Why “pushers” are good for WTA?

How many times have we heard tennis experts complaining about overly defensive players getting to the top of the world rankings?


Solidity takes you to the top, but will not make you win slams. Or so they say.

But is this really a bad thing for women’s tennis?

Jelena Jankovic and Caroline Wozniacki have been world number ones for 85 weeks combined, Agnieska Radwanska has reached a slam final and peaked at world number two, Sara Errani has been a solid top 10 player with a slam final in Paris.

Nonetheless, thevmedia seems to crucify them and describe them as being one of the worst plagues in the history of tennis, but they are very wrong, and this is why:


Let us take the Pole as an example.

The older of the Radwanska sisters constantly receives a great amount of criticism by the press and yet she has won the Fans' Favourite award held by the WTA for three consecutive seasons.

The 2012 Wimbledon finalist does not have the power to out-hit her physically stronger opponents, but her smart reading of the game and the variety of shots in her game-plan, often set her in a position of advantage against the one-dimensional ball strikers.


Probably the hottest potato is Caroline Wozniacki though.

© Hillarie

The Dane has reigned on the top of the rankings for 67 weeks, finishing the season as world number one for two consecutive years. Amazing stats, but she has never won a slam title.

The beautiful blonde player from Odense has probably attracted the most criticism a world number one has ever faced.

Curiously, whenever she steps on court, the crowd, more often than not, sides with her, even now that she has fallen from grace and struggles to remain in the top 10.

© Matanya

Wozniacki has got career wins against all the players currently in the top 10, but for most of the experts there is little merit in those wins, which were “handed to her by the errors of her opponents.”

What often goes under the radar is the fact that the amazing defensive skills of the likes of Wozniacki force their opponents to always hit one or more additional balls.

This consistency and athleticism exposes the weaknesses of most of the hard hitters and makes the matches more mentally demanding.

One could say that they make their opponents play badly, which is not far from the truth. Their defensive game is the key to forcing opponents’ errors and at the end of the day, is that not just as much of a weapon as a massive forehand or deadly slice?

Another argument in support of the “pushers” is given by their long-term consistency. Their rankings are based on numerous solid results and a level of play that may not peak as high as many other players on tour, but rarely sinks as low.

Last, but not least, they provide a spectacle.
It may seem a paradox just after my point on their ability to make others play badly, but when watching their matches, the intensity of their rallies and the variety of solutions to turn defence into attack is what keeps the crowd on the edge of their seats.

A flashing return winner may result in loud applause, but a long and intense rally, ending with a winner on the run, makes the public jump and scream.



Originally posted on Sports Gazette

Don't Dream It's Over - Calling It a Career

On tv I see the best athletes of the world, painting with their edges lines on the snow as poetic as the verses of Shakespeare.

It has been seven months since the last time I did the same. Maybe my edges were not painting like Michelangelo and my moves not as smooth as Baryšnikov’s, but my passion was there, as big as theirs.

Today I am in London, miles away from the closest hint of snow, my skis are at home, sharpened and waxed as if tomorrow there was another race.

Tomorrow there will be none, nor the day after, nor the one ahead…truth is that there won’t ever be another.

It is very hard to come to this conclusion, because since I was as tall as a bonsai I’ve dreamt of being one day the best of the world and bringing home an Olympic gold won in downhill in front of home crowd in Tarvisio.

Childish? Yes, but it was a strong desire, as strong that I decided to grow up early and once 15, move out of home and live and study in a ski college.

But I still remember the time I broke into skiing, I was far from being good, I was quite a disaster actually. My brother was the champion, I was more the likes of a mascot.

It looks better than it actually was back then.

Yet, even when results were not there, even when no one else was believing in my chances, my brother would. He has always thought I had what it takes, even though he would have never told me straight, he is not the kind.

Soon I started to believe in that too and fast from closing the rankings I started collecting my first podiums and being talked not only for being “his brother”.

The first year on the international scene has been something I will always remember. It was a mess, one of the most horrid winters I’ve ever seen: warm, rainy and chanceless.

We all beginners had no ranking first and whenever we could make it to an entry list, bibs were always with 3 numbers and more often than not the first was a 2. Even the very best of my age were struggling to make a breakthrough.

I hit some form late in the season, I always did, no idea why. But in training things were going well, I was feeling like never before and when the regional team called me to go and race with them in Austria for some speed events I was higher than cloud nine.

I forgot to tell, ever since I moved my first steps in the world of snow I was classified as a “slittone”, meaning sledge, Italian skiers’ slang for gliding specialist. Maybe because of my big body, maybe because of some natural talent, I’ve always produced my best whenever the slope would go fast and the gates further.

For this reason I was sure to be speed racer, for this reason my dream was an Olympic gold in downhill.

 

With some school mates training.

I couldn’t believe how ironic could my weekend be that time in Innerkrems. In 48 hours my career somehow began and crumbled.

We had a superg the first day, I was euphoric, I can’t remember much of that race, I remember only a massive and horrible mistake on a very flat section, the rage in my heart trying to make up for that in the last gates and the surprise watching my time. I was one of the best of my age in that race, despite the error, despite my being a no-one.

The fairytale lasted short though and it ended in 24 hours, when on the same slope we were all doing the last training run before the downhill race.

It was snowing and it was quite dark, I was overconfident and decided not to give my 100% in the last two gates.

Isn’t it ironic? The day before I gave my heart and soul on the same section, that day not even half of it.

Suddenly something happen, an edge grips on the fresh snow, the ski follows and so does the rest of my left leg, while the right one and my body still aims at the finish line.

I scream. I can’t even cry, I feel too much pain to cry while my body rolls down crossing the finish line.

The time is great, my knee is not. I am flight to the nearest hospital, where a while later a doctor tells me a few words that I won’t ever forget: “A part from the meniscuses, there’s not much safe in your knee.”

Then later, while my dad is helping me out of that place, the same doctor adds: “Don’t despair, Herman Maier could come back, you can do it too.”

Eventually, further tests showed that the damage was not as big, but my recovery was far from easy anyway.

Same day, March the third, one year later.

I am at the start of another speed race, National Junior Championships. My bib is good, despite the season has been far from exciting.

When I said I couldn't just, I didn't lie

Still, I know I can make it, my brother knows it as well and this time he tells me. For this reason he has taken his car and came all the way up to watch me.

A rival of mine tells me at the start: “You know which day is it today? Some things happen over and over again, remember!”

I shout him up and add to my motivation list a new point: ‘I want to see his face at the end of this.’

I love the slope and the setting, there’s only one passage, one jump, for the rest I feel terribly confident.

I am a terrible jumper, but I know I can do it, I’ve done it already, 20 meters, I can do it, 10 meters, I will do it. 5 meters, I…am flying, without control. I am scared to death. In few seconds I see the ground far below me, I remember the helicopter, I remember the doctors, the pain and all the effort to come back.

‘Not again.’ I think while I do not know how I avoid crashing against the ground and after almost 40 meters from where I departed, I land and continue my race.

My mind is elsewhere and when I cross the finish line I am still in a status of shock. It is not the podium I dreamt of, but the result is quite good, but I cannot realize it. I am shacking, can’t really speak.

My brother comes and all I can say is ‘I am fine’ before crying on his shoulder.

That evening in Falcade, while doing my jogging I stopped in the church and fired my first and last candle ever for something related to skiing. For stupid it may seem, I was glad I was still on my legs.

Once back from this experience, on a random afternoon I show a friend the video, while the coach of the women team passes by. He looks at me and says: “I don’t know why you keep thinking you are a speed racer, in my opinion you are more suitable for slalom.”

I basically laugh at his face and so do most of the people I told this, funny enough a few later he will be my coach and he proved me how right he was.

The following season is ok, nothing amazing, but I had a couple of nice runs here and there and I feel like I am ready to step up.

I change brand of skis and for every step I thought of doing ahead, I do two backwards. Nothing works and my body refuses to collaborate as well. I am found a genetic problem at the back, I am forced to retire often, I am training little and my mood falls as low as my world ranking.

As the last slap in the face, I fail to pass the ski instructor selection, while most of my friends go through.

‘Enough is enough, I quit.’

I am sick of trying for nothing, my results are worse than in my first year, my body feels like the one of a man in his 80s and I can not find any reason why I should go on.

My brother then tells me: “take the spring and the summer off, if by August you don’t feel like skiing any more, that’s it.”

I am out of my ski college, I got my highschool diploma and soon I will start the uni, but in July I take a trip around Europe with two of my best friends and out of nowhere one of them, Ele, tells me she has joined my ski-club as her coach has now signed with them.

He is Sandro, the guy who told me about being a slalom specialist. For some obscure reasons I feel like skiing again.

Without trying it, I get a new brand of skis for the season and train little in the autumn, but most of those days were the best of my life. I don’t remember whether I was skiing well or not, but I was having some of the greatest fun ever on snow. It suddenly was like when as a kid I was racing with my brother and dad during holidays. Skiing was fun, again.

Suddenly I can do things I thought I never could

The first race of the season I am set to be a forerunner. After the horrible season just passed, my world ranking is not good enough to enter the field. But I do not particularly care, I have trained seventeen days only in the past four months and I am up there only to do a bit more training.

Sandro comes back from the jury meeting late. A guy called sick at last, so I got a last minute number for the next day.

I am barely top eighty of the race and the snow is soft, meaning that I will race luge rather than skiing.

At the bottom of my run I am not happy with myself, I know I have been skiing better in the previous days. Then a team mate calls me to reality, I am almost top ten.

I am shocked, but I don’t feel the pressure going for the second run, I find the whole thing extremely funny. Not long ago I did not even know if I would have raced anymore and now I was as high as never in slalom!

The second run is again a good one, I finish eight and I crush my best ever result, not only in slalom, but in whichever race.

The second race follows almost the same track and immediately my world ranking sets me as one of the best of my area.

The season goes on like in a dream, a fairytale that brings me to three achievements that I never thought possible before: I beat my brother’s career best ranking, I become the first skier from my city to race under 40 points FIS and finally I win my first international race.

Suddenly everything works and I score amazing results even in the hated Giant Slalom, where I end up collecting the most of my podiums.

On the podium of my first FIS win

The season ends in a bittersweet taste as I completely screw my chances at the Italian Championships in slalom, while in downhill, my second in over three years, the possibly amazing result has been diminished by the warm temperature and so a slower track on the latest part. I was 18^th at the last intermediate.

I end the season thrilled anyway and as an addition I finally pass the ski instructor entry test.

The following season is solid, it lacked the peaks of the amazing one just passed, but it is expected…I am tired and not fully focused having my time divided among ski races, ski instructor course and university. 

The best moment was definitely representing Italy at the World Citizen Championships in Garmisch Partenkirchen, despite racing not at my best.

Last season, my last season I can really call it now, feels strange. I immediately feel tired, but differently from ever before.

I suddenly feel old.

At the races I am almost always one of the oldest, I am not a junior anymore and I have to travel alone for half Europe to race. I am not skiing badly at all, but results fail to come and it always feel more and more tiring to train, to travel, to race.

I am not giving up though, but I sign a bond with myself: ‘I have a shot at the next Winter Universiade, it is not the Olympics, but this will be my make it or break it.’

Then in February something happen. In my favourite ski race of the year, the night slalom of Zoldo, Citizen Ski World Cup, I feel like two years back in time and in my eyes there’s fire while racing down the first run.

I am first. With more than half a second of gap on the rest of the field.

Like that day when my new career started I don’t feel any pressure, I find it funny and when I start the second run it feels like my night. I know it’s my night.

I am fast, I know I am faster than anyone before me, it is just few gates…I can see the finish line, I can feel my family counting the seconds, I can feel my coach holding his breath.

Suddenly there is a sense of emptiness in my stomach, as if I was falling.

I am falling. My boot hit on a bump and is dragging me to the white hard ground of a defeat. The biggest.

I get back on the course, I know it is too late, but I want to finish the race. I want to see the first run’s time next to my name.

That night in Zoldo, I felt great again.

I don’t stop at the finish line, I just want to disappear, I want to be anywhere else. One should not, but I feel, I know that I have just wasted my last chance and suddenly it’s over.

I try to laugh at my bad luck as I go back on start to get dressed, then I reach my coach and expect him to shout at me, I wish he does. But he knows I have been punishing myself enough, he feels as torn as I do. He probably knows, like I know that this was the last call.

If I have a regret in all my career, that night I got one and no, it is not my mistake in the race. I regret not having hugged my coach and told him that he has been amazing, over the years like that night.

In a few weeks I am called upon my last train for my pact with myself, the Italian University Championships, but as a deciding last epitome to my career my left knee decides not to hold together anymore. I collapse on the side of the race as my knee swells.

I try a few more races with a kneepad, but it is useless, it is not only my body crying for a break, my mind too.

Half a year has passed now, over the summer I have become a ski coach, now I am in London studying sports journalism.

I don’t dream of winning the Olympics anymore, but I still dream of going, as a journalist this time. I am happy of my choice and when looking back at all those years I am proud of what I achieved and I feel lucky having had so many amazing persons on my side.

But before definitely going on I felt the need of writing the words “the end” and despite my status on the FIS site says active, I officially am calling it a career.

Rafael Nadal, the Man Behind the Champion

“This is a sport, and you can have victories or defeats. No one remembers defeats in the long run. People remember victories.”

It was 2009 and Rafael Nadal was giving his first press conference after a defeat at the Roland Garros. First time, sole time. In nine appearances he has lost only once on the French clay.

11 November 2013, he has just lost the year ending final to his biggest rival of the past few years, Novak Djokovic. After his best season ever in his career, the Spaniard has failed to grab the only title missing in his palmarès: the ATP World Tour Finals.

His voice is still the same as usual in the press conference and despite the loss he says: “The only thing that I can say is congratulate my opponent and at the same time congratulate my team because all the achievements, all the success that I had this year, without my family, all my team, it was impossible to have; all the special feelings, the special moments.”

Arguably the best clay courter ever in the history of tennis, surely one of the best tennis players of all time, and yet, Nadal feels like he is the same guy as always and his life outside of tennis reflects that as well.

Humbleness and humility are clearly the most suitable words to describe the left-handed from Majorca. Contrary to what the spectator can see on court, there is no loud grunt, nor noisy “vamos!” once his matches are over.

 “[My] ambition is to be a very, very normal guy. A very humble guy. To play tennis, which I love and want to be the best. And, when I'm done, I just want to be at home with my friends.”

His look may resemble the one of the Spanish “macho”, long hair, sculpted muscles and massive biceps well showed by the sleeveless t-shirts. But in reality Nadal is not a party boy and his values are well-rooted in the sense of family.

Whereas many of his rivals found love on the fashion catwalks or in the music studios, Nadal is living a relationship far from the spotlights with his childhood love, Maria Francisca Perello.

In 2009 the equilibrium of his family was broken by the separation of his parents: "My parents' divorce made an important change in my life. It affected me. For one month I was outside the world. I am OK now but you need time to accept.”

As a proof of the importance of the family bonds in his life, the Spanish champion still lives with his family and as he once said he is still chastised by his mother if his room is untidy.

In the same flat, a whole level is occupied by another member of the family, whose bonds with the eight-time-French-Open Champion are as strong as with no-one else: uncle Antonio Nadal, better known as Uncle Toni.

“Everything I have achieved in the game of tennis, all the opportunities I have had, are thanks to him.” Says the nephew. “I’m especially grateful to him for having placed so much emphasis from the very beginning on making sure I kept my feet on the ground and never became complacent.”

The left-handed recalls one precise episode in his childhood to explain how the rough methods of the uncle in the end were always justified by a lesson he would never forget later in his life:

“One very hot day I went to a match without my bottle of water. I’d left it at home. He could have gone and bought me one, but he didn’t.

“So that I’d learn to take responsibility, he said. Why didn’t I rebel? Because I enjoyed tennis, and enjoyed it all the more once I started winning, and because I was an obedient and docile child. My mother says I was too easy to manipulate.

“Maybe, but if I hadn’t loved playing the game, I wouldn’t have put up with my uncle. And I loved him too, as I still do and always will. I trusted him, and so I knew deep down that he was doing what he thought was best for me.”

And he surely knew that as Nadal seemed to become more and more of a all-round player, completing his career Grand Slam in 2010 and showing how he could step ahead in his game over and over again, despite new hurdles, new opponents, new injuries.

“In your career you have a lot of good moments and bad ones. The important thing is to have enough motivation to keep working all the days with humility and trying to be a better player than before. I am going to try to continue doing this."

Fans are divided when it comes to his play style, but surely he is a great example to follow when it comes to behaviour and values.

Food Poisoning ends Watson’s difficult season

Heather Watson was forced to retire from her quarter-final match of ITF Barnstaple against Johanna Konta due to food poisoning.

This match signed the end of the season for the British number three, who has had far from a lucky one.

Watson came to Barnstaple after a promising week in Poitiers, where she reached the semi-finals, and so her mood and attitude were high after the difficult season she had just left behind.

Despite starting the season by collecting her best ranking, Watson was soon forced to stay away from the tennis courts due to glandular fever, something she found out only thanks to a blood test. However, she pushed her comeback too early and hence results failed to arrive, leaving her in a state of unhappiness and disbelief.

The week in Poitiers came at the right time though and earlier this week she said: “I am feeling good and after having a good week last week, with some very tough matches in three sets, I am feeling a lot happier, a lot more confident and just enjoying tennis more.”

She looked very positive also on court both during training and her matches, but sadly yesterday a bout of food poisoning hit her during her second-round match against Vrlijc.

Nonetheless, she overcame the sickness and Vrlijc in order to snatch a three set win, which allowed her to meet her compatriot and friend Konta today.

The challenge was too big this afternoon though, and Watson immediately looked fatigued and unable to produce a quality of tennis good enough to challenge Konta. As a result, instead of risking further injuries, she decided to retire.

The warm hug to the net proved the friendship of the two, who are supposed to play together in the doubles semi-final tomorrow.

The food poisoning might have ended her season a few days earlier than hoped, but Watson is a hard worker and she has said she is willing to be ready for the next season.

“It just came up being a terrible season, but I am glad I can finish it on a high note and inspired again and motivated to play and work hard.”

A normal day in the office

Alarm at 5:20am to go down to Devon for a tennis tournament, of course it's the day of the biggest storm of the year.

I check trains to see if they are running and I see they go, all of them but one. The first of my awfully long series.

F*ck.

My garden after the storm

Think fast, easy to say, but it's damn 5am...ok, if I take a bus, then the tube I can make it to the station I need. Run.

A quick look outside and I see that there is a tree where yesterday I had my clothes drying in the wind...oh well, ain't no time for that.

Everyone is waiting for news

I make it to the station, on time, but of course everything is getting cancelled or delayed...thankfully my train is not cancelled, but it will run or, better, walk slowly through the storm.

I reach my last coincidence city 45 minutes late only to find out that the railway it's flooded, so they are trying to organize a bus. Don't ask me why but I found it hilarious.

During the travel I get to know an Italian tennis player, Giulia Gatto Monticone, she's very cool and she as well agrees to have an interview tomorrow.

Quite a little water

The green valleys of Devon are flooded and at times it's almost scary to look out of the window, but eventually I reach Barnstaple.

It's almost 1pm. Time for my job to start, on court, taking pics and contacting players for interviews.

A normal day in the office.

Ligety makes it three in a row in Soelden

American Ted Ligety has won his third consecutive race in Soelden earlier this afternoon, proving once again his dominance in the discipline.
Ligety showed immediately his amazing condition when in the first run he collected a gap over the rest of the field of nine tenth of a second.
Youngsters Pinturault (second) and Hirscher (third) were the immediate followers and then the gap rapidly widened, especially due to the difficult conditions caused by the strong wind and the mild temperatures.
As proof of that it is enough to notice how, for the second run, only two racers in the top 30 did not qualify and one of them can blame a crash for that.
Surely one of the most interesting and surprising runs was given by one man starting out of the elite group: bib 32, Bode Miller.
The American star was starting a World Cup race after more than a year of absence and there was a lot of interest about this comeback.
The excitement of seeing his return immediately raised eyebrows as his known-to-be crazy technique appeared to be as effective as prior his injury. No-one around his starting number had done anything alike, but he attacked the slope and bumps with the usual brave attitude and it paid off as he finished 13th (19th after the second run).
The second run appeared to follow the pattern given by the yesterday’s Women’s race, as the worsening of the snow conditions favoured the comebacks from behind, like Defago who rose from 27th to 14th place as he ended up with the second best time of the second run.
The best time was scored by French Steve Missilier, 13th after the first run, and with this amazing second leg he could challenge the podium as he finished 4th, tied with Norwegian Aksel-Lund Svindal.
The French assault was not big enough to move any of the first-round best three names and nothing changed on top, with Ligety once more showing his class even under pressure.
The podium was then sealed by the same drivers who finished at the top of last year’s Giant Slalom cup, a clear statement that they will be once again the ones to beat.

Simply too Gut!

Lara Gut wins the first race of the season in Soelden and conquers her first world cup win in Giant Slalom.

The Swiss was already in the lead of the race after the first run with a margin of over Eight tenths of a second on Viktoria Rebensburg and Anna Fenninger.

The biggest surprise of the day came from Tina Maze, though. The Slovene, winner of last year’s overall and Giant Slalom globes, was surely one of the favourites for the win today. Nonetheless she looked quite slow and her preparation may have changed from last year, when she was unstoppable in the early races.  She seemed to be in far from her best form and finished sixth after the first run, before plummeting down to 18th position at the end of the race.

In the second run the rise in the temperature caused a big change in snow conditions and the course deteriorated constantly. That situation helped the comeback of athletes like Nadia Fanchini, second at the start in the final run, who scored the best partial time finishing 14th.

Right before the disastrous second run of Maze, another Tina, Weirather, scored an amazing run to secure a place into the top ten. Liechtensteiner Weirather qualified for the second run despite her high bib -37- and in the second run she tamed the bumps and waves on the course like no one else could within the top ten.

Her run let her gain two more positions and she scored her career best result in the discipline, a great accomplishment after the long series of injuries she has suffered in recent years.

The fight for the podium was a contest of four skiers, with Kathrine Zettel the only one close to the best three girls of the first run.

The Austrian skied a terrific second leg, painting great lines down the steep middle section of the Rettenbach glacier. Neither compatriot Fenniger, nor German Rebensburg could finish ahead of her.

In contrast to this, Lara Gut went down with the sole idea of winning and her performance did not fail her expectations. Despite a couple of mistakes in the middle section, the Swiss never stopped trying to accelerate after every turn and in the end this paid off with a terrific win. Her first in Giant Slalom.

As usual, women’s skiing goes break and will come back in three weeks time with the Arctic race of Levi’s slalom, Finland.

Video Preview of WTA Finals

Wozniacki Ends Her Season With A Triumph

Caroline Wozniacki defeated German rising star Annika Beck 6-2 6-2 in the WTA Luxembourg final to grab her 21st career title - her first of the year.

 The Dane came to the final as the heavy favourite because of her top-seeded ranking and experience, while Annika Beck, at the age of 19, was at her first final on the tour. Moreover, the quality showed by the former world number one in the previous rounds enforced her status as favourite, having defeated tricky opponents en route to the final.

Wozniacki looked pretty gloomy and unfocused in the first two rounds despite the wins in straight sets over local Wild Card Mandy Minella and last year’s finalist Monica Niculescu.

In her quarter-final match, Wozniacki was challenged by Serbian Bojana Jovanovski, who had defeated the Dane twice this year already. The Serb pushed Wozniacki to a third set, but there, Wozniacki was too solid and in the end she could seize the win showing a different and more focused attitude on court.

In the previous round, Annika Beck conquered her best career win by defeating fifth seed and world number 28 Lucie Safarova in a tight three-set match, where she had to come back from a break down in the decider. The German’s run needed another massive effort to continue when in the quarter-final she had to face Polish qualifier Katarzyna Piter in a three-hour match, ending in a heart- breaking tie-break.

Beck could then take advantage of the retirement of her semi-final opponent, Stefanie Voegele, who had defeated the second seed, Sloane Stephens, in the round before.
Wozniacki had a tougher semi-final to face, as her opponent, Sabine Lisicki, was the Wimbledon runner-up and her game is particularly suitable for the fast conditions of the indoor courts of Luxembourg.

The match was close in the first set, but in the end Wozniacki nailed it down by being aggressive whenever she had the chance of clinching the key points. Lisicki seemed to suffer from losing the first set as she quickly fell behind in the second, and her reaction came too late as Wozniacki closed the match in straight sets.

The final match was expected to be one-sided, but Beck put up a fight, showing probably the best tennis of her repertoire in the early games of the match, forcing Wozniacki to go for her shorts more and in the end it was the experience of the Dane that decided the first set.

Despite the situation, Beck kept fighting and Wozniacki needed great resolve to win most of the long and intense rallies of the match.



Once again it was the lack of experience that betrayed the young German, who in the end had to surrender to a very focused Wozniacki 6-2 6-2. This title is the 21st in Wozniacki’s career and allows her streak to continue as this is her sixth consecutive year in which she has won at least one title.

With this title, Wozniacki has qualified for the Sofia Tournament of Champions, but her dad and coach Piotr said she won’t be involved.

Originally written for the Sports Gazette

Kerber wins Linz and qualifies for Istanbul

Angelique Kerber defeated the former world n°1 Ana Ivanovic in just two sets to conquer her first title of the year.

Her run to the title has been impressive; after the first set lost to Monica Niculescu in her opening match, ‘Angie’ didn't drop a single set all the way through to the title.

 

©Jimmie48

The world n°9 showed great attitude throughout the week, ignoring the major media attention gathered by her last-minute entry, to the detriment of Austrian WC Lisa-Maria Moser (for more on this story click here).

In addition to that, there was much pressure on her shoulders, since any result better than a Quarter Final would have meant the mathematical assurance to be qualified for the year-ending masters in Istanbul.

As a result, her QF match against local WC Patricia Mayr-Achleitner was tougher than the score line would suggest. Furthermore, the Austrian was playing some brilliant tennis heading to the match and had her chances in the first set, but Kerber reacted well and finished the match in total control.

The semi-final was a complete dominance by the German, who gave only two games to the world number 18, Spaniard Carla Suarez-Navarro.

This result and the great show of form and consistency in the past weeks set Kerber as the favourite in the final as well, despite trailing 3-1 in the head to head with Ivanovic.

The final resulted in a rollercoaster. Kerber started with the right mindset, taking the initiative whenever possible and exploiting her terrific defence to neutralise Ivanovic’s initial shots, especially off her forehand.

Suddenly the Serb’s shot increased in speed and accuracy, so in a blink of an eye, she won three games in a row to tie at 4-all.

It was then another big reaction from the German who broke Ivanovic for the third time of the set and went on serving the set out 6-4.

The second set witnessed a bit of everything, with the Serb starting with a ten-point-in-a-row streak, before surrendering to the massive comeback of Kerber, which led to a 5-4 40-0 lead on her serve. Swiftly, Ivanovic noticed the more passive attitude of her opponent and took advantage of it, saved all the match points, and broke back.

On 6-5 for the Serb, Kerber suffered a bad call that helped Ivanovic gain two set points, but instead of arguing, the German decided to fix the situation with a massive serve and a huge forehand down-the-line winner, to clear the set points and go to the tiebreak.

Once again Ana Ivanovic started strongly and went up 6-4, but similarly to the previous game, Kerber could find her best focus on the important points, while the Serb melted fast once those two more set points were gone. The fourth match point, the first in the tiebreak, was the final one, gifted by the Serb with a backhand error, which cost her the match and gave to Kerber the first title of year.

Originally posted on the sports gazette

Jaziri forced to withdraw for political reasons, Tunisians can't play against Israeli

Malek Jaziri, world number 169, couldn't step on court this morning to play his quarter-final match in Tashkent's Challenger against Israeli Amir Weintraub.

The Tunisian tennis player was forced to give a walkover to his opponent as a consequence of the pressure done from the Tunisian Tennis Federation and especially by the Minister of Sport, Tarak Dhiab.

The reason behind this lies in the political stance of Tunis, which doesn't sustain any diplomatic relation with Israel. Hence, Minister Dhiab prohibited any match between Tunisian and Israeli athletes in every sport.
Furthermore, Malek had no way out because the Tunisian federation is also one of his biggest sponsors, and so he had to surrender to their decision.
On Tunisian radio station Shems FM later on during the day, Amir Jaziri, Malek's brother, stated that his sibling tried to make the federation aware of the possible sanctions that would follow his withdrawal, but the Tunisian Federation didn't give up. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) might indeed take serious measures on the matter in the future.

“Malek received an email from the Federation telling him they’ve met with people from the Ministry of Sport and they ordered Malek not to play this match." He said, “Now we are hoping that this will not affect his future. We hope the ministry can give us assurance that nothing will harm Malek but I guess they can’t."

The possible sanctions Malek might suffer include radiation from the upcoming tournaments and the loss of the ranking points gained in this one.

Originally written for the sports gazette

Moser controversial withdrawal gives Kerber new chances for Master

Austrian Wild Card Lisa-Maria Moser withdrew today from Linz main draw, leaving space for a last minute entry of German Angelique Kerber, world n°9.

Nothing strange, one might think, such changes happen very often, especially at the end of the season. But this time the situation is very different and this last minute change looks far more complicated and not as clear as it should be.
The young Austrian had her breakthrough earlier this summer, when in another WTA International in Bad Gastein reached the Quarter Finals by defeating en route world number 30 and top seed German Mona Barthel. Ever since her ranking kept rising, but as the cut off for Linz was out, it still wasn't enough to make it to the Qualifying draw.
Once Petra Kvitova withdrew from the entry list, because of her deep run in Beijing, the Austrian federation gave a WC to Moser, who moved to Linz and no longer than yesterday was drawn to face Swiss Stephanie Voegele in the first round.

Overnight something happened though, it's not very clear when exactly, but the team of German Angelique Kerber requested a WC for the tournament, as the withdrawal of Kvitova left a spot for another top 10 in the draw -we shall remind that International events are allowed to have only one top tenner. This WC appeared as very needed for Kerber, who needs to score as many points possible in the next weeks, as she's fighting with Jelena Jankovic and Caroline Wozniacki for a spot in the year ending Master, soon happening in Istanbul.
Apparently the request of WC for the German came too late as the draw was already out, but then, unexpectedly, this morning Lisa-Maria handed in her request of withdrawal from the singles maindraw for "personal reasons" and immediately afterwards she appeared on the entry list for doubles partnering with another Austrian WC, Nicole Rottmann. At this point it won't surprise anyone to find out that her WC went straight to the German and all the seeding of the draw changed.

Another interesting detail about this unusual situation is added by the fact that rules allow the players who finished the previous year within the top 10 to play only two international events and Kerber this year played Monterrey and Washington already.
A quibble though gave Kerber another shot to an additional international event, because Washington was played during the same week of Carlsbad, a premier tournament that Kerber couldn't play because it had reached the limit of top 10 players allowed there. This situation, according to the rules of WTA, allows the "damaged" player to enter an additional international event and so Kerber had her right to get it.

Nonetheless, it still seems questionable that a player -like Moser this time- can be "suggested" to withdraw and let another player compete on her place simply because of a bigger fame and better ranking.

Originally posted on the new project I am working on, the Sports Gazette

Expected Finals to decide USOpen winners

When the first two seeds and favourite for the title face each other in a Slam final that seems almost unsurprising, but when that happens in both the men and women tournaments the surprise seems to suddenly increase..
Most of all the presence of the highest seeds in both finals shouldn't lead to the easy misjudgement that the tournament was boring or by any mean unsurpirsing (for more have a look at the first week report on falled seeds). Both the finals have the added drama of the great rivalries that are shaping the last seasons in a way that in both cases it seems that the stakes are beyond the title only.

(1) Serena Williams vs (2) Victoria Azarenka

Rematch of last year's final (first time since 2001 when the Williams' sisters faced each other for the second year in a row), rematch of the last tournament's final they've played few weeks ago in Cincinnati, clash between the best two players in the world, the current and former world number one and there's a lot more one could say be lying behind this final, because like it or not, those two are building one of the most interesting rivalries of the past few years in the women tennis.
Both girls know each other really well having played 16 times already, but despite Serena is leading comfortable the series with 13 wins, it feels like Vika is coming closer, every match between them has been a huge fight in the past two years, especially on hard courts. What's more this year the Belorussian leads the head to head, with both her wins on hardcourts, the latest in a great quality final ended 7-6 for Vika in Cincinnati. "you know, both matches she played really well." Said Serena regarding those two losses to Azarenka this year: "I let myself down at opportunities and I didn't take them. If I'm able to get another opportunity I have to take them, because she is always pumped and she does really well."

People seem to argue that the two finalists runs couldn't be more different: Serena didn't drop a single set and won 23 consecutive games starting from her 4th round to Stephens to her Semifinal against Li Na, while Vika dropped two sets against Cornet and Ivanovic, being very close to be defeated in this last one. The two semifinals couldn't be more unlike as well, since Serena needed very little fight to defeat Li Na, who sprayed error after error to surrender in the first set winning no game despite the "sole" 4 winners of Serena; on the other hand Azarenka needed a great fight to overcome a tenacious Pennetta. The Italian didn't play as well as in the other rounds, but never gave up and Azarenka often needed two or three extra shots to close rallies, hence the match was tough and tiring for both despite finishing in straight sets. " She was getting to the balls, you know, sometimes I didn't expect to come back, and she really surprised me in those kind of ways. She was really solid. I just felt that I was able to play better and execute better on the important moments and really take my chances." Said Vika after the match, but for sure she'll need to upper her service level if she wants to challenge Serena, something that she usually does, like in Cincinnati, when after a shaky tournament she came up with an outstanding performance to win that one.
I definitely feel like when she plays me she plays her best, by far." Said Serena about that raise of level whenever the two meet: "I have seen her play other players, and when I play her I'm playing a totally different player. Obviously she brings her best game, yeah."

"
It is going to be a tough battle, that's for sure, none of the two would give up the fight, they are both great fighters and as said above, there's a lot of extra motivation (Serena as US Series winner has a 1 million dollars bonus too) and to use Azarenka's words: "It's tough to say. I think that, you know, the battles that we had, it was really just taking each other out of the most comfortable zone and just fight for every ball. Because, you know, we know each other pretty well. You know, I know her strengths; she knows my strengths. That's what it's all about, about those turning points, who wants it more, who's willing to go for it more. It's a bunch of combinations."
It's hard to pick a winner, I believe that Serena will in the end take this one, but she stands her best chances if she can avoid a 3rd setter.

(1) Novak Djokovic vs (2) Rafael Nadal

As for the women final, this is the nth chapter of a great rivalry and once more a win on Monday will mean a lot more than the already huge title of USOpen champion. The two know each other as well as they know themselves with 36 previous matches played and Nadal leading with 21 wins, but most of all with the last one gained in a tough and close battle on the summer hard courts.
Nadal is clearly the favourite, everything is by his side leading into this final, starting from his terrific season record (60 wins to only 3 losses), passing by the fact that he's yet to be defeated on Hard Courts, he leads the head to head and ending to the route to this final, in which he dropped a single set to Kohlschreiber. Djokovic's season would be looking outstanding in any other season, but it simply fades if compared to the one of Nadal and despite being still at the top of the ranking, the Serb is sure to see the Spaniard passing him within the next weeks.
Nonetheless this is the perfect stage to set a clear statement that he's not willing to give up the fight and after all they tie with one slam each, so there's still a chance to do better than the Spanish, at least in this category.

Nole knows he'll need to bring his best if he wants to threat Nadal: "it's always the biggest challenge that you can have in our sport now. I mean, he's the ultimate competitor out there. He's fighting for every ball and he's playing probably the best tennis that he ever played on hard courts. but, you know, I know how to play him. Hard court is the surface that, as I said, is my most successful surface. I have played him already here twice in the finals. I know what I need to do. Now it's of course easier to sit here and say, I know what I need to do, but I've got to do it on the court."
What's for sure, he will need a great effort from his team to recover from his semifinal, because differently from what I expected (you can see it in my semifinals preview), Wawrinka fought like a caged lion and came very close to upset the Serb and the winner could come through only after a battle of over 4 hours. On the other semifinal Nadal didn't need much time and despite his need to focus and win the important points, Gasquet couldn't do much more than staying close in the score, but in the end it ended in straight sets.

Nadal remains very cautious in his words as he knows that Djokovic is a great fighter even if he's coming more tired than he is: "Few weeks ago in Montreal have been, you know, good, very good level, no, of tennis? Is good if both of us, we are playing at very good level so the match becomes great because we play long rallies, we bring our game to the limit situations, and becomes a very difficult match for both of us. Hopefully I hope to be ready for that. I don't know. I gonna try. I need to keep playing very aggressive and play a very, very good match. Only like this I gonna have chances. That's what I gonna try."
Yet, I believe that Nadal has this match in his hands and probably he won't even need a 5th set to close it.

USOpen SF Preview

The countdown has started, it won't be long before the last slam of the year will close its gates, but that's the moment that every fan is waiting for, now it's the moment in which story will be written once again.
It's been a long and thrilling US Open so far, incredibly rich of quality and drama moments and now when it's all about the last four men and women, it's all about sizing the right chance to raise the trophy in the final.
One couldn't ask for a better semifinal line-up, in both draws there have been surprises and not all the favourites reached this far, but the ones who took their place not only deserved to get so far, but added great quality and a taste of fairytale to the story of this USOpen. Because if finding Serena Williams, Azarenka, Li Na (on the ladies' draw) and Djokovic and Nadal (in the men's) doesn't really surprise the fans, Flavia Pennetta, Stanislas Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet are all surprising names to be found at this stage.

(1) Serena Willliams vs (5) Li Na

World number one and defending champion, Serena Williams takes on Chinise world number 5 in probably the first real test of Serena's conditions here in New York. The two know each other very well having played 9 times already, with Serena losing one of those matches, yet Li Na is well known for her powerful game and if consistency seems to be her major problem, no-one wants to face her with the rounds passing as she seems always to find her best game with the days passing in a tournament.

It's honestly hard to predict an upset here, mostly because Li Na had to struggle a lot in the earlier rounds, including a very tense performance against Ekaterina Makarova in the quarter-final, while Serena left nothing to her opponent, Carla Suarez Navarro, who was simply annihilated but the power and the accuracy of the shots of Serena.
Surely Li Na is not the same kind of player, with no detraction to the amazing result and the qualities of the Spaniard, but the Chinese can deal a lot better with powerful shots and Serena surely knows that, as much as she knows the fighting attitude that characterizes her, so everything is set for a great quality match here. My prediction is Serena to win 7-5 6-3.

(2) Viktoria Azarenka vs Flavia Pennetta

When world number 2 and twice-in-a-row Australian Open champion takes upon world number 83, one hardly believe that this might be a competitive match, but Flavia Pennetta isn't a normal world 83, former top 10 -first Italian ever to achieve such a result- she's achieved wins over most of the greatest players of this era, leading the head to head with some of them. Her story here is probably the biggest fairytale of the past few years: two years ago, at her 3rd QF in this slam, she went so close to achieve her first ever slam SF against a still unknown Angelique Kerber, but the pressure of the moment made her crumble and lose from a break up in the third set. Because of a wrist injury and the surgery needed she skipped last year's US Open, but her comeback this year looked to be a prelude to her retirement, as much as she considered that before Wimbledon, where she played well a couple of matches and exploited the retirement of the highest seed of her section: Vika Azarenka.
It's like the plot of a very intriguing thriller, because the "free pass" of Wimbledon is now her opponent in a match that none would have bet on when the draw came out.
Yet Flavia made a great run to reach this maiden semifinal, she took down the 4th seed and last year's Semifinalist Sara Errani, former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova (overturning a 5-0 in the head-to-head), summer-sensation Simona Halep and finally her close friend and one-step-away-from-top-10 Roberta Vinci, all that without dropping a set, showing match after match her best tennis and probably even a little more.  "I'm proud of me now.  I'm 31, and physically I feel good finally.  I'm in the first semifinal in Grand Slam." she said, "I really don't feel this pressure.  In Italy we already have one champion on Grand Slam; Sara make one final, two semifinals. So I really don't feel this pressure right now."
This is probably the potentially highest quality semifinal, because Azarenka knows Flavia, the two matches they have played before have gone one to each of them and Viktoria hasn't play at her absolute best so far, being challenged by Cornet and Ivanovic en route, yet the Belorussian is probably the greatest fighter out there and when the game goes tough, so she does and in her quarter final levelled her game to the situation to take down Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets.
She knows though that if Flavia can stay calm and not feel the moment, she might need her best tennis to get through: "You know, Flavia is such an amazing, first of all, person. I think she's just a great person. To see her go through the injuries and coming up with, you know, best results she has right now, it's really amazing. She's very good player, all around player. She can do anything. She has a great touch; great variety; she can create power; create spin. I'm really looking forward to that match. It's a big challenge."
I still give Viktoria the edge, because of her bigger experience at this point of slams, but I expect it to be a close match: 7-5 3-6 6-2 for the Belorussian.

(1) Novak Djokovic vs (9) Stanislas Wawrinka

  Another fairytale taste is recognizable in this semifinal, where there won't the defending champion to challenge the world number one, nor the most famous and probably talented Swiss player. This time it's another one-handed Swiss to go out there for a place in the Semifinal: Stan Wawrinka. His run here is somehow unexpected and deserved at the same time, because after many years of a very good quality career, Wawrinka found a new confidence and a renewed forehand that simply
catapulted him on a level never seen from him before. His run to this semifinal has been impressive, because differently from what happened many times in his career, he could play great tennis with continuity, keeping a cool head even when the things were about to start slipping from his hands -like in his match against an inspired Baghdatis, when he needed 4 match points to close-.
His quarterfinal match simply gives him a prime quality business card to hand to Djokovic at the very beginning: routining in straight sets Andy Murray is a sign that he is by no casualty there and won't surrender easily.

Djokovic is playing really well anyway, despite a few black-outs cost him a few sets in the tournament, he never seemed on the verge to suffering an upset, yet the Serb will need to be incredibly solid from the baseline and allow no easy attacks, because this "new" Wawrinka is no storm to wait until it's done, he has to be defeated, because he seems unlikely to lose this match by his own mistakes, Djokovic and his team will surely know that and I expect him to go on court with a clear plan on how to win this match, but will Wawrinka allow him to translate this plan into real action? Hard to tell, not immediately at least, but I think that in the distance Djokovic will find a way to catch another final in New York:  4-6 6-3 7-6 6-3

(2) Rafael Nadal vs (8) Richard Gasquet

Not as surprising as the other two unexpected semifinalists of this US Open, but it's hard to believe anyone would have bet on French Richard Gasquet to reach his second ever slam semifinal this year on the hard courts of Flushing Meadows, yet he's won his ticket for this by edging the 4th seed, David Ferrer in a match that seemed to be a sure win after two sets of amazing quality from Gasquet and that suddenly took the shape of a disastrous turn-around, when Ferrer levelled the score to two sets all. Nevertheless, Gasquet could miraculously find the game that made him sail through the first two sets and close after many hours of tough battles for every point 6-3 in that 5th set.
On the other side of the net this time there will be another Spaniard waiting, Rafael Nadal. The world number 2, who came back from an injury that forced him to skip most of the last season and the beginning of this one, is still undefeated on Hard Court and he seems by no mean close to be, he's serving the best of his career and most of the time he doesn't even need to defend as good as in the past, because his offensive game seem hardly to flop. After schooling the "killer" of his rival Federer, Robredo, he looks eager to waste no time nor energy to reach the final, where whoever his rival will be, he is going to be the favourite for the title.
I don't see Gasquet challenging Nadal in this match, not even if Richard can come up with his best tennis, yet he has the great chance to go out with no pressure as probably no-one is putting any hope for his win and that might let him play even better than he did in his semi...all in all, a straight 3 sets win is the most likely result for Rafa some 7-6 6-2 6-3.