The stream of upsets that was going on all week in Indian Wells continued on finals day. Both the men's and women's finals ended in upsets, with two former top players who everybody had written-off as not having any real chance lately upsetting two players who were really supposed to get back to the top, now that their top competition was gone.
The women's final ended as Jelena Jankovic, the last big thing, beat the next big thing, Caroline Wozniacki. Jankovic hadn't won a big title in quite some time and hadn't been playing that great, so this was a surprising run for her. On the other hand, everyone expected Wozniacki to win this tournament, after the other top contenders dropped in early rounds. Well done for Jankovic, who may be ready for a return to form. The upset on the men's side was even more surprising, though.
Ivan Ljubicic, in his fourth appearance in a Master's series final, won his first title. He beat Andy Roddick, who had a cupcake draw to get to the final, while the Croatian had to beat Djokovic and Nadal to make it there. In a happy birthday to the recently-turned 31-year old, Ljubicic played great, and while he may have been just ever-so-slightly outplayed by Roddick from the ground throughout much of the match, it didn't matter when it came down to tiebreaks, and the match did. Roddick went down 0-40 in his first service game, but didn't face a break point for the rest of the match. Ljubicic faced 3 break points in the first set and 3 in the second, but it didn't matter. Nobody could convert.
During the tiebreaks, Roddick made a few more mistakes and couldn't serve as solidly as Ljubicic. While the American was leading the tour in tiebreakers won coming in to this tournament, he couldn't win either in the final, and Ljubicic went home with his maiden master's series title. Credit to the Croatian, who did something that absolutely no one gave him a chance to do at this point in his career. Literally, I don't see a single draw out of 17,000 on the ATP World Draw Challenge Circuit that picked Ljubicic to win it all.
But on the other hand, it's really a missed opportunity for Roddick, who may win another Master's Series shield in his career, but he will never get an easier chance than this one. His draw broke in every way he could have preferred, but he still couldn't seal the deal. I hope that the American closely examines the match to see if he was happy with his game. I'm not sure if he could have played differently in terms of strategy - it was just in the execution. He was out-aced by Ljubicic and basically outplayed in both tiebreaks. He may have just been tight, while the elder Croat could swing freely.
In any case, it'll be interesting to see how both do this coming week in Miami. The draw's out now, and I'll do an analysis tomorrow.
Showing posts with label jankovic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jankovic. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Indian Wells Semifinals
With the Indian Wells semis set, there was only one really noteworthy result to speak in the quarterfinals. Robin Soderling absolutely blitzed Andy Murray. In a match that everyone expected would be either a cakewalk for Murray or a tight win for the Swede, Soderling nearly got away with hardly any effort at all, and still managed a victory without too much trouble.
In his first service game, Soderling faced three four points. However, after managing to save all of those, he went on to demolish Murray in the first set, allowing him only one game. Murray barely won a point on Soderling's serve after that. The second set looked to be going the same way, with Soderling up a break and given three break chances - match points - with Murray serving at 3-5. The Scot somehow saved them all and seemed rejuvenated, as he broke Soderling while he was serving for the match and brought it to a tiebreak. However, just when it looked like the momentum was about to turn, Soderling recovered from a momentary lapse and took the tiebreak 7-4.
So now the semis are set. Nadal, who is impressing with his performance here, has a nearly sure win against Ivan Ljubicic, who has played well this week, but hasn't faced terribly strong opposition. Nadal, on the other hand, has beaten a bevy of good players, and considering that he was questionable with his knee injury, his run towards defending his title is nothing short of spectacular. He hasn't won a title in ten months, and to come back at a Masters Event would be superb.
Soderling gets Andy Roddick in the semis, who brushed aside Robredo as easily as he usually does. It seems that everything is breaking well for the American, whose tougher opponents (according to the draw) stumbled at various stage and set up much easier matches to get him back to the semis, here. But he'll have his first real test against Soderling, who has never lost to Roddick in their two meetings. Roddick has never made a final in Indian Wells, and he probably won't get a better shot than this for the rest of his career. But he'll need to play much more aggressively than Murray did today, and he can hope that Soderling doesn't serve at his best.
For the other matches to look forward to, Caroline Wozniacki will face Jelena Jankovic for the women's final, which is a chance for the Serb to get back on track at a fairly major tournament. Tough to bet against Wozniacki, though.
The doubles final also has Rafael Nadal in it, which just hows how spectacularly he's playing this week. He'll face the top seeds, Nestor and Zimonjic, with his parter Marc Lopez.
In his first service game, Soderling faced three four points. However, after managing to save all of those, he went on to demolish Murray in the first set, allowing him only one game. Murray barely won a point on Soderling's serve after that. The second set looked to be going the same way, with Soderling up a break and given three break chances - match points - with Murray serving at 3-5. The Scot somehow saved them all and seemed rejuvenated, as he broke Soderling while he was serving for the match and brought it to a tiebreak. However, just when it looked like the momentum was about to turn, Soderling recovered from a momentary lapse and took the tiebreak 7-4.
So now the semis are set. Nadal, who is impressing with his performance here, has a nearly sure win against Ivan Ljubicic, who has played well this week, but hasn't faced terribly strong opposition. Nadal, on the other hand, has beaten a bevy of good players, and considering that he was questionable with his knee injury, his run towards defending his title is nothing short of spectacular. He hasn't won a title in ten months, and to come back at a Masters Event would be superb.
Soderling gets Andy Roddick in the semis, who brushed aside Robredo as easily as he usually does. It seems that everything is breaking well for the American, whose tougher opponents (according to the draw) stumbled at various stage and set up much easier matches to get him back to the semis, here. But he'll have his first real test against Soderling, who has never lost to Roddick in their two meetings. Roddick has never made a final in Indian Wells, and he probably won't get a better shot than this for the rest of his career. But he'll need to play much more aggressively than Murray did today, and he can hope that Soderling doesn't serve at his best.
For the other matches to look forward to, Caroline Wozniacki will face Jelena Jankovic for the women's final, which is a chance for the Serb to get back on track at a fairly major tournament. Tough to bet against Wozniacki, though.
The doubles final also has Rafael Nadal in it, which just hows how spectacularly he's playing this week. He'll face the top seeds, Nestor and Zimonjic, with his parter Marc Lopez.
Monday, October 26, 2009
WTA Tour Championships in Doha
Amidst all the complaining among players on the ATP tour about the length of the season, and the inevitable backlash, it's easy to forget that the WTA, which starts at the same time as the ATP, is finishing up its season this week. That is a month before the ATP's year-end championships. A bit curious, don't you think?
The format in Doha is the same as it has been for the past several years - the top eight players are split into two groups, with each player facing the other three women in her group in round robin matches. The top two players from each group then advance to the semifinals, which then plays out like a normal tournament. Understandably, the way the two groups are split ends up being essential to the way the tournament unfolds.
The most interesting thing that happened in the rankings this week (and the top ten were going crazy, as we'll see) was that Dinara Safina moved back ahead of Serene Williams to reclaim the number one spot. I don't pretend to understand the way that the WTA rankings system works - it doesn't make sense to me, since Serena didn't do anything after the U.S. Open in 2008, so I don't know why points would drop off, but in any case, Safina is back in the top spot. But whoever advances further in the year-end championship will finish the year as number one. A draw (should both players fail to make the semifinals, for example) goes to Safina, I think. But again, I could be wrong.
So how are the top two players' chances, from the looks of things? Of course, the competition is going to be tough, since this is the top eight players in the world, but the draw seems very, very lopsided. The Maroon group features both of the Williams, both of the slam winners from the past year who are in the top 8 (Serena and Kuznetsova - Clijsters obviously is not ranked that highly), and the fourth player in the group is the best active women's tennis player to have never won a slam, Elena Dementieva, who participated in the best match of the year on the women's side, in her semifinal against Serena at Wimbledon.
The opposite group, the White group (which doesn't feature the Williams sisters, remember) has wayward world number one Dinara Safina, U.S. Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki, Belarussian teenager Victoria Azarenka, and Jelena Jankovic, who squeaked in to the top eight by a razor-thing margin. Just for the record, the Maroon group has 34 grand slam final appearances, 20 grand slam titles, and 2 Olympic Gold Medals. The White group has 5 grand slam finals and no major titles. As I said, maybe a bit lopsided?
Of course, when things are this lop-sided, the players from the Maroon group might kill each other in the round robin and then be exhausted by the semifinals. But the much younger and relatively unproven group does have some up-and-coming talents, as well as players who are anxious to show the world that they deserve to be respected. These are the best eight players in the world right now, and there's no doubt that there is a possibility for some scintillating tennis. I'm looking forward to it.
The format in Doha is the same as it has been for the past several years - the top eight players are split into two groups, with each player facing the other three women in her group in round robin matches. The top two players from each group then advance to the semifinals, which then plays out like a normal tournament. Understandably, the way the two groups are split ends up being essential to the way the tournament unfolds.
The most interesting thing that happened in the rankings this week (and the top ten were going crazy, as we'll see) was that Dinara Safina moved back ahead of Serene Williams to reclaim the number one spot. I don't pretend to understand the way that the WTA rankings system works - it doesn't make sense to me, since Serena didn't do anything after the U.S. Open in 2008, so I don't know why points would drop off, but in any case, Safina is back in the top spot. But whoever advances further in the year-end championship will finish the year as number one. A draw (should both players fail to make the semifinals, for example) goes to Safina, I think. But again, I could be wrong.
So how are the top two players' chances, from the looks of things? Of course, the competition is going to be tough, since this is the top eight players in the world, but the draw seems very, very lopsided. The Maroon group features both of the Williams, both of the slam winners from the past year who are in the top 8 (Serena and Kuznetsova - Clijsters obviously is not ranked that highly), and the fourth player in the group is the best active women's tennis player to have never won a slam, Elena Dementieva, who participated in the best match of the year on the women's side, in her semifinal against Serena at Wimbledon.
The opposite group, the White group (which doesn't feature the Williams sisters, remember) has wayward world number one Dinara Safina, U.S. Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki, Belarussian teenager Victoria Azarenka, and Jelena Jankovic, who squeaked in to the top eight by a razor-thing margin. Just for the record, the Maroon group has 34 grand slam final appearances, 20 grand slam titles, and 2 Olympic Gold Medals. The White group has 5 grand slam finals and no major titles. As I said, maybe a bit lopsided?
Of course, when things are this lop-sided, the players from the Maroon group might kill each other in the round robin and then be exhausted by the semifinals. But the much younger and relatively unproven group does have some up-and-coming talents, as well as players who are anxious to show the world that they deserve to be respected. These are the best eight players in the world right now, and there's no doubt that there is a possibility for some scintillating tennis. I'm looking forward to it.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Finals day at the Rogers Masters Cup
Well, that may not have been the prettiest day of semifinals that I've ever seen, but it certainly was exciting.
Kiefer and Simon played the longest match of the tournament, and it really could have gone either way! But in the end, Kiefer's experience and Simon's exhaustion just made it too much for the young Frenchman. This wasn't an especially pretty match, as Simon wasn't hitting nearly as many beautiful backhand winners as he was against Federer, and Kiefer seemed to only play well from behind. Whenever he went up a break, the errors started again. Good for Kiefer, though - he made it to his first career Masters Series final after three previous trips to the semifinals, two of which took place at this very tournament! I attribute his success to his recent haircut, which is really a much better look for him, I must say. The folks at Tennis Served Fresh may disagree, but I like it!
The other semi lived up to its hype, for the most part. Murray gave Nadal his toughest run since their first meeting at the Australian Open, but Nadal was just too tough. The type of game that Murray was forced to play to stay in contention was so difficult to keep up, and eventually the errors did him in. What was up with Murray and Cedric Mourier arguing about the trainer at 6-5 in the first set? If you're Murray in that situation, you either need to insist on seeing the trainer, or you need to forget about it. It really bothered him in that tie break, and who knows what would have happened if he had managed to pull that one out? He didn't wilt like Gasquet in the second, so it could have made a huge difference.
But it didn't, and Nadal won. He hasn't been to the final of the Canada Masters since 2005, where he beat a 35-year old Andre Agassi. He won that in three, but he should have an easier time against 31-year old Kiefer. At this point, it's very difficult to see Rafa not continuing to dominate the hard court season like he did on clay. It may not have happened in years past, but he wasn't playing this well before. We may have traded one hegemonic tennis power for another! I'm calling today's final for Rafa, something like 6-3, 6-2.
Also worth noting: Bob and Mike Bryan are playing Nestor and Zimonjic, who just won Wimbledon. And it's actually being broadcast on www.atpmastersseries.tv! The first doubles match at the tournament that I'm going to get to watch. It should be exciting. Bob and Mike have had a lousy season by their standards, so maybe they can help redeem it with a win over the white-hot Nestor and Zimonjic.
And poor Jelena Jankovic! She had a chance to take the number one spot (again!) but she lost in the semis to Dinara Safina. I take Safina over Pennetta in the final, but that's another pretty exciting one. Should be closer than Nadal-Kiefer.
Kiefer and Simon played the longest match of the tournament, and it really could have gone either way! But in the end, Kiefer's experience and Simon's exhaustion just made it too much for the young Frenchman. This wasn't an especially pretty match, as Simon wasn't hitting nearly as many beautiful backhand winners as he was against Federer, and Kiefer seemed to only play well from behind. Whenever he went up a break, the errors started again. Good for Kiefer, though - he made it to his first career Masters Series final after three previous trips to the semifinals, two of which took place at this very tournament! I attribute his success to his recent haircut, which is really a much better look for him, I must say. The folks at Tennis Served Fresh may disagree, but I like it!
The other semi lived up to its hype, for the most part. Murray gave Nadal his toughest run since their first meeting at the Australian Open, but Nadal was just too tough. The type of game that Murray was forced to play to stay in contention was so difficult to keep up, and eventually the errors did him in. What was up with Murray and Cedric Mourier arguing about the trainer at 6-5 in the first set? If you're Murray in that situation, you either need to insist on seeing the trainer, or you need to forget about it. It really bothered him in that tie break, and who knows what would have happened if he had managed to pull that one out? He didn't wilt like Gasquet in the second, so it could have made a huge difference.
But it didn't, and Nadal won. He hasn't been to the final of the Canada Masters since 2005, where he beat a 35-year old Andre Agassi. He won that in three, but he should have an easier time against 31-year old Kiefer. At this point, it's very difficult to see Rafa not continuing to dominate the hard court season like he did on clay. It may not have happened in years past, but he wasn't playing this well before. We may have traded one hegemonic tennis power for another! I'm calling today's final for Rafa, something like 6-3, 6-2.
Also worth noting: Bob and Mike Bryan are playing Nestor and Zimonjic, who just won Wimbledon. And it's actually being broadcast on www.atpmastersseries.tv! The first doubles match at the tournament that I'm going to get to watch. It should be exciting. Bob and Mike have had a lousy season by their standards, so maybe they can help redeem it with a win over the white-hot Nestor and Zimonjic.
And poor Jelena Jankovic! She had a chance to take the number one spot (again!) but she lost in the semis to Dinara Safina. I take Safina over Pennetta in the final, but that's another pretty exciting one. Should be closer than Nadal-Kiefer.
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