Despite Loss, Jovanovski Poised for Future Success
Bojana Jovanovski has proven that she’s one to watch in the coming months. Ranked 58th, she recently gave world number two Vera Zvonareva a fight in the Australian Open’s second round. With powerful strokes on both sides and a strong fighting spirit, Jovanovski handled herself like a future top ten player. She lost to the Wimbledon and US Open finalist in three sets, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.
As the youngest player in the top 100 at age 19, Jovanovski came into the Aussie Open with some solid wins to begin 2011. She advanced to the semifinals at Sydney, beating Kaia Kanepi, Aravane Rezai, and Flavia Pennetta (all ranked inside the top 30) in straight sets. Jovanovski lost to the eventual champion Na Li of China.
If she can improve her fitness and get more experience as the season progress, the third-ranked Serb — after Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic — will be an even greater threat.
Watch below for a fun interview of Jovanovski from Brisbane earlier this year.
Pironkova, Kanepi Prevail After Wimbledon Runs
Tsvetana Pironkova and Kaia Kanepi, who made it to the semifinals and quarterfinals of Wimbledon, respectively, continue to succeed by enjoying first round wins at the Palermo Open. Writes an Associated Press article, “Bulgaria’s Pironkova beat Anna Floris of Italy 6-4, 7-6 at the claycourt tournament at the Country Time Club Viale dell’Olimpo stadium, while Estonia’s Kanepi beat Rossana De Los Rios of Paraguay 7-5, 6-4.”
This is an excellent effort for the two players, and it’ll be interesting to see how their improved form and confidence inspire their games once the US Open series starts in the next couple weeks. I’m guessing that Pironkova’s finesse, slice forehand, and strong serve take her to new heights.
At the same time, Kanepi’s game might be more prone to falter. I don’t see her outhitting the top guns. With less variety than Pironkova, I wouldn’t give her the same chance to reach the upper echelon of WTA players as the Bulgarian.
What Pironkova has going for her is the surprise factor. Players these days — except for a few notable players, such as Patty Schnyder — go for overwhelming power. When an opponent has the ability to absorb that power, like Pironkova, and then turn that power into offense through pace-changing play and getting every ball back, chaos ensues. Pironkova has that ability; Kanepi doesn’t.
Plus, if Pironkova can keep up the serving throughout the hard court season, her chances to win a title on the WTA tour — can you believe it’d be her first title? — would be high. One would think a game like hers doesn’t translate well to the hard courts, but if it worked on grass — who really knows?
Clijsters Claims Win Over Serena with Biggest Crowd Ever
When Justine Henin withdrew from the “Battle of the Belgians,” Serena Williams took her place to meet Kim Clijsters. That decision didn’t work out quite so well for the American, who lost to Clijsters 6-3, 6-2 in Brussels on Thursday.
At the same time, the exhibition was successful. In fact, it’ll be known as the most successful match since the famed “Battle of the Sexes” epic between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs decades ago. While not the longest match in history by about 10 hours, it was the most attended.
According to an Associated Press article, “The crowd of 35,681 at King Baudouin Stadium on Thursday surpassed the previous record of 30,472 set in 1973 at the Houston Astrodome in the Battle of the Sexes match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs.” The match was chaired by Martina Navratilova.
The implications of such a historic match are astounding. The parallels between this match and the John Isner and Nicholas Mahut marathon, especially occurring so close to one another, many things for tennis — yet to be seen. The longest match, and the most attended — both in one month’s time? Then, to have a tennis player — Serena Williams — on the cover of the one of the most, if not the, most widely read sports magazine, Sports Illustrated, sends a clear message: tennis is set for a popularity boom.
I’m going out on a limb here. I’m not using statistics. Sure, people widely consider those the definitive statistics necessary to calculate whether or not tennis is being played more frequently, and thus boasts future popularity gains. But I’m going on a more basic, emotional level. The game is getting good. It’s getting really good, very quickly.
There’s drama now: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal aren’t the only ones doing major damage at the Grand Slams. Okay, so Federer won the Australian Open and Nadal took the other two. Fine. But they’re being tested, and that’s a great thing for the sport.
On the women’s side, variety is creeping back into the game. Caroline Wozniacki, a player that can get hit off the court (think about her lopsided loss to Petra Kvitova at Wimbledon) is holding her own. She’s ranked three in the world. There’s also Jelena Jankovic, Agnieszka Radwanska, and a slew of other players poised to keep power at bay and put spin, sharp angles, and sound tactics ahead of brute force. Francesca Schiavone won the French Open at 30 — an amazing feat. We’re seeing great confidence surging throughout the lesser-tiered players — Kaia Kanepi and Tsvetana Pironkova played their hearts out to win the big matches despite being ranked outside the top 50. Tomas Berdych on the men’s side is back in a big way.
There’s a changing of the guard in the game of tennis, and it’s an exciting one to witness. I’m saying it does wonders for popularity, too. And if not, who cares? The current fans couldn’t be happier. Well, this fan couldn’t be happier.
WTA Post-Wimbledon Roundup
We’ve taken a look at the ATP tour, now it’s time to examine the WTA ranking moves. Who benefited from the two weeks on grass, and who suffered? Here’s a breakdown of the WTA tour position switch-ups.
- Serena Williams took home the Wimbledon trophy for the second year in a row to break away definitively from the pack. Serena deserves the top sport for a long time. Should she win the US Open crown, too, she’ll be unstoppable.
- While Serena is the strongest world number one in a while, the number two and three players are shaky. Both Jelena Jankovic and Caroline Wozniacki ascended to the spots, respectively. Do they deserve the positions? Certainly due to the fact that both play matches and win. Furthermore, both are Grand Slam finalists. But there’s no feeling that they really own those spots, or are likely to keep them for any significant amount of time. No one else really does.
- Venus Williams, meanwhile, the world number two before the tournament dropped as a result At number four, things are looking glum for the five-time Wimbledon champion. Let’s hope she picks up her Grand Slam game at the US Open.
- Finalist Vera Zvonareva battled herself and her opponents to make her way to the match against Serena. She’s also now back inside the top ten at the number nine spot. Let’s see if she can get her head back in the game and continue to surprise us with the poise that brought her to the finals, not the self doubt that she showed afterward.
- Victoria Azarenka and Nadia Petrova both got bumped a few spots. The two former top ten players now find themselves at number 18 and 19, respectively. Look familiar? Well, that’s the same as John Isner and Sam Querrey on the men’s side. The Americans’ stories, however, are ones of which to be proud.
- Petra Kvitova and Tsvetana Pironkova both had fairytale runs to the semifinals. With their success, they now enjoy career high rankings. I foresee both within the top twenty by the year’s end. They have the games to do it, albeit drastically different ones.
- Dinara Safina continues to sink. She dropped eleven spots to fall to number 33 in the world. Things aren’t going her way these days and probably won’t for quite some time. I don’t see an end-of-the-year turnaround for the Russian.
- The Italian qualifier Kaia Kanepi boosted her ranking 42 positions to number 38, while Klara Zakpalova, who made it to the fourth round, shot to 43.
- Melanie Oudin, Ana Ivanovic, and Sorana Cirstea all dropped, but yet look so promising to make good showings at the US Open. Ivanovic, of course, has the biggest potential to make it back to the final rounds if only she could find her game again. Oudin, on the other hand, proved she could do it last year when she made it to the quarterfinals. Cirstea has the game. Is the belief there? She did, after all, make it to the quarterfinals of the 2009 French Open. Thus, she knows what’s it takes to go far.
Women’s Quarterfinals Produce Big Upsets; Serena Stays on Course
Quarterfinal action at Wimbledon yesterday produced striking upsets to leave a highly unlikely final four. The only easily recognizable name: Serena Williams. Here’s a breakdown of the drama:
1. Serena versus Na Li:
In a rematch of the Australian Open semifinals, Serena stormed through her match against Li with strong serving and big powerful shots. While a close first set showed signs of life for Li, the second simply got away from her as Serena honed in on the semifinals. With only six unforced errors, Serena won 7-5, 6-3. Serena’s side of the draw should be kind to her, which bring us to the second match.
2. Petra Kvitova versus Kaia Kanepi:
No one would ever have picked these two players to make it all the way to the quarterfinals, especially the qualifier Kanepi. Regardless, their match proved to be one of the most dramatic by score. After losing three match points in the tiebreaker in the second set, Kanepi was up 4-0 in the third set. That’s when all of the tennis from the past few weeks, she’s 12-1 on grass, got to her. At the same time, Kvitova, who hits a huge ball with flatness that cuts deftly through the court, turned her game up another level, embodying the game that won her matches against two top players: Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki. Kvitova saved five match points in all to win, 4-6, 7-6 (8), 8-6. I say her chances are slim against Serena, although I’ve become a Kvitova fan these past two weeks. Serena’s experience will prove to much, and she’ll win easily in two sets.
A word about Kanepi: she has had an amazing grass court season and should no doubt be applauded for her run. It’s great seeing a player find her game once again. Kanepi was ranked as high as 19th in the world, and if she keeps up her form will surely be back in the top 20.
3. Vera Zvonareva versus Kim Clijsters:
In a highly unlikely upset, Zvonareva took out Clijsters in three sets after the Belgian’s forehand faltered in the second and third sets. Clijsters looked sharp to beat compatriot Justine Henin in the fourth round. Her game, however, took a turn for the worse just as Zvonareva played the biggest match of her life. She controlled her emotions, known to get the best of her in the past, and advanced 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
4. Venus Williams versus Tsvetana Pironkova:
With beautiful execution, the finest finesse I’ve seen on court in awhile, tricky forehand slices, and tactics rarely seen in women’s tennis, Pironkova of Bulgaria stunned Venus in their quarterfinal match. Reminiscent of her first round win over Venus years ago, Pironkova played her counter-punching baseline game, which is packed with variety, to keep the number two player in the world off balance and without a rhythm. Currently ranked 82 and without a WTA tour title to her name, Pironkova played the match of her life, winning easily: 6-2, 6-3. At the same time, Venus never looked comfortable from the beginning, making too many unforced errors and not producing enough winners to ever be a threat. This marks her worst exit at Wimbledon since 2006 when she lost in the third round.
Pironkova next plays Zvonareva, who she leads the head-to-head against 1-0. I see another upset in her future if she can continue her fine form and mix up the spins and pace. If she plays like she did against Venus, Pironkova will get under Zvonareva’s skin, forcing the Russian to let her emotions take hold for the worse. The Bulgarian, the first to make it to the semifinals of a major since Manuela Maleeva at the 1993 US Open, will win in three sets.
5. End Note
And so, it’s been decided: Serena will play Kvitova and Zvonareva will try to fend off Pironkova. What a compelling Wimbledon in every sense of the word. I see Serena easily advancing, while Pironkova overcomes Zvonareva mentally to reach the finals.
There’s it’s Serena’s match to win. Can she fight through the pressure? Yes.
Day Three Results Rundown
Day three proved to be filled with upsets and sharp play from the top tier of the current tennis all-stars. Here’s a brief summary of noteworthy results.
The WTA:
- Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, and Maria Sharapova all record easy victories in their first round matches.
- Agnieszka Radwanska and Victoria Azarenka advance with their 6-3, 6-3 wins. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova only needs one more again to beat Iveta Benesova.
- French Open finalist Sam Stosur joins Francesca Schiavone in defeat after straight sets loss to Kaia Kanepi.
- Na Li and Jie Zheng make it to round two in straight sets.
- Petra Kvitova, a player I have my eye on, takes out Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-2.
- American Vania King set to play decisive match against Daniela Hantuchova tomorrow.
- Serena and Venus Williams team up to continue their doubles major title string up success. They’re shooting for five in a row.
The ATP:
- Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Sam Querrey, and Robin Soderling advance in three sets.
- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga comes back strong in first match after retiring at the French Open.
- Seeds Nicholas Almagro, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and Marcos Baghdatis fall, while unseeded American James Blake continues to struggle. Fabio Fognini upset Fernando Verdasco, too.
- John Isner’s match is held at two sets apiece against Nicholas Mahut.
