Back on Top

It's been a long few months for all of us, and a long several years for many, and it's been a while since we've all felt on top of our games. But this weekend's results on clay helped a couple stars get their footing back under them -- and in a few cases, it was a long time coming.

The moment @RafaelNadal won his 12th Barcelona title! 🏆

The Spaniard ends Tsitsipas' winning streak 6-4 6-7(6) 7-5.#BCNOpenBS pic.twitter.com/DKUyI1h7le

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 25, 2021

Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart, Germany

I'll start in Germany, where a slew of top-tier talent took the courts for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. The draw was so stacked, in fact, that even players like Maria Sakkari, who ended Naomi Osaka's year-plus win streak in Miami, and Australian Open finalist Jen Brady weren't seeded. And the favorites, for the most part, really lived up to the challenge -- while Sofia Kenin dropped her opening match to Anett Kontaveit, even those upsets came at the hands of highly-ranked opponents.

Ultimately, though, it was 2019 French Open champ Ashleigh Barty and recently red-hot Aryna Sabalenka playing for the title. Sabalenka had dealt a pretty one-sided blow to perennial clay court star Simona Halep in the semis, while Barty, who'd proven me wrong emphatically by defending her title in Miami, followed up with a somewhat surprising loss to Paula Badosa in Charleston.

In Sunday's championship, a rematch of their quarterfinal in Miami, Sabalenka got off to the stronger start, taking the first set to build an early lead. But Barty came roaring back, blanking her opponent in the second and taking advantage of both her break opportunities in the decider. For good measure, she also teamed up with Brady to take the doubles crown. As the world #1, the win(s) doesn't technically put her back on top -- she's held the top spot since September 2019 uninterrupted -- but now with three trophies already this season, it certainly shows she's shaken off any cobwebs after that nearly year-long absense.

Serbia Open, Belgrade, Serbia

Things didn't go quite as smoothly for the favorite in Belgrade, though. Novak Djokovic, fresh off a shocking loss in the Monte Carlo third round, came to his homeland event -- playing on a court named for him -- looking to make up some ground. And while he got off to a better start than he did last week -- he beat his first two opponents in straightforward fashion -- he did run into a hiccup against 2021 breakout star Aslan Karatsev.

The workhorse Russian, who followed up his Cinderella run in Melbourne -- where he lost to Nole in the semis -- with his first career title at the age of 27 in Dubai, claimed the #3 seed in Serbia, but played well above that level in Saturday's rematch. The win, his third over a top-ten player this year, earned him the chance to play for a second title, not bad for someone who'd spent most of his time on the Challengers and ITF circuits before this year.

But his run would eventually stopped by second seeded Matteo Berrettini, who'd been struggling a bit since his own breakthrough season two years ago. The 25-year-old Italian had a fairly unimpressive follow-up, winning only one match in 2020 before the lockdown and getting upset by players like Tennys Sandgren, Marcos Giron and Daniel Altmaier. He seemed to be pulling things together this year, beating Dominic Thiem and Roberto Bautista Agut at ATP Cup, before injury sidelined him again.

He was back in form this week, though, scoring an early win against one-time French semifinalist Marco Cecchinato in his opener and then surviving a test from lucky loser Taro Daniel on Saturday. Against Karatsev in the title match, he held strong too, firing off nine aces and winning more than 80 percent of his first serves. In just under two and a half hours, he was the one left holding the trophy, his third on clay and his first in nearly two years.

TEB BNP Paribas Tennis Championship, Istanbul, Turkey

It'd been a much longer drought for Sorana Cirstea, the one-time French Open breakout star who'd won her first and only tour title back in 2008 when she was just 18. Since then she's struggled with form and injury -- shoulder troubles in 2014 helped push her out of the top 200 for some time -- and while she did briefly claw herself back into the top forty, she's been in low double digits for most of the last few years.

She seemed to be getting her bearings back recently though -- she upset Johanna Konta in the second round of the U.S. Open last year, and beat both Belinda Bencic and Petra Kvitova during this year's Melbourne swing. Still ranked outside the top sixty, Cirstea caught a little bit of luck in Istanbul -- the first two seeds she was slated to meet, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Petra Martic, both lost in their first rounds, and the other seeds in her section lost early too. So it wasn't until the final against top seed Elise Mertens that she would be truly tested.

It should have been a straightforward win for the world #17, who's been one of the most consistent players on tour since the lockdown eneded -- Mertens has made the quarters or better at eight events during that period, picking up one trophy and notching wins over the likes of Sofia Kenin, Elina Svitolina, Jessica Pegula and others. But Cirstea was able to get the upper hand over the heavy favorite Sunday, running away with the first set easily and holding tough in the second to win the tiebreak.

The win not only earned her that long-awaited second title, but gave her a third win over a top-twenty player this year. If she can keep it up, she might just be able to make her own way back there as well.

Barcelona Open, Barcelona Spain

And then, of course, there's the win we all knew was coming, but often feared might not.

After his own shocking loss last week in Monte Carlo, Rafael Nadal knew he had to get back to the drawing board if he was going to continue his dominance on the clay this season. Sure, he'd won the title in Barcelona eleven times before, but we know how tenuous even history like that can be, and when he came within one set of notching back-to-back losses on the surface for the first time since 2002, we knew there was a real danger.

He was tested a bunch early, after all, needing three sets to take out two-time champ Kei Nishikori as well, but seemed to be back on track in later rounds. Meanwhile, in the bottom half of the draw, Monte Carlo champ Stefanos Tsitsipas was keeping his streak going strong, dispatching three seeds in a row without losing a set and reaching his second final in as many weeks.

He appeared primed to assert himself as a real contender for the French Open too when he came out with an early break and had multiple chances to increase his lead in the first. But Nadal roared back to claim the first set and had a couple of match points in the second, before Tsitsipas managed to force a decider. The two stayed close in that one too, with the Greek managing his own match point before Rafa scored the decisive break. And after more than three and a half hours of hard hitting tennis, he was finally able to seal the deal and earn his first title this season.

What it means as we head into the last few weeks before Roland Garros has yet to be seen -- after all, Tsitsipas's performance certainly proved he could be a contender in Paris. But for Nadal to reassert himself on the clay shows he is far from ceding control to the next generation.

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Obviously these wins will have different impacts on all these players, but whether they came to those who've been trying to get their footing back or to those who wanted to remind us of how how big a force they are, they all made some big statements to the rest of the fields.

And here's hoping we see a lot more of all these guys winning in the months to come.

Stumbling Blocks

Okay, first of all, everyone calm down.

This isn't the first time Rafael Nadal has lost on clay.

Just last year, in fact, he lost in the quarterfinals in Barcelona and Monte Carlo and even ceded the top spot in Rome back to Novak Djokovic. He still did just fine though, picking up a Masters crown in Madrid and, of course, that historic ninth trophy at Roland Garros.

Still, you have to admit something feels a little different this time around.

The former world #1 has had a tough time coming back from his most recent injury -- he failed to defend titles in Doha and Rio. He's only picked up one title this year, and didn't have to beat a top-fifty player to do it.

And earlier today he suffered his second straight loss to an also-struggling Fabio Fognini -- the Italian, off his best game at #30 in the world, took out the second seed in Barcelona in straight sets, needing less than an hour to notch the upset and handing the clay court king his earliest loss on the surface in nearly three years.

Fognini is now only the second player on Tour to beat Rafa more than once on dirt in the same season. One guess as to who the other man is?

Sure, Novak Djokovic has gotten the better of Nadal a couple times now, most recently taking him out in the Monte Carlo semis. He's even had chances at the French Open, the one place where Rafa's remained relatively unbeatable. But this seems like the biggest opportunity he's had to unseat the legend in Paris. And with just a few weeks left before the next Grand Slam, he might just be chomping at the bit.

Still, Nadal always has a way of surprising us -- especially this time of year -- and if he's able to learn something from these early losses, he might just be able to regroup in time.

But one things for sure -- the race for the title in Roland Garros this year might just be the tightest we've seen in over a decade.

Topsy Turvy

Things sure got a little crazy in the back half of last week, didn't they? While there was plenty of star power on the courts of Stuttgart and Barcelona, they didn't always deliver the way they were expected to, and the ones who stuck around for championship weekend, may have surprised even themselves with their performances. In the end, though, the dust did settle, and the players who walked away with the titles proved they have what it takes to withstand the tumult.

Agnieszka Radwanska and red-hot ingenue Simona Halep took the top seeds at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, but neither could make good on their status -- Halep, who made the semis in Indian Wells, lost her opener in Germany to veteran Svetlana Kuznetsova, while Aga at least made the quarters before bowing out to Maria Sharapova. Ultimately MaSha contested the final against a plucky Ana Ivanovic, who battled through a slew of tough opponents to get to her third final of the year -- Kuznetsova, Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki, 2011 champion Julia Goerges, and former world #1 Jelena Jankovic. The Serb even took the first set off the Grand Slammer, a woman she hadn't beaten in almost seven years, but eventually the tide turned. In a set with twelve breaks of serve, Sharapova forced a decider and rolled through the third to retain the title for a third straight year, successfully snapping a year-long trophy-less streak. And after the string of relatively disappointing results she's had so far this year -- at #9 now, she's at her lowest ranking in over three years -- it might just give her the push she needs to deliver even bigger returns the rest of the season.

Things got even more interesting on the clay courts of Barcelona, which have been ruled by one Rafael Nadal since 2005. But the eight-time champion, riding a forty-two match win streak here, was foiled in a rematch of last year's final against Nicolas Almagro, this time losing in the quarters. Nico, however, couldn't sustain his momentum and was ousted a round later by Colombian Santiago Giraldo, ranked just #65 in the world. On the bottom half of the draw, fourth seeded Kei Nishikori -- who beat David Ferrer and Roger Federer in Miami -- fought off challenges from recent upstart Roberto Bautista Agut and previously on-fire Marin Cilic to reach his second final in 2014. The man from Japan had experience on his side Sunday too -- against a man who'd lost the only other final he'd played before, he won three-quarters of his first-serve points and three-quarters of his second-serve returns. After just over an hour, Nishikori had claimed the title, the biggest of his career, and secured his spot as #12 in the world, just ahead of long-time, top-ten staple Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and veterans Tommy Haas and Mikhail Youzhny.

Whether this weekend's champions can parlay recent success to bigger trophies in the weeks to come, of course, remains to be seen. But that they were able to keep they're cool when so much around them was getting turned upside down sure bodes well for their prospects. And with some real favorites proving there are some holes in their armors, these winners could really take the opportunity and pounce

Comfort in the Familiar

We know this is the time of year when, really, anything can happen -- upsets on the clay are almost so commonplace now that we barely bat an eye. That's why it's almost reassuring that, after this weekend's action on the dirt, we're left with two long-time champions showing us all who's boss.

Defending Stuttgart champion Maria Sharapova has been having quite the year -- already a winner in Indian Wells, she's solidly back in the #2 spot and has been upping her game against the sport's best. She was rewarded with no easy road this week in Germany, where just one seed was ranked outside the top ten -- she lost a set to Lucie Safarova to start and was forced to a third by Ana Ivanovic a round later. She was further tested by a recently-rebounding Angelique Kerber in the semis, who seems to have found her game again after a weak start to the year.

Meanwhile 2011 French Open champ Na Li was making her own statement on the bottom half of the draw. An ankle injury had kept her largely out of play since reaching the final of the Australian Open, but clearly comfortable on the clay, she was able to step right back into action, albeit against some lower-profile players. She routed qualifier Mirjana Lucic and ended an impressive streak by American veteran Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Her only real test early was against fifth seed Petra Kvitova, but she scored that win and reached the final without losing a set.

But Li was no match for Sharapova in Sunday's final. Though the two have a pretty close history -- the Chinese star last denied Maria a chance for a rematch of last year's Melbourne final -- the Russian was able to get the upper hand this time. She got three-quarters of her first serves in, and only dropped eight of those points. She only allowed Li two break chances, and converted four of nine herself. On a surface which the six-foot-two, lithe champion has famously said makes her feel like a cow on ice, Sharapova needed just over ninety minutes to take the title, reminding us just how much her game has evolved.


Rafael Nadal has more than proven himself on this surface, of course, but the seven-time champion in Barcelona was coming off a week which could have been a sea change in this sport. But after a one-sided loss at the tournament which he has reigned for the better part of a decade, the Spaniard hit the ground running in his homeland -- he progressed easily through early rounds and even dismissed his biggest potential test, big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic, in straight sets in the semis. The win earned Rafa entrée into his sixth final of his injury-shortened year -- with three titles already, he's yet to lose before the championship round in 2013.

Fellow clay-court specialist Nicolas Almagro -- a disappointing 0-10 against his compatriot -- hoped to capitalize on what's seemed to be the slightly tarnished armor of Nadal, though. He'd been solid during his Spain campaign, besting a resurgent Juan Monaco in the quarters and benefiting from the hole left by top-seeded David Ferrer's ouster in the top half of the draw. It was, somewhat surprisingly, Nico's first trip to the Barcelona final -- in nine previous attempts, he'd only made the semis twice -- but possibly his best chance to score that elusive first win against his long-time rival.

But eventually experience won out -- Nadal may not have had the strongest service performance of his career -- he was broken twice -- but he pounced on his country's third best player the way he had on current Spanish #1 David Ferrer just a few weeks back. Winning seventy percent of his first serve points and more than half of Almagro's second attempts, he closed out the match in a much different hour-plus of action than what he'd endured a week before. With his eighth crown at Banc Sabadell Open, Rafa might have erased some pain from the Monte Carlo loss, but more importantly, he might have put himself back on course to close out the season.

We can't ignore the fact that both this week's repeat champions also went on to win at Roland Garros last year. That's not to say, of course, they've locked in victory just yet, but their performances last week could have set the stage for bigger wins to come.

And as they restore some semblance of normalcy during this often tumultuous time, we can all breathe a sigh of relief that the play's only getting better from here.

Show 'Em Who's Boss

It's been a tricky road for the some of the sport's biggest stars so far this year. While headlines were grabbed by new #1s, comeback stories, and some rising powerhouses, a few other champions have been laying low, at least until recently. But this week, despite some big challenges, they really found a way to shine.

Clay court king Rafael Nadal had been relatively quiet over the last eleven months or so. After ceding the top ranking to Novak Djokovic in July, he'd made a handful of finals but couldn't seem to break through. He returned to the spotlight last Sunday, though, with a record-setting win in Monte Carlo and got right back to work in Barcelona, another event he hasn't lost at since 2003.

It wasn't a walk in the park however. Despite sailing through early rounds without dropping a set, he found himself down an early break in the final against compatriot David Ferrer on Sunday. Though he was able to even the score, he struggled on serve in the opener and faced several set points late in the first. But the six-time champion at the Open Banc Sabadell wouldn't lie down -- he fought off every one of them and eventually dominated the tiebreak. It wasn't over, though -- he gave up a break lead in the second set and even allowed his opponent a chance to serve for a third. But Nadal rattled off three straight games to close out the match, winning his seventh title in Barcelona and keeping himself unbeaten in April for eight years.

Maria Sharapova was going through a similar drought. Though she'd climbed back to her highest ranking since 2008, she wasn't putting up her best performances when a trophy was on the line -- she'd played in three finals already this year and hadn't won a set. But she was out to turn the tables this week in Stuttgart.

She looked solid from the start, coming back from a set down in her quarterfinal and saving match point against Sam Stosur, the woman who'd ended a nine-match losing streak to the Russian last year in Istanbul. She then re-avenged her Wimbledon loss to Petra Kvitova in the semis, earning the right to face world #1 Victoria Azarenka in their third final of 2012. Like at the Australian Open Sharapova came out firing, earning the early break, but unlike the Australian Open, she never gave it up. Vika was only allowed one break chance during the match, and though she was able to keep things close in the first half of the second set, some glorious serving and precise net play gave the three-time Major winner her first title of the year.

It seems experience was the ultimate champion on Sunday -- despite some rough-ish starts to the year, both of this week's champions were able to harness the power and strengths that brought them glory in the first place. Whether they can keep it up the rest of the season remains to be seen, but a few more wins like this and the course of the year could be very different from what it seems right now.

Where No One Is Safe

There's been something strange going on in the women's game this year -- for the first time in what seems like forever, we're seeing some consistency on court. Victoria Azarenka may no longer be undefeated for the year, but her only loss came at the hands of Marion Bartoli, herself a powerful player. Aggie Radwanska's two titles come in addition to three quarterfinal and two semi runs. Maria Sharapova has made three finals this year, two in a row in Indian Wells and Miami. And even the lesser-known names -- Angelique Kerber, Mona Barthel, Sara Errani -- are lasting more than a few rounds at a time.

So it's a little strange that this week we're seeing one seed after another fall by the wayside.

The bloodshed started early in Barcelona. Top-seeded Francesca Schiavone lost in straight sets to world #83 Olga Govortsova. Defending champion Roberta Vinci came back from a set down to win her opener, but fell a day later to Simona Halep. And earlier today Flavia Pennetta, who'd made finals in Auckland and Acapulco already this year, dropped her second round to qualifier Yuliya Beygelzimer.

A couple seeds have survived, of course -- at least so far -- but they might still be in danger. Dominika Cibulkova was just able to force a third set against Klara Zakopalova. The Slovak won the pair's only meeting last year, on her way to the title in Moscow, but after a heart-breaking loss to Victoria Azarenka in Miami, she might be fighting more demons than her opponent. And second seeded Julia Goerges may have to keep an eye on her next opponent -- eighteen-year-old Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco beat both Pennetta and Vera Zvonareva at the Sony Ericsson Open. She hasn't yet cracked the top one-hundred, but if she keeps it up, she might be on the way there soon. And Carla Suarez Navarro, still on the mend from an injury that halted her 2010 season, might be able to regain her form and take advantage of others' losses -- already having ousted Petra Cetkovska, she could keep up her momentum a few more rounds.

The results in Copenhagen haven't been quite so dire for the favorites -- Angelique Kerber survived a scare earlier today and two-time champion Caroline Wozniacki, fresh off arguably her biggest career win in Miami, is currently up a set against Pauline Parmentier. But the retirement of Ksenia Pervak in the first round and losses by Sofia Arvidsson and Monica Niculescu have nevertheless opened the door some.

Alize Cornet, once so close to breaking into the top ten, is now just knocking on the door of double digits. She delivered a double bagel against wildcard Malou Ejdesgaard in her opener, though, and survived a two-plus hour contest against Patricia Mayr-Achleitner on Wednesday. She'll have to raise her game farther in the next round, where she'll likely meet Wozniacki, but it's still nice to see her winning again. And Bojana Jovanovski, who has yet to follow up on her success from early last year, may have a bit of a reprieve against her next opponent -- she beat Petra Martic at a Challenger event two years ago. She'll still be the underdog, ranked nearly fifty spots below the Croat, but if she can find her game, she could present a challenge to even more seeds.

It'll be a tough task for some of these players to continue their runs, but it might be a tougher task for the favorites to hold on to their edge. And whomever is able to take advantage of the holes in the draws could reap more than a few benefits.

And this week might just be the time to do it.

Back At It

It's been a while since either of the ladies who claimed trophies on clay this weekend were standing at the top of the champion's ring. But with one reclaiming a title that was all but stolen from her last year and another marking a pretty impressive record, both victories were more important than they might originally seem.

The draw at the Barcelona Ladies Open was opened at the get-go, with only two seeded players making it out of the second round. With little in her way then, 2009 champion and surprise 2010 runner-up Roberta Vinci was able to take advantage. Though she's lost every match she's played since Dubai in February, she found a way to turn around her luck and beat former top-thirty players like Virginie Razzano and Yaroslava Shvedova on her way to the finals.

There she met an impressive Lucie Hradecka who'd battled her way past more than a couple favorites to make her first final since 2009. But she must have been a little tired out by the time Saturday rolled around. After losing the first set to the unseeded Czech, Vinci won five games in a row to take the second and only dropped two more before finally claiming the title. It was her fourth on Tour, but the only one she's won twice, making the Italian a bit of a force in Spain.

A little further west in Portugal we saw a similar story unfold in the bracket, but in Estoril not a single seed got to the semis. More impressive, the two finalists -- veteran Anabel Medina Garrigues and journeywoman Kristina Barrois -- didn't drop a set on their road to Saturday's match. Anabel, an uber-decorated doubles champion, saw her ranking plummet last year and was close to falling into triple digits early in 2011 thanks to a ten-match losing streak. But with wins over eighth seeded Greta Arn and world #34 Klara Zakopalova in Portugal she finally seemed to be gaining her footing.

The German Barrois had been similarly unstoppable on the way to her second Tour final, ending the efforts of top seed Alisa Kleybanova in the quarters and Elena Vesnina the round before. But again the more experienced Spaniard was able to triumph when it counted -- winning nearly three of every four first serve points and breaking her opponent six times, Medina Garrigues claimed her tenth career title in just over an hour. More importantly it was her ninth on clay, tying her with Venus Williams for the most of any active player -- not bad for a player who'd been so under the radar for the better part of the last few years.

Of course these champions will only face tougher tests down the road as they make their way to Roland Garros, but they've made pretty loud statements this week, and a couple more matches in their favor and they certainly could cause some upsets in the next few weeks.

After all, this is the time of year when nothing is certain.

No Case for the Defense

The first couple days of action this week hasn't been all that encouraging for the players trying to defend titles on the European clay courts. Neither Sam Querrey nor Francesca Schiavone showed up to even try reclaiming crowns in Belgrade or Barcelona, respectively, and Albert Montanes traded up slightly from Estoril to play with some bigger guns in Serbia.

The few year-ago champions left who tried to extend their streaks didn't fare very well either -- Mikhail Youzhny, the top seed in Munich struggled in his first round before falling in a heart-breaker to Phillipp Petzschner in the third and Australian Open standout Anastasija Sevastova squandered her opening match lead in Portugal, making an early exit at the only event she's ever won.

So with last year's titleholders all out of the picture, those remaining might have a clearer shot at capturing the trophy, and a couple have a pretty good shot at causing a stir.

The absence of Querrey might not have too much meaning at the Serbian Open, where 2009 champion Novak Djokovic is the top seed. This is his tournament in so many ways -- he actually owns it -- and though he sat out the first two weeks of clay court season with knee troubles, he hit the dirt running with a straight set win over qualifier Adrian Unger in his second round. Now loss-less in his twenty-five matches this year, he's looking good to win an astounding fifth trophy in 2011, and that should remind everyone he's not just a hardcourt force.

The draw for the ladies in Barcelona has opened up quite a bit more -- with early defeats of Marion Bartoli and Alexandra Dulgheru, only two seeds made it to the quarterfinals. Lucie Hradecka, who fell out of the top hundred after a wrist injury last year, has been slowly clawing her way up the rankings. Her straight set victories over Iveta Benesova and Gisela Dulko prove she can hit, and her win earlier on Thursday earned her her first Tour semifinal since July. And Pattaya City finalist Sara Errani is one of those spunky players who's just screaming to break out -- she dropped just a handful of games in her first two rounds and on Thursday stopped Alberta Brianti's run dead in its tracks.

Over in Munich we saw a similar seed-dopping, but a few others still have managed to squeak through. Marin Cilic, whose efforts to climb into the top ten have come in fits and starts, reached the quarters with a win over Horacio Zeballos. And Nikolay Davydenko was able to continue his comeback with a three-set win over Julian Reister on Thursday. But perhaps the player with the best potential this week is Potito Starace -- after a disappointing runner-up finish in Casablanca, he might be ready to make a statement here.

Portugal has been the site of a few surprises as well, with the three top seeds all losing on Thursday. Jarmila Gajdosova (formerly Groth) proved she was too strong to let personal problems get in the way of her tennis, but ultimately surrendered a big lead in the quarters, and Klara Zakopalova, who'd battled a few challenges all week also fell. I've been most impressed by of Kristina Barrois, a quarterfinalist last week in Stuttgart. She took out Elena Vesnina earlier and today bested top seed Alisa Kleybanova to reach the final four -- with her next match against Johanna Larsson, I wouldn't be surprised to see her go even further.

The men in Estoril have had a little more luck so far -- Robin Soderling looked solid in his opener and even recently spotty Fernando Verdasco was impressive early. But Milos Raonic, trying to prove he's not just a hard-court player, seems to be getting his footing on clay, and Thomaz Bellucci, who often delivers his best performances on the surface, has fought his way to the quarters and should be able to keep it up at least a little while longer.

These guys and gals have a great opportunity to make a mark on their draws this week. They better take the chance now, as the road to a title will only get more difficult as we head to the next few Masters events of the season. But the way they're playing, they just might be able to cause some even bigger upsets down the road.

Back From the Dead

If you were thinking of giving up on the couple of players who've struggled to gain their footing post-injury, you might have to put your short bets on hold, at least a little while longer. Some have been back weeks or months, while others are setting foot on court for the first time in ages. But all are pulling off victories on clay that should get fans to take notice again.

Former world #1 Dinara Safina has been staging her comeback in fits and starts for a while now, and though she made a nice run to the fourth round in Indian Wells, it's been a long time since we've seen signs of the woman who made three Grand Slam finals in 2008 and '09. She's unseeded this week in Fes, but the Russian has managed to climb back into the top hundred over the course of the year. And given her drubbing of veteran Jill Craybas in the first round Tuesday -- she only dropped nine points on her own serve -- she might be climbing even further in the weeks to come. Next up she'll face Alize Cornet, another player who's fallen from elite status and one Safina has beaten in both their previous meetings. She should have plenty of confidence going into the match, and a win may set the stage for a much more successful clay court season.

Over in Stuttgart another player is trying to re-establish herself on Tour. Sabine Lisicki, who had risen into the top twenty-five less than two years ago, missed a big chunk of 2010 after an ankle injury she sustained at the BNP Paribas Open. She returned to the circuit in Cincinnati with minimal success, but finally started putting together back-to-back wins earlier this season, qualifying for Auckland and making the third round in Miami. This week in Germany, fresh off an impressive Fed Cup win over Christina McHale in the World Group Playoffs, she opened with a stunning win over feisty Dominika Cibulkova and followed it up with a straight set defeat of Australian Open finalist Na Li. It will get more difficult, of course, as a quarterfinal date with countrywoman Julia Goerges looms large on Thursday, but Lisicki is playing impressively again, and could make a legitimate run for this title.

On the men's side we've seen top-three player Nikolay Davydenko suffer all sorts of pain since a wrist injury reversed all the success he had in 2009. He made the finals in Doha this year, but still wasn't quite playing at his best and hasn't advanced past the second round of any tournament. He seems to have gotten back on track in Barcelona though -- after upsetting rising star Alexandr Dolgopolov in the first round, he survived a second set surge by Edouard Roger-Vasselin earlier today and has now made the quarterfinals, only his second of the year. He'll have a tough task against Nicolas Almagro, a man who could break the top ten with a win on Thursday, but the two familiar faces haven't played each other in almost four years, so Davydenko could take him by surprise.

Possibly even more impressive this week has been the run of uber-veteran Juan Carlos Ferrero, a one-time Roland Garros champion and former #1 who's launched so many comebacks that I've lost track. The Spaniard had been beyond lethal in the first half of last year, winning three clay court titles and clawing his way back into the top twenty before problems with his wrist and knee took him out of contention in August. Playing his first match since the U.S. Open in Barcelona this week, he quickly dismissed Xavier Malisse and then took care of Mischa Zverev on Wednesday. With a third round meeting against qualifier Simone Vagnozzi, you have to like JCF's chances to go further, and that may reiterate just how much he can still threaten through the spring.

Of course we can't expect all comebacks to proceed without a hitch, but the efforts all these guys and gals are putting forth sure gives me hope that they've caught their second -- and sometimes third -- wind. With a couple more victories under their belts they could not only put up a fight at their respective tournaments this week, but they might be able to change the course of the clay court season in their favor.

After all if we've learned anything it's that nothing is impossible this time of year.

The Luckiest Winner

There were a lot of lucky losers in Barcelona this week as five-time defending champion Rafael Nadal elected to sit out the Masters 500 event and rest after his Monte Carlo win. Teimuraz Gabashvili took his place, but he wasn't the only one -- Ivan Navarro, Nicolas Lapentti and Mikhail Kukushkin all received entries after various seeds and invitees were forced to withdraw.

But, as it happened, only Navarro was able to make (a little) good on the opportunity -- he won his opener against Pablo Cuevas before falling to Eduardo Schwank in the second round. Instead, it seems, the real beneficiary of all these withdrawals might be one man who's been flying a bit under the radar this year, but now finds the road to a Barcelona title much more open.

Roland Garros finalist Robin Soderling was the second seed in Spain -- he's famously beaten Rafa on clay before, so it's no surprise he knows how to win. And Fernando Verdasco, the runner-up in Monte Carlo last week, has a couple of titles on the dirt himself -- it shouldn't be a surprise if he thrives.

No, I feel the one with the biggest opportunity this week might be Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the third seed. He's pulled together a pretty successful year, making the semis Down Under and the quarters in Miami, but he hasn't really made the big splash that has won him five career titles. The Frenchman has never played in Barcelona before, and has only entered eight clay-court tourneys in his career -- two of those being his home-town Slam. He has a middling 13-8 record on the surface, no trophies, and actually struggled through two rounds in Monaco last week.



But in Spain, Tsonga seems to be getting his footing a little bit. He had a quick win over Jan Hajek and scored his third win of the year over Nicolas Almagro earlier today. After dropping the first set to the world #34, he sailed through the second and got a late break in the third to take the match. I admit, I was expecting a different result.

He further benefits from another upset that occured a bit later on Thursday -- Thiemo de Bakker shocked Juan Carlos Ferrero in their third round match after two and a half hours and a couple of tiebreaks. Tsonga won his previous match-up with the Dutchman in last year's Davis Cup playoffs, so he's gotta like his chances of getting to the semis.

If he does, and especially if he advances evenfurther, he'll certainly be on everyone's radar come Paris. And what better way to set the stage for your return home.

An Open Window

It's not often that a defending champion doesn't get the courtesy of a seed when she attempts to reclaim a title. But that's what happened this week to Roberta Vinci, titlist in Barcelona last year. Now ranked fifty-fourth in the world, she faced a tough draw with a first round match against second seed Aravane Rezai.

But Vinci wasn't flustered. She'd beaten Rezai in Palermo four years ago and she did it again this week in a surprisingly uneventful two sets. She even faced a test in her second round match against wildcard Laura Pous Tio, a woman who beat her earlier this year in Acapulco. After dropping the first set to the Spaniard, she bagelled her in the second and closed it out with nearly an eighty percent first serve percentage in the closing set.



She's by no means out of the woods though. Top seeded Francesca Schiavone, last year's runner-up, powered through her first two rounds and could force a rematch of the 2009 title game. Fancesca, who hadn't won back-to-back matches since Melbourne until this week, may not be the biggest threat.

Carla Suarez Navarro continues to improve on her year, having defeated Flavia Pennetta on her way to the Marbella finals last week and stunning Svetlana Kuznetsova in Indian Wells. The twenty-year-old has won all three of her previous matches with Vinci, so Roberta can't be looking forward to that potential meeting.

Still, plenty of seeds are falling in Spain. Previously red-hot Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, feisty Maria Kirilenko and on-and-off Sorana Cirstea all exited in the second round earlier today, leaving a crack which Roberta is more than capable of floating through. If she's able to win her third career title, it may not move her too far up the rankings -- but it should garner her a little respect.

And with just a month left before the French Open, there really is nothing better.

Rafa Rolls (Or Slides...)

It was a longer match than you might expect -- more than an hour and forty-five minutes -- but Rafael Nadal continued his dominance on clay in Barcelona with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over David Ferrer, bringing home his fifth consecutive title there.



It was his second championship in as many weeks and his twenty-fourth on the surface. With such strong performances, there's no reason to believe Nadal won't win his fifth trophy at Roland Garros next month. There are only a few tournaments left, and it certainly wouldn't surprise me if he swept the season.

So on the heels of his victory, I'm feeling inspired to get out on the clay myself! It's the first beautiful weekend of spring in New York, and I've got a date on the Central Park courts!

Hope to see you out there!

Don't Call It a Comeback...

...David Ferrer's been here for years.

In fact less than twelve months ago he was ranked fourth in the world. He'd hit a career high after reaching the semifinals at the 2007 U.S. Open and the finals at the Tennis Masters Cup. He followed it up with championship trophies in Valencia and the Netherlands.

But then a series of early round exits in Paris, Madrid and Beijing -- among others -- brought him down to #12 by year-end. A few months ago I would have argued he was on the way out -- I was livid that he held onto a top-ten ranking even as he faltered through the summer, losing matches to players barely ranked in the double-digits.

This year, however, we're beginning to see signs of the old Ferrer. Though he hasn't yet triumphed over a higher-ranked player, he has made it to the semis in Johannesburg and the finals in Dubai. So far in Barcelona, he's come within two matches of the championship -- he ended Potito Starace's best tournament run in two years and took out fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo, who's already taken home trophies in Brazil and Argentina this year.



In the semis David will face Chile's Fernando Gonzalez, who impressively took out the second-seeded Fernando Verdasco after more than two hours of play. With just forty ranking points separating them, it's sure to be a tough match -- Gonzalez holds a 4-2 margin over Ferrer, but you know both are going to be fighting on Saturday.

Whatever the results, it's going to make for a great battle on the clay!

Hot Potito

Half of the top eight seeds at this week's Barcelona Open were playing in their home country. Another two hail from South America -- clearly the Latin contingent fully intended to show their stuff on clay.

And two rounds into the tournament, it seems that they're well on their way.

World #1 Rafael Nadal sailed past Frederico Gil, winning his twenty-second straight match on the surface while Fernando Verdasco, followed through with his career-high #7 ranking with a win over veteran qualifier Nicolas Lapentti. David Ferrer and Tommy Robredo also advanced.

But perhaps the most impressive performance so far has come from a little-known Italian. Twenty-eight year old Potito Starace has been pro for over eight years and has played in an astonishing twelve tournaments already this year. Unfortunately for him, he's only gotten past the first round in four of them. He's been ranked in the top thirty as recently as 2007 when he won two teeny tiny titles in San Marino and Napoli.

In Barcelona though, he's poised for his best showing in years. He beat a plucky Ernests Gublis, the man who ousted Novak Djokovic in the first round at Brisbane, and fourteenth seed Robin Soderling, who won a challenger event in Sunrise, Florida last month.



In the next round Starace faces a resurgent Ferrer, who's made it to the finals in Dubai after a frustrating 2008. He hasn't beaten David in their two previous meetings, but Ferrer has been upset by lower-ranked players than Potito -- Kei Nishikori was ranked #126 when he beat the Spaniard at last year's U.S. Open.

It's going to be tough for Starace to take home the crown in Barcelona -- especially when he faces a bracket with such seasoned clay-courters. But a trip to the semis is not out of the question.

And with the world of tennis so clearly dominated by the likes of Nadal and Andy Murray this year, we will certainly appreciate some new faces in the mix.

Good luck!

Breaking the Seal

Now I've never won a professional tennis championship, but I like to believe that your first title is probably the hardest to bring home. Once you gather some momentum and establish yourself as someone to be reckoned with, numbers two, three and four should be much easier to come by.

Case(s) in point: Victoria Azarenka, who claimed her first WTA title in January and hasn't looked back, winning in both Memphis and Miami after that. And Caroline Wozniacki who broke through in Stockholm last year and has since won three more championships. And of course, on a grander scale, Rafael Nadal hasn't ceded the French Open crown since 2005, when he rose his first Grand Slam trophy over his head as the #5 seed.

Sabine Lisicki made her case to join that elite bunch this week in Charleston at the Family Circle Cup.

The nineteen-year-old German is currently ranked #63 in the world, just a hair off her career high of #49. She's had some success in the past, defeating Dinara Safina at last year's Australian Open and winning an ITF title in Jersey in 2007, where she notched victories over the six, three and one seeds.

But her career-high had to have come in her third round match in South Carolina this week, where she stunned world #5 Venus Williams in straight sets. More impressively, she didn't let the wind out of her sails and followed up with wins over Elena Vesnina and Marion Bartoli for her space in the finals. There she met Wozniacki, who was also running on the momentum from her win in Ponte Vedra Beach last week and a second consecutive win over top seed Elena Dementieva in the semis here.

But luck, strength and just a little persistance were with Sabine on Sunday. She let five match points slip by her in the second set, but eventually regrouped to bring home her first Tour title, 6-2, 6-4.



I'm hoping this is just the start of many good things to come for Sabine.

Across the ocean another group of women were battling in Barcelona where top seeds Alize Cornet, Flavia Pennetta and Kaia Kanepi all lost early. On the top half of the draw, Maria Kirilenko advanced to the finals only dropping sets to Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Carla Suárrez Navarro. On the bottom Roberta Vinci followed up her upset of Pennetta with a win over former #11 Francesca Schiavone to make her second WTA final match.

Kirilenko, ranked thirty-seventh in the world to Vinci's #61 and holding the sixth seed in Spain, should have been the favorite. But Roberta steamrolled through the first set, 6-0, and outserved her opponent to take the second 6-4. In just over an hour she'd won her second title, putting her in a good position as the French Open draws closer.



Incidentally Nadal took home his third title of the year, and his fifth straight championship in Monte Carlo, by defeating Novak Djokovic in the finals. But what did you expect? We're on clay -- it would be a surprise if he didn't hold the trophy at the end of the week.

Congrats to all!