US OPEN 2007: Women's Top 10 PREVIEW

1 J. HENIN. The World's #1 was a finalist at every Grand Slam last year, winning only on her beloved red clay in Paris. The Belgian's half of the draw contains both Serbian players Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic as well as both Williams sisters as well as other hard hitters like Tatiana Golovin, Marion Bartoli, Lucia Safarova and Dinara Safina. For the third time in a row, Serena and Justine are slated to meet in a quarterfinal showdown at a Grand Slam. The first two were straight sets wins by Justine. I don't think that Serena should even be playing this tournament, since she has only played one match since injuring her left thumb against Daniela Hantuchova at Wimbledon, where she lost to Justine. However, I really can't believe that Justine can make it through this draw to get to the final again.
Semi-Finalist.

2 M. SHARAPOVA. The "Golden Girl" of the WTA has a gift-wrapped draw in which in her half is lacking almost all of the hard-hitting seeds. In Sharapova's half she has coming-back-from-injury Nicole Vaidisova, solid but streaky Anna Chakvetadze and always sneaky Martina Hingis in addition to 2004 U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. None of these players should really prevent her from getting to her second consecutive U.S. Open final. Finalist.

3 J. JANKOVIC. The hard-hitting Serb is starting to get eclipsed by her younger countrywoman, particularly at the Slams. Jankovic lost the WTA Tier 1 Rogers Cup final to Justine Henin, the seventh time she has lost to the Belgian in seven times. Quarterfinalist or Champion.

4 S. KUZNETSOVA. The mentally fragile Russian is one of the few hard-hitting players in the current defending champion's half who can outhit Sharapova and she has won this title before. However, her focus seems to have slipped recently as her fitness level has noticeably decreased. Semi-finalist.

5 A. IVANOVIC. Last year's winner of the US Open Series wasn't able to defend her title this summer but she did win a title and has already proven that she is worthy of her Top 5 status. Mad Professah is a big fan of the Serbian sisters but I'm hoping that it's the older sister that makes her big breakthrough in New York, although I wouldn't be surprised if the pretty younger sister slips through instead to take the whole enchilada.
Quarterfinalist or Semifinalist.

6 A. CHAKVETADZE. Anna started the hard court season as the hottest player on the tour by winning two tournaments in a row (Cincinnati and Stanford). Quarterfinalist.

7 A. MAURESMO. The former World #1 pulled out of the last Grand Slam of the year a few weeks ago with an injury.

8 N. PETROVA. Set to tussle with Daniela Hantuchova in the Round of 16. Has the game to do well on hard courts but not the mental fortitude to do well among all the glitz and attention of New York. Fourth Round of Quarterfinalist.

9 S. WILLIAMS. Serena shouldn't even be playing in this tournament. She hasn't played a tour match since losing to Henin at Wimbledon. A Melbourne Miracle will not be repeated. Early Round Loss.

10 D. HANTUCHOVA. The svelt Slovak is in the Golden Girl's lower half but is likely to meet another -ova in the fourh round, Nadia Petrova in the Round of 16. I believe she will get past that round, but not the next round against another Russian in the quarters. Quarterfinalist.

Electronic Line Calling Defended

Electronic line calling is being defended by it's creator in today's Times of London

In the third game of the fourth set, with Roger Federer a break down and
serving at 30-30, he did not play at a ball near the baseline. He thought that
it was out, the line judge thought it was out, the umpire thought it was out and
a BBC freeze frame seemed to confirm this, too.

[...]

Hawkins said that the ball had landed in by 1mm. He claimed that the naked
eye was deceived because of the way a tennis ball compresses and skids on
landing.

“The ball will be in contact with the ground for about 10cm,” he said.
“In the very first impact, it will compress so that the bottom half is flat.
Then it will start to roll and skid and uncompress. The freeze frame the BBC
used showed the ball about 7cm after it touched the ground.” He said tests had
showed that his technology was accurate to within 3mm. “The ball was definitely
in,” he added.

Hmmmm, how do you know the call was in by 1mm if the error is +/- 3mm? Any engineer knows that if the result is within yuor margin of error you really can't make the call. The ball might have been 2mm out. But, regardless I doubt that Federer or the umpire could distinguish that difference.

FRENCH OPEN 2007: Women's Semifinals Preview

The 2007 French Open Women's semifinals are now set.

Justine Henin BEL (1) vs. Jelena Jankovic SRB (4).
Unfortunately, the Serena Williams-Justine Henin quarterfinal did not live up to the breathless hype. Serena was oddly flat and for some reason modified her game for clay court play by adding slice and finesse to her shots in order to defeat the best female clay court tennis player in the world. Serena lost in straight set 6-4, 6-3. The World #1 has played Jelena Jankovic five times and never lost, including two times on clay. Interestingly, all of their matches have gone three sets, and in all of their matches but one the Serbian player has won the first set. At last year's U.S. Open semifinal Jankovic was two points away from taking a near insurmountable lead in the second set when she had a mental meltdown after a confrontation with the umpire and ended up losing that set and failed to win another game. Henin has already won three Roland Garros titles and has set a new record for consecutive sets won at a Grand Slam event, however that streak will come to an end in this match. PREDICTION: Jankovic in 3 sets.

Ana Ivanovic SRB (7) vs. Maria Sharapova RUS (2). Sadly, Svetlana Kuznetsova could not handle the pressure of Roger Federer's admiration and lost to the pulchritudinous Serbian teenager 6-0, 3-6, 6-1. Sharapova easily defeated Anna Chakevetadze to attain her first Roland Garros semifinal. Sharapova and Ivanovic have only played twice before, with Sharapova winning a close match on hard courts and Ivanovic winning this year when Sharapova retired with a shoulder injury after losing the first set. The Russian had no right to get past crafty lefty Patty Schnyder in the 4th round and I refuse to believe that Ana Ivanovic will hesitate to go for broke when she holds match point to advance to her first Grand Slam final. PREDICTION: Ivanovic in 3 sets.

FRENCH OPEN 2007: Venus and Serena Win First Round Matches

Venus Williams beat French teenager Alize Cornet 6-4, 6-3 seconds before the rain came down forcing the third rain delay of Day 2 at Roland Garros.

Serena Williams beat Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova (who took out Venus last year 9-7 in the third set during the first round of the 2006 Australian Open) 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 on Day 1. Serena was down 5-6 (after coming back from 2-5 to level the match 5-5) with Pironkova ready to serve for the first set when a 5-hour rain delay occurred. After that gap, although Serena lost the first set, she won 12 of the last 13 games to win the match.

Wimbledon Announces Equal Prize Money For Men and Women

The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon issued a press release today announcing that they have agreed to offer equal prize money to men and women starting with the 2007 Championships.

Announcing the decision, Tim Phillips, Chairman of the All England Club, said: “Tennis is one of the few sports in which women and men compete in the same event at the same time. We believe our decision to offer equal prize money provides a boost for the game as a whole and recognises the enormous contribution that women players make to the game and to Wimbledon. We hope it will also encourage girls who want a career in sport to choose tennis as their best option. In short, good for tennis, good for women players and good for Wimbledon.”

Phillips continued: “When Wimbledon pioneered Open Tennis in 1968, the Men’s Singles Champion, Rod Laver, won £2,000, while Billie Jean King, the Ladies’ Singles Champion, won £750, only 37.5% of the men’s prize.

“Over the years, we have progressively increased the ladies’ prize money, so that last year Amélie Mauresmo, the Ladies’ Champion, received £625,000 – 95% of the money received by Roger Federer, the Men’s Champion.

The reaction from the players to the news of Wimbledon's decision to end explicit sex discrimination in prize money has been swift and uniformly positive. Venus Williams (Ladies' Champion 2000, 2001, 2005) said "The greatest tennis tournament in the world has reached an even greater height today. I applaud today's decision by Wimbledon, which recognises the value of women's tennis. The 2007 Championships will have even greater meaning and significance to me and my fellow players."

Serena Says She's Bootylicious and Insatiable

Serena Williams has been running her mouth to lots of people after her stunning win in straight sets at the 2007 Australian Open final over World #1 Maria Sharapova last week, but even for her this quote (See #9 in Jon Wertheim's "Parting Shots from the Australian Open") is pretty amazing:

“I’m definitely in better shape than I get credit for. Just because I have large bosoms and I have a big ass. I swear my waist is 29-30 inches. I swear I have the smallest waist. And just because I have those two ‘assets’ it looks like I’m not fit. I was just in the locker room staring at my body and I’m like, ‘Am I not fit? Am I really not fit? Or is it just because I have all these extra assets that I look not fit.’ I think if I were not to eat for two years I still wouldn’t be a size 2. No matter how slim I am, I always have this [points] and that [points]. We’re living in a Mary-Kate Olsen world. I’m just not built that way. I’m bootylicious and that’s how it’s always going to be.”

She also then goes on to say

“This definitely goes down as one of my good matches. I'm insatiable. I think I could have done better. That's just my character."

Does that word mean what Serena thinks it means?

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2007: Federer Gets To 10

Roger Federer wins 10th major title

R. Federer (SUI)[1] d. F. Gonzalez (CHI)[10] 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4

Once again Roger Federer of Switzerland showed how he is on track to be crowned the greatest tennis player of all time by winning his 3rd Australian Open title yesterday over Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, the first player to win a major title without losing a set since Bjorn Borg. He now has won 3 major titles in a row, and can complete the Roger Slam if he wins the 2007 French Open at Roland Garros. He is now 10-1 in major finals, and has won seven of the last 9 major championships that have been played since January 2005. In a few weeks he will surpass Jimmy Connors record for most consecutive weeks at #1 (160).

Mad Professah predicted Federer's win yesterday, although I did think that Gonzalez would win a set. In the end, Gonzalez had 31 winners to 28 unforced errors (+3), much more modest numbers than the garish statistics from his three previous matches. Federer had 45 winners to 19 unforced errors (+26) and faced two set points (in the tenth game of the first set). It actually turns out that Gonzalez had won the first set when one of his deep baseline shots at 40-15 was called out and he failed to question the call on the advise of unpire Sandra De Jenkins who signalled she believed the shot was long as well. Shot spot showed viewers at home the shot was in. Afterlosing that point and the next one, Gonzalez eventually lost the game and Federer made it to the tiebreak, where he raced out to a 5-0 lead and a few points later the first set was over. I went to sleep at that point, confident that Federer would win his 10th consecutive match over Gonzalez, as well as earn his 10th major title.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2007: Women's Quarterfinals Prediction

The 2007 Australian Open Women's Quarterfinals are almost set. Like the other Grand Slams at Wimbledon and Roland Garros, the Tennis Australia schedules their matches of the last 8 players on one day, thus providing an orgiastic feast of high stakes tennis all in one place during the course of one entire day.

Maria Sharapova (RUS) [1] vs. Patty Schnyder (SUI) [8]. The veteran Swiss player is a crafty, clever player: a lefty with every spin in the book and formidable endurance. Frankly I would not be surprised if she fails to get into the quarterfinal after falling to Anna Chakvetadze's power game. Sharapova possesses even more firepower than Chakvetadze and has demostrated her intense desire to add the Australian title to her resume with her incredible performance in surviving her near-death event in her first-round 9-7-in-the-third win over Camille Pin. PREDICTION: Sharapova in 3 sets.




Martina Hingis (SUI) [6] vs. Kim Clijsters (BEL) [4]. This is a repeat of last year's quarterfinal which started off as routine affair but ended up as a 3-set slugfest (6-3, 2-6, 6-4)when Clijsters took her foot off the pedal (Hingis boosters would say their woman turned up the heat) and lost a string of games in a row after being in complete control of the match. The two have been in a "friendly competition" to see who could zip through their early round matches the fastest. Clijsters is leading so far. Head-to-head Hingis and Clijsters are tied 4-4 but since the Swiss Miss' return from retirement Clijsters is 3-0 against "The Black Widow of Tennis." Clijsters is playing with nothing to lose as she speeds towards her wedding and retirement at the end of the year, Hingis knows that she'll have a better chance at adding a 4th Australian Open title without the Belgian in her side of the draw.
PREDICTION: Clijsters in 2 sets.

Lucie Safarova (CZE) Amélie Mauresmo FRA (2) vs. Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) [10]. This surpising quarterfinal matchup is between two Czech teenagers. The younger one (Vaidisova is not yet 18 but is the 10th seed) is also the more talented of the two and has been called "the new Sharapova" for at least 18 months now. Safarova just had the biggest win of her career by defeating defending Grand Slam Champion Mauresmo in two tight sets in the previous round to make her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. Vaidisova has been there, done that already. (Last year at Roland Garros, she beat Mauresmo and Venus Williams en route to her first Grand Slam semifinal.) She'll get to her second Grand Slam semifinal, this time in Melbourne. PREDICTION: Vaidisova in 2 sets.

Jelena Jankovic (SRB) [11] Serena Williams USA vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) [3] Shahar Peer ISR (16). This is the quarterfinal matchup which no one expected! After confounding all the critics by routing the Serbian Diva who was the current It Girl on the tour in straight sets, 7-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams is starting to make a believer out of me. Somehow, I think Serena's Melbourne 2007 story may be a sequel to Venus's Wimbledon 2006 run where a Williams sister who has limited match play and questionable fitness plays her way into major-winning form through consecutive amazing matches. In Venus' case it was her thrilling defeat of Mary Pierce in the quarters followed by a jaw-dropping display against Maria Sharapova in the semis, ending by playing the match of the decade against Lindsay Davenport in the final. Serena was surprisingly gutsy with her 3rd round win versus Nadia Petrova and impressively consistent against Jelena Jankovic. Israeli Shahar Peer is no shrinking violet. She is hard hitting ex-Army vet who moves well and hits a clean hard ball on both sides. Peer took out Svetlana "the most talented of Russians" Kuznetsova easily, although Sveta was suffering from a respiratory problem and couldn't harness her trademark firepower. However, I doubt that Peer can handle the extreme level of firepower Serena is ready to dish out. Then the question will be can Serena 2007 repeat her 2005 win?
PREDICTION: Serena Williams in 2 sets.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2007: Serena Beats 5th Seed Petrova

David Gray/REUTERS

In a stunning turnaround, 2-time Australian Open champion (2003, 2005) Serena Williams defeated 5th seed Nadia Petrova of Russia 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the 3rd round of the 2007 Australian Open.

Despite not being as fit as most of her competitors and having only played 16 matches in 2006, Serena still possesses the most intense desire of anyone on the tour (even Maria Sharapova) and can often physically will her body to somehow replicate her once-dominant circa 2003 form in flashes or streaks in matches.

Serena had 22 winners and 39 unforced errors versus Petrova's 24 winners and 28 errors. Her next round match will be against a top form Jelena Jankovic who beat Serena and Venus last year and has only lost one match all year (to Kim Clijsters). It's doubtful that Serena can get past the hottest player on the tour to make her first Grand Slam quartefinal in over two years, but she should still take a boost in confidence for having defeated a Top 10 player again (her first since beating now-retired Lindsay Davenport in the 2005 Australian Open final) and use this to motivate her for the rest of the year.

I, like many other commentators still believe that if she was in better physical shape she could win another Slam or two and possibly dominate women's tennis again.

Craig HIckman has an ode to Serena and more pictures.