches on clay at Roland Garros. I believe the match will be close but Safina will win her first major title on Saturday in Paris.

MadProfessah's pick: Safina in 3 sets.

FRENCH OPEN 2009: Women's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's semifinals at Roland Garros this year. I went 3 out of 4 in my predictions of the men's quarters but sadly predicted only 1 out of 4 in the women's quarters correctly.

Dinara Safina RUS (1) vs. Maria Sharapova RUS Dominika Cibulkova SVK (20). "Marat's little sister" no more, Dinara Safina is playing like she is a woman on a mission to win her first major title. Although she finally lost a set (to a Victoria Azarenka playing out of her mind) in the quarterfinals, she should have no difficulty getting past giant-killer Dominika Cibulkova to get to the Roland Garros final for the second consecutive year, and her second consecutive Grand Slam final of 2009. Cibulkova was lucky to face a Maria Sharapova who had completely run out of gas but the diminutive youngster took advantage of her opportunity and is in her first Grand Slam semifinal. When you're 5 foot, 3 inches taking out one 6-foot-plus Russian is a surprise, but taking out two in a row is an impossibility.

PREDICTION: Safina in 2 sets.

Serena Williams USA (2) Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (7) vs. Sorana Cirstea ROU Samantha Stosur AUS (30). This is the semifinal I did not see coming at all. After seeing how well Cirstea dealt with the pressure against Jelena Jankovic to reach this point I picked her to take out doubles specialist Samantha Stosur however, instead experience bested youthful exuberance.

In one of the best matches of the tournament, Sveta finally won one of those heart-breakingly close matches that she has been losing for years. She beat Serena Williams for only the second time in 8 meetings despite the fact that Serena had come back from facing imminent defeat in the second set to be up a break in the final set. Sveta finally hung tough and was able to claw back to even and surprisingly, Serena was the first to crack under the pressure at 4-all and 5-all in the final set.

Against Stosur, I am confident that Sveta will find a way to make it to the final for the second time in four years, where the 2006 Finalist and 2008 Finalist will face each other for the 2009 title.

PREDICTION: Kuznetsova in 2 sets.

FRENCH OPEN 2009: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at Roland Garros this year.

Dinara Safina RUS (1) vs. Victoria Azarenka BLR (9) Ana Ivanovic SRB (8) . Dinara Safina has been playing like she is the best player in the world. Oh, wait, she IS the #1 ranked player in the world! Safina has been improving in every round, losing a mere 5, then 3, then 2, then 1 games in her first four straight set victories. However, I don't think Victoria Azarenka is (or even should be) scared of being double bageled in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. The talented and fearless Belarussian took out Serena Williams in the 5th slam in Miami in straight sets earlier this year and thrives on big matches. However, although the youngster is indomitable she is not unbeatable. This will be a prototypical Big Babe tennis match--Mary Carillo should be ecstatic and, as she says, "the better athlete will win." PREDICTION: Safina in 2 (close) sets.

Dominika Cibulkova SVK (20) vs Maria Sharapova RUS. Cibulkova is a deceptively difficult opponent to beat, but Sharapova has done it twice in their only two meetings, last year, both on clay. Sharapova (listed at 6'2" but probably taller) has nearly a foot on the diminutive Dominika (listed at 5'3" but probably shorter) and this may very well turn out to be a straight set rout. However, Sharapova is nowhere near match tough, having had to go the distance in her first four matches (including choking on a middle set bagel served by hard hitting Li Na in her previous match) and I expect the Drama Queen will not advance without more drama, but advance she will, right into the buzz saw that is Dinara Safina. PREDICTION: Sharapova in 3 sets.

Jelena Jankovic SRB (5) Sorana Cirstea ROU vs. Virginie Razzano FRA Samantha Stosur AUS (30). The surprise quarterfinalists. Cirstea was two points away from losing against former World #1 Jelena Jankovic multiple times in the third set and kept on bashing away at the ball, painting the lines in a manner reminiscent of a young Monica Seles. Jankovic "served" for the match at 5-4 and was promptly broken, eventually going down 3-6 6-0 9-7. Stosur is more well-known as an excellent doubles player and so I had put my money on the French veteran Razzano getting to the quarterfinals in front of her countrymen. This one is really a toss-up which is likely to include some truly horrendous tennis as the two fight to see who really wants to stand on the big stage of a Grand Slam semifinal more. In these cases it is often the veteran who comes out the loser because they more firmly understand the significance of the moment and I expect this case to be no different. Youth will be served. PREDICTION: Cirstea in 3 sets.

Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (7) vs. Serena Williams USA (2). This should be the best match of the tournament to date. But "How do you solve a problem like Sveta?" Sigh. Long famous for being singled out as "the most talented" of the Russians by none-other than Living Legend Martina Navratilova Kuznetsova (Sveta to her friends, which includes basically everyone on the Tour) has been in three major finals but has started to garner a reputation for being mentally weak deep in the final deciding set when it really counts. These two champions have looked at the draw and know they are really playing for a slot in the 2009 Roland Garros final; Serena Williams is very cognizant of her place in tennis history books and would like to add another unique entry with a win in Paris for a "Williams slam" and maintain the possibility of a calendar grand slam sweep. Serena has only lost once to Kuznetsova in 6 previous meetings and actually beat the Russian in the Quarters of the first Grand Slam event of 2009. I suspect histiry will be repeated, and made, here. PREDICTION: Williams in 3 sets.

Safina Routs Sveta 6-3 6-2 To Win Italian Open

World #1 Dinara Safina won the Italian Open on Sunday by defeating fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3 6-2. It was Safina's first title since becoming #1.