US Fed Cup Results and Prospects: Not So Good for Mattek-Sands, Oudin
With Fed Cup well underway, the United States has faced a tough test from Belgium so far to earn a spot in the semifinals. Having made it to that round every year since 2004, the US team — finalists for the past two years — look all but defeated. They’re currently down 0-2 as recent Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters knocked out Melanie Oudin 6-0, 6-4, while Yanina Wickmayer defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-1, 7-6 (6).
Prospects aren’t looking so hot for the American team, captained by former player and current commentator Mary Jo Fernandez, especially with the notable absence of Serena and Venus Williams.
For the next match, Clijsters takes on Mattek-Sands. In their only meeting, Clijsters won. Mattek-Sands, however, should take comfort in the loss as it was a tough three-setter with the Belgian winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 back in 2010.
Regardless of possible confidence in past play, the only time to look is now. And with Clijsters on a roll — she’s taken her last eight matches, dropping just one set –, it simply doesn’t seem like Mattek-Sands has the ability to claim the win over the world’s number two player and keep the US team alive.
Mattek-Sands sprayed a lot of balls in the loss to Wickmayer. She needs to get over any tension, play her game (with balls going inside the lines), and win the biggest match of her career if she wants to beat Clijsters.
Here’s to hoping she can pull it off.
Henin and Nadal Begin with a Bang
Justine Henin and Rafael Nadal, my two picks to win the event, began their French Open campaigns with strong showings. Henin beat Tsvetana Pironkova (try saying that ten times fast), 6-4, 6-3, while Nadal took out Gianni Mina, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. There easy wins portray two players confident on the red dirt, and it will be interesting to see how these two stories develop over the next two weeks.
And, yes, they will both last for all of the two weeks. Henin, despite winning a title in Stuttgart, did not come back to the WTA tour after her retirement simply to win a title in Stuttgart. She’s hungry for much, much more. And while her draw is far from easy (one could make a strong case that it’s the worst in the draw with potential meetings against Maria Sharapova, Sam Stosur, and Serena Williams before the finals), she knows how to succeed at Roland Garros. Nadal no doubt feels quite the same. He needs to prove that not only is he back in the swing of things, he can swing his way to another Grand Slam title. There’s no reason why these dreams cannot become a reality soon enough.
Besides these two, the Americans were in action today, with wins posted by Andy Roddick in a five-set thriller, Robby Ginepri, who upset compatriot Sam Querrey, veteran Jill Craybas, and Betthanie Mattek-Sands, the winner over another American, Vania King.
While it will be difficult for any of them to make a real run for the title, it’s nice to see each fighting through themselves and making the effort to win on the surface on which Americans are notoriously poor players. Who knows what can happen, really.
Other matches of note: Sharapova won in straight sets and Kimiko Date Krumm (one of, if not, the tournament’s oldest player at age 39) took out last year’s finalist, Dinara Safina in the biggest upset so far.
What a day! And the tournament has only just begun.
Despite Williams Sisters Withdrawal, US Fed Cup Team Defeats Russia to Reach Final
In a surprise showing of spirit for their country, the Serena and Venus Williams-less US Fed Cup team featuring teenage sensations Melanie Oudin, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and Liezel Huber defeated the Russian team, 3-2. With the win, the US advances to the finals against Italy, their opponents last year.
If the team can rally together once again and put in the same energy and drive that put them over the edge against the tricky Russian team, they will take home the title for the first time since 2000. According to an Associated Press article, “U.S. Beats Russia 3-2; Will Face Italy in Fed Cup Final,” much of the Americans’ success points to the powerful and patriotic play of Mattek-Sands, who is currently ranked outside of the top 100. Her performance, however, speaks more to her career-high ranking of 37, which occurred in March of last year.
Mattek-Sands beat Ekaterina Makarova “6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in the second match Sunday to keep the U.S. title hopes alive in the best-of-five contest. The match was all but over after Mattek-Sands got mad over a fault call on a first serve in the final set. She then double-faulted but responded with a nifty drop shot to go up 4-1, sticking her hands out palms-up and wriggling her fingers to the fans,” reported the article. Moreover, Mattek-Sands clinched the final point of the Fed Cup tie when she teamed up with Huber, the experienced doubles specialist, in a 6-3, 6-1 shut out of the newly formed team of Elena Dementieva and Alla Kudryavsteva.
Oudin, although she beat Dementieva during her run to the quarterfinals of last year’s US Open, proved unable to clinch the third set she typically dominates in her matches. She lost to Dementieva in two hours and thirty-seven minutes.
With this new drive and the wave of energy surely felt by this eclectic group of Americans, maybe the title can finally be brought up. In many ways, this was a much needed win not only for the purposes of Fed Cup, but for American women’s tennis in general. Not everything needs to be decided by the Williams Sisters. Unless, of course, we’re talking about a Grand Slam title.
American Mayhem: Serena, Venus Don’t Play Fed Cup, Roddick Withdraws
In a not so surprising move for the Williams sisters, playing for the United States in the Fed Cup will not occur. Venus Williams, who after weeks of keeping the public on edge about whether or not she would represent her country, cited a knee injury for withdrawing from the event.
The TENNIS.com article, “Venus Will Not Play in Fed Cup Semis,” reports that Mary Joe Fernandez, the captain for the US Fed Cup team was hoping that at least one of the Williams sisters, either Venus or Serena Williams, would be fit for play. However, that is obviously not the case.
That leaves the team of Melanie Oudin, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and Liezel Huber as the current spot holders for the team. While certainly not the star status of the Williams sisters, it is excellent experience for the teenaged, Oudin. Hopefully, the team can pull-off a win in the semifinals and reclaim the past history of women’s tennis in America during the age of Chris Evert.
In other news, Andy Roddick, another American, chose to withdraw from the Rome Masters event due to personal reasons. The plausible reason? His marriage. With his exceptional play on the hard courts at the Sony Ericsson Open, maybe his decision to skip the clay event for some relaxation is justified. It’ll be interesting to see the American’s results on clay. Can he take it to the next level at the French?
