Surviving and Thriving

We've gotten to that point of the Australian Open where all the players remaining in the draws should be seeded, but it wouldn't be a Grand Slam if everything went according to plan. And while the extreme weather conditions certainly took a toll on the players over the last few days, a couple stalwarts not only battled through the heat, but may have done better in it -- and it wasn't always who you'd expect.

Yes, most of the favorites are still alive -- Serena Williams has dropped just six games so far while Victoria Azarenka rebounded from a tougher-than-expected first round and advanced with less drama over a tricky Barbora Zahlavova Strycova yesterday. On the men's side Rafael Nadal got a relative pass in the first round when Bernard Tomic retired a set in, but still didn't seem phased in the second round. And three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic has only been broken once in his first two matches. But some have been a little battered -- Maria Sharapova barely survived a scorcher on Day Four, holding and losing leads against a relentless Karin Knapp before finally eking out win, 10-8 in the third. And the biggest (literally) casualty on the men's side, Juan Martin Del Potro, battled until one in the morning, finally bowing out to rising Spanish star Roberto Bautista Agut after nearly four hours on court.

Other players may have flown a bit more under the radar during the last few days, but their passage into the third round creates a big opportunity for them.

It wasn't long ago that Sam Querrey was a top twenty player, so we know he's got the talent to play at this level. Still even at his best he hasn't made it out of the fourth round of a Major. The American won his last title over a year ago in Los Angeles and lost to two lower ranked players at warm-up events this year. He opened his eighth straight Melbourne campaign with a relatively quick win over Santiago Giraldo, though, and took just over ninety minutes to defeat twenty-third seed Ernests Gulbis on Wednesday. His next opponent, an on-the-rise Fabio Fognini, hasn't spent a lot of time on court either, benefiting from Alex Bogomolov's retirement in their opener, but he's also never made many strides at this event -- this is only the second year he's won a match Down Under. If Querrey's on his game, he might just be able to make a case to climb back into the elite.

The top half of the men's draw has seen a few more players sneak through. Former top-thirty player Martin Klizan and world #119 Stephane Robert set up the only all-Lucky Loser third round in either field -- maybe the only one ever. Both lost their final qualifying matches (incidentally, both to players who were ousted from the main draw in the last round), but they gained entry when Nicolas Almagro and Phillipp Kohlschreiber respectively pulled out of the event. This is the best showing France's Robert has put up at a Major, but he hasn't faced a seeded player yet. Klizan, on the other had, was up two sets on John Isner before the top-ranked American retired from their opener -- a win over his next opponent would match his 2012 U.S. Open performance. Of course, whoever wins would come under more pressure down the road -- three-time finalist Andy Murray will likely be waiting for them next -- but there's no reason to expect they won't put up a big fight when they get there.

The ladies also have put together a non-seeded third round, though perhaps these contenders are a little more accustomed to the big stage. Jie Zheng was a semifinalist in Melbourne four years ago and has wins over the likes of Caroline Wozniacki, Sam Stosur and Maria Sharapova under her belt. She's been hampered by injury on and off, though, so has fallen a bit down the rankings, but she pounced back this week, duly taking out twelfth seed Roberta Vinci and following up with a three-setter against up-and-comer Madison Keys. And veteran Casey Dellacqua, who's well off her career high ranking of #38 in the world, has really made a name for herself in the doubles circuit. She and partner Ashleigh Barty played in three Grand Slam finals last year, including this one, and she's even claimed a mixed French Open crown. She opened strong against one-time #2 Vera Zvonareva, admittedly in a rebuilding phase, but then backed it up by serving Kirsten Flipkens a bagel set a round later. The Aussie will have the crowd behind her against Zheng, but with either little-known Lauren Davis or untested Eugenie Bouchard as a fourth round opponent, the winner could have a great shot at making the second week.

But perhaps it's a seeded player that's put up the most unexpected fight so far in Melbourne. Dominika Cibulkova has been known for her roller coaster-like play, more than once accumulating huge leads and then squandering them. But she is a solid player -- she stunned Victoria Azarenka at Roland Garros a few years back and Caroline Wozniacki at Wimbledon the previous season, both times when her opponent was ranked #1 in the world -- still with six first round losses in the back half of 2013, her star had fallen a bit. But diminutive Domi came out swinging this week -- she never trailed one-time Slam champion Francesca Schiavone in her opener and in the blazing Thursday heat finished of Stefanie Voegele in the time it took Maria Sharapova and Karin Knapp to get halfway through their third set. Up next she has Carla Suarez Navarro, one of my dark horses of this tournament, but the Spaniard spent a lot more time on court in her second round and might not be up for the challenge. And while temperatures are expected to drop off considerably in time for their face-off, Cibulkova's relatively easier early matches might give her the edge.

The players left standing at the Australian Open have certainly already been put through the wringer, either by their opponents or by the heat. But all these guys have stayed strong, no matter how brutal the conditions were out there, and if they can continue to keep themselves together, any one of them could cause a big stir as we get closer and closer to that title.

The Junior Leagues?

We may have crowned the season's WTA champion on Sunday, but the action isn't over yet -- quite an interesting field made it to the Tournament of Champions in Sofia this week. The year-end event for players who've won at least one International-level title during the year includes the woman who began 2012 at #1 in the world and a full three who were part of the doubles field in Istanbul. There are a few, of course, who have a bit less experience in this second-tier championship, but something tells me the quality of play we'll see could be top notch.

The "Serdika" Group

Caroline Wozniacki took a while to find her groove this year -- after winning six titles in both 2010 and 2011, including some big ones in Montreal and Indian Wells, she went nearly nine months without a single trophy this year. Long chastised for holding the top ranking spot without winning a Grand Slam, she finally ceded it after the Australian Open and has since fallen out of the top ten. But she did her best to find redemption in the fall -- Wozniacki won two titles to end the season, scoring an important victory of Istanbul alternate Sam Stosur in the Moscow final, and was able to take the top seed in Sofia. If she makes good on the position, she could end the year the way she wishes it began.

Roberta Vinci may have made a bigger dent on the doubles circuit in 2012 -- she and Istanbul breakout Sara Errani played in three of the four Major finals, winning two of those trophies along with six others on the year, and ended the year as the #1 team in the world. But she did manage a singles crown in Dallas and made the quarters in New York, her best ever showing at a Slam. Now just a shade off her career-high ranking, the Italian is hitting her singles stride too, and after demolishing veteran Daniela Hantuchova in her first round robin, she certainly seems to have the leg up in Sofia. Vinci might have lost her only match at the year-ends, but if she does well here, she could easily make this year about more than her doubles career.

Su-Wei Hsieh could be the least recognizable name on the Sofia roster -- the twenty-six year old was ranked well into the triple-digits when 2012 began and ran to the semis as a qualifier in Pattaya City and to the trophy as a qualifier in Kuala Lumpur. She didn't make much of an impact at the Majors, but with a second WTA title in Guangzhou, she is the only one in the field with two International victories this year. Now ranked #27 in the world, she'll kick off her ToC campaign later today against Wozniacki, a woman who bagelled her in the last set of their latest meeting in Beijing. But Hsieh has little to lose this week, so I wouldn't be surprised to see her come out swinging from the start.

Daniela Hantuchova has had a tougher year than many of the players here this week. The one-time world #5 didn't play at the French Open because of a foot injury and has trouble winning many matches at all since. She did, however, manage a title in Pattaya City, beating two of the players in this field in the process, and a run to the semis in Luxembourg with wins over tricky players like Arantxa Rus and recently dominating Kirsten Flipkens. Her loss to Vinci today was not encouraging, but the beauty of round robins is that no one match decides your fate -- if Hantuchova can right the ship she might turn her year around when it counts.

The "Sredets" Group

The second group of round robins is led by a pair of ladies coming off a big win in Istanbul -- Nadia Petrova and Maria Kirilenko were the last to qualify for the year-end championships, but with wins over the top two seeds they came away with the top prize, their fourth together. Petrova also made a late-season surge in singles, not dropping a set for the title in 's-Hertogenbosch and beating three top-ten players for another in Tokyo. She's been a little spotty at the Slams, hasn't gotten past the fourth round in over two years, but she did score some big wins this year, including two over recent rival Sam Stosur, and climb back into the top fifteen again. At thirty years of age, she's easily the oldest woman in the draw, but we've seen this year just how little age matters in this sport.

Petrova's doubles partner may not have won a singles title in 2012, but she nevertheless has put together one of the most successful years of her career. Very sneakily she made the quarters in Indian Wells and Wimbledon, the semis at the Olympics and put up some big fights in Cincinnati and New York. She climbed to a career-high ranking of #12 in the world in August and notched wins over resurgent Yaroslava Shvedova, feisty teammate Petrova, and 2011 Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova. It's been more than four years since her last trophy though, and two losses in finals this year, it's hard to see her hoisting the trophy at the end of the week. But if she's on her game there's no reason we can't see the Russian surprise us all.

Jie Zheng has been a little more quiet in recent months. After winning the title in Auckland -- thanks, in part, to a retirement by Flavia Pennetta -- she hasn't made much of a dent at any tournament, save a semifinal run in Birmingham. A back injury hampered her play in the back half of the year, and she only won more than two matches at two events after that. She kicks off her Sofia campaign against wildcard Tsvetana Pironkova, a woman she's beaten in their last two meetings, so at least her early outlook is bright. And with some huge results in her past, we know she's capable of outhitting some favorites -- if she's in fighting form, this could be a stage for her to do just that.

The final wildcard in Sofia is homegrown Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova, the only woman from this country to make a semi at a Grand Slam. The world #44 hasn't had the best year -- having made the at least the quarters the last two years at Wimbledon, she fell this time in the second round, but not without putting up a fight against Maria Sharapova and taking the 2004 champion to three sets. She also beat Nadia Petrova in Brussels, Dominika Cibulkova at the Olympics and Aggie Radwanska in Eastbourne. She may be the bottom seed in the field, but Pironkova has shown she can hit with the big girls and her native crowds might give her the confidence she needs to succeed this week.

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These may not be the ladies who've made the loudest statements on Tour this year, but that doesn't at all reflect how much they've accomplished during the season -- some big doubles victories, a couple breakthrough titles, and more than a few wins over top-tier players, these athletes certainly have what it takes to be crowned a champion. And with their performances this week in Sofia, they each have a chance to get some long-deserved recognition.

Holes in the Draws

With four days, two rounds and almost two hundred matches under our belts we've reached that point in a Grand Slam draw where, had everything gone according to plan, the longest shots for the title have been eliminated and we're left just with seeds playing seeds. But things seldom, if ever, work out that way -- and this year's action at the Australian Open has already cleared the path to opportunity. And not just for the favorites who've survived.

Somewhat surprisingly, the top section of the women's draw remains relatively unharmed -- Caroline Wozniacki battled through wrist injury to make the third round, and former #1 Jelena Jankovic has so far been solid. The only non-seed to battle through their immediate section of the bracket is American Chrstina McHale, currently ranked #42 in the world. She's certainly the underdog, but could very well take advantage of JJ's spottiness in their next match, and after her win over Wozniacki in Cincinnati last year, she should have the confidence to beat her again if that meeting comes to pass.

Galina Voskoboeva may have found herself a similar opportunity. The veteran Kazakh has never gotten past the third round of a Major, but after trouncing Hobart runner-up Yanina Wickmayer in her opener and edging out former #31 Tsvetana Pironkova a match later, she might be in the position to do that now. On Friday she'll meet Aggie Radwanska, a tough and improving player, but one that is certainly capable of being upset. And with either recently-quiet Julia Goerges or world #80 Romina Oprandi waiting for her in the round of sixteen, the door might be open for the twenty-seven year old to pull through.

Of course, upsets and breakthroughs have thinned out the draws for some ladies. Marion Bartoli is the only seed remaining in her section of the draw, and with U.S. Open champ Sam Stosur summarily ousted in the first round, she's the heavy on-paper favorite. But one-time world #15 Jie Zheng is playing well above her ranking and, coming off a title in Auckland, has shown she's capable of beating the top players. The twenty-eight year old beat Bartoli on her way to the semifinals here in 2010, so she has experience on her side. And with the potential of a fourth round meeting against Sorana Cirstea or Sara Errani, I wouldn't be surprised to see her go farther.

It's not all bad news for the favorites, though. My pick to win the title, Victoria Azarenka, may have the most thinned out draw of the bunch. Her fiercest competition could come in the third round from Mona Barthel, a twenty-one year old who had never been ranked in the top fifty before her surprise run to the Hobart title last week. But with Iveta Benesova and Nina Bratchikova taking out the other two seeds in her week-one path, you have to like her chances to keep her streak going at least a few rounds longer.

Things have opened up on the men's side too. Kei Nishikori, seeded for the first-time at a Major, should have met Gilles Simon in his third round, but after the twelfth seed lost a late-night battle on Thursday, he'll instead get a less formidable opponent in Julien Benneteau. The veteran Frenchman shouldn't be ignored, of course -- he beat four higher-ranked opponents on his way to the Sydney final last week -- but for a man still getting his bearings as part of the sport's elite, Nishikori might be breathing a little lighter.

After the loss of Mardy Fish on Wednesday took the last seed out of his section of the bracket, Juan Martin Del Potro also could benefit from a slightly depleted draw. The 2009 U.S. Open champion, who fell in the second round here last year, next faces world #79 Yen-Hsun Lu, who's never made it past the third round here. His biggest threat will likely come a round later from veteran Phillipp Kohlschreiber, but if the Argentine is playing at even close to his best, he has more than a good shot of getting back to the quarters.

But, like with the women, a couple underdogs are seeing less treacherous paths too. Bernard Tomic cleared much of the way himself, stunning Fernando Verdasco in a four-hour first round, then ousting former top-twenty player Sam Querrey two days later. He'll meet last year's Cinderella quarterfinalist Alexandr Dolgopolov on Friday, a man he's never beaten before. But the Australian will have the crowd on his side during this match and, playing better ball than he has in the past, might just cause the upset. His reward would most likely be a fourth-round match against Roger Federer, so Tomic shouldn't get his hopes up too high, but if he keeps improving his play, it won't be long before he's getting wins over these top guys.

Of course everything's far from certain -- even for the players who should win their next few rounds in Melbourne. But with opportunities opening up all over the place this year, there may never have been a better chance to make a real statement.

The Asian Swings

The courts at the U.S. Open aren't event cold yet and already the ladies have made their way to the other side of the globe for the first leg of the fall season. And some players are already wielding their racquets in an attempt to end their years on a high note.

There haven't been too many huge upsets at the Guangzhou International Women's Open, where three of the four remaining athletes are seeded at the event. Though defending champion Jarmila Gajdasova was ousted earlier today, top seed Maria Kirilenko -- a real fighter, as she proved in New York -- has been relentless in her progress. The world #28 hasn't won a title since 2008, but has so far not dropped a set in China, and with a semifinal meeting against Chanelle Scheepers, who proved herself a journeywoman against Francesca Schiavone in her U.S. Open third round, she has a good chance to at least get back to a final -- the South African has played deciders in all three of her matches so far, and eventually the effort will catch up with her.

But the real story in Guangzhou has been homegrown Jie Zheng, once ranked fifteenth in the world. A semifinalist in Melbourne last year, she notched wins over Maria Sharapova and now-retired Elena Dementieva in 2010, but a wrist injury has largely kept her out of contention for the last twelve months. Now hanging around the low eighties, she's way out of seeding territory, but you know she's capable of doing damage well beyond her rank. So far, she's taken out Alberta Brianti and Petra Martic. And if she truly is back in form, I wouldn't be surprised to see her handle Magdalena Rybarikova in the semis and make a real push for this title.

The stakes were slightly higher in Seoul, where four of the top twenty-five women in the world entered the draw, but the upsets were also more striking. Last year's French Open champion Schiavone dropped her opener to Vera Dushevina and talented, if not slightly spotty, Marion Bartoli fell one round later, giving American doubles specialist Vania King her first ever top-ten victory. That opens the door for remaining seeds like Dominika Cibulkova who, at twenty-two -- in rank and in age -- still hasn't claimed that maiden title. She's shown signs of brilliance, of course, beating world #1 Caroline Wozniacki twice this year and scoring victories over Sharapova and Vera Zvonareva to boot, but she has yet to really shine. If she can make it past the quarters, though, this could be her turn.

Unfortunately for Cibu, she's in the same half of the draw as a girl who's having her own breakthrough this year. Kazakhstan's Galina Voskoboeva has been pro for nearly a decade, but hadn't spent a lot of time in the top hundred -- consistent performances on the ITF Tour and upsets of several top-thirty players, though, has pushed her to a new level. She isn't seeded in Seoul, but pulled off wins over Ekaterina Makarova and veteran Iveta Benesova already on her way to the quarters. She next faces Dushevina, not an easy task, as she's lost four of their five previous meetings, but certainly less intimidating than the Slam titleist she should have met.

There aren't many more weeks left in the 2011 season, and as the ladies wrap up there is a chance for some to prove they belong with the big girls and others to make a name for themselves. There's no telling yet who'll ultimately end up on top, but those who swing the hardest now may be the ones who hold the advantage.

Seize the Reins

Well things sure got interesting at the Rogers Cup the last couple days.

As many of the sport's top players make their first appearances on court since Wimbledon -- or longer -- it's understandable that they'd be a bit out of practice. But I'm not sure anyone expected the routs we've seen, and some of those left standing may have been given the chance of their lifetime.

They just need to capitalize.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Kim Cljisters has been most out of practice, struggling with various injuries since the spring. She was leading Jie Zheng by a set in Toronto when a stomach injury forced her to retire -- not the best result so close to New York. This is the one case, though, where the victor may not reap too many spoils. Even though the #2 seed is out, Zheng doesn't face any easier a road -- next up for her is Serena Williams who's already won a title since returning to the game a month ago and looks to be in as good a form as when she left. What could have been a firework-filled section of the draw has suddenly turned into a much tamer quarter.

Things are a bit different in the other half of the bracket. World #1 Caroline Wozniacki, who won this title in Montreal last year, was dealt a devastating blow after her first round bye. Roberta Vinci, sitting at a career-high ranking at twenty-eight years of age, remained the cooler player during the nearly two-hour match and scored her first win over a top-five player in eighteen tries. Already the holder of three titles this year, she's showing she's more than able to hit with the big girls, and in a third round date with spotty Ana Ivanovic sparks could fly. It won't be completely smooth sailing, but the Italian could very well take advantage.

The men in Montreal have told a similar story. Two-time defending champion Andy Murray had put together a surprisingly strong spring after some disappointing results to start the year. But he was no match for world #35 Kevin Anderson on Tuesday. The South African took advantage of weak serving and a bounty of errors to break the Brit four times in the match, notching the win in under seventy minutes. His next opponent, Stanislas Wawrinka, has won their only meeting over a year ago, but if he can play at the level we know he's capable of, we could be in for another upset.

Probably most surprising, though, was the result that came out of last night's late match between Rafael Nadal and Ivan Dodig. The recent #1 has made at least the quarters at the Rogers Cup the last four times he's played and has won his opening match at every tournament since 2008. He ran away with the first set but squandered a lead in the second, allowing Dodig to pull even. And after more than three hours it was the Croat holding his arms up in victory. The twenty-six year old could stand to take real advantage of this win too. After a strong start to the year, he's lost his last three first rounds, but momentum is now clearly on his side. If he's recovered sufficiently he should be able to get past Janko Tipsarevic -- himself an upset winner over Fernando Verdasco last night -- on Thursday and really take Toronto by storm.

As always, some of these players are better primed to seize the opportunity they've been dealt. Whether they can take advantage remains to be seen, but the way things have been going in the Great White North, they may never have had a better chance.

Two Chinese, a Wildcard and a Defending Champion Walk Onto a Court...

Could the Australian Open women's semifinal be any more random?

Even with all the great tennis we've been seeing over the last several days -- from the most unlikely of sources -- I don't think anyone would have guessed that these are the four women who'd make it to the Final Four: world #1 Serena Williams, 2004 champ Justine Henin and compatriots Jie Zheng and Ni Li will battle tonight for the chance to play for the first Major title of the year. And they've all had somewhat bumpy roads to this point.

Serena is easily the favorite of the group. Last year's
titleholder has made it her mission to win even more Slams and has manifested that mindset since stepping on the court in Melbourne -- until Wednesday she hadn't dropped serve once this entire tournament. In the quarters though she was a bit imperfect against Victoria Azarenka, a woman who had been serving strongly herself this fortnight, and given her performance against the Belarusian, I began to wonder if Serena would advance. But down a set and two breaks in the second, Williams did what she does best, acing herself out of trouble and making the semis here for the fifth time.

The other half of the bracket is headlined by an unseeded Justine Henin trying to make her eleventh Grand Slam final. Despite being a finalist in Brisbane, she's only a wildcard Down Under and has fought through one obstacle after another to emerge from the toughest quarter of the draw. For the past five rounds Justine has displayed the same elegance and power she had in the first part of her career. As one of the tinier players on Tour, it's not surprising that she's struggled a bit on serve and committed more errors than she has winners, but Henin has shown little indication that she can't still compete at the top level, even after a nearly two-year absence.

She will meet another diminutive player in Jie Zheng, ranked thirty-fifth in the world. An accomplished doubles player, this by far is her best singles performance in Melbourne and, really, any tournament for some time -- her last title came in 2006. Jie hasn't met a top-ten player yet this tournament, but she's had sound performances against the second-tier elite, including Marion Bartoli and Alona Bondarenko. Henin will be her toughest competition so far, but she's had the most rest of any woman taking the court on Thursday. I won't hold my breath, or go so far as to call for an upset, but stranger things have happened.

Serena's opponent on Thursday will be Na Li, vanquisher of the elder Williams. She rounds out the first ever Slam semi with two Chinese contenders and next week becomes the first ever woman from that country to break into the top ten. Her last round was a sloppy victory, one with seventeen breaks and second-serve percentages below forty, but a victory nonetheless. After being down a set and 4-5 on her foe's serve, the #17 player in the world found what she needed to stage her best Major performance. Of course to go any further, she'll have to defeat her third favored and most intimidating rival yet. And with less than twenty-four hours since she ended her last match, it's an uphill battle to even dream about an all-China final.

It's a motley crew for several reasons: culturally diverse, rankings all over the map, various levels of experience and title tallies, and probably one of the shortest semis, by height, in history. But it could also set the stage for a pretty good end to the championship -- and will surely result in a story that will endure the year!

Who Has to Hold?

I hate serving. Always have. When I was kid breaking my opponent was not the issue, and I could almost guarantee that the player who held his serve first was the one who would win. Even now I still find myself playing First-Ball-In or Three-Fault tennis. No one wants to win a match on double faults.

I feel bad about it -- it's frustrating that the one shot in a match over which I really had total control could go just about anywhere it wanted to. But I wrote it off to the fact that 1) I'm pretty short, 2) no one ever taught me proper ball tosses and racquet swings, and 3) I'm only an amateur.

Turns out those three factors don't matter -- the pros, even the tall ones who've trained for years with the best coaches, can't really hold their serve either.

Now that's not totally fair, of course. Rafael Nadal and Ivo Karlovic only broke each other once per set last night, with Rafa happily coming out on top of that battle. And during the marathon, historic Wimbledon final last year, Andy Roddick wasn't broken until the very last, seventy-seventh game -- there were only three breaks total during that four-hour-plus match, and Andy had two of them!

Is it just on the women's side then? Maybe. But even players like Karlovic, who fired off 121 aces in four rounds, can't advance well into the draws of Majors. And typically strong women like Serena Williams can also struggle. In her third round match when she was serving at 5-0 against Carla Suarez Navarro, about to close out an easy first set, she hit nine errors, endured thirteen deuces and faced six break points in a twenty-three minute game that more than doubled the length of that entire set. Serena advanced of course, despite the little hiccup, but others found themselves going through a little more trouble in order to advance.

It shouldn't be surprising that 5'5" Justine Henin has trouble holding her serve -- it's really her beautiful backhands and crushing groundstrokes that have won her seven Grand Slam titles. In her second round match against Elena Dementieva she had two chances to serve for the match and ceded both of them -- more than half of the games actually went to the server. In her fourth round Sunday against fellow Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, Justine was broken four times and even lost the second set 1-6. Wickmayer was not much better, allowing Henin to convert on sixty percent of her break opportunities, including two of two in the deciding set. But mediocre serving aside, the more experienced champion was able to pull through when it mattered, making the quarters in Melbourne for the sixth time in her career.

Earlier in the day world #35 and former top-twenty player Jie Zheng was similarly unimpressive in her service games against Hobart champ Alona Bondarenko. The seeded Ukrainian actually won slightly more on her first attempts -- fifty-one percent to Zheng's even fifty. But the woman who ousted Jelena Jankovic in the previous round was even worse on second tries, winning only a third of those serves versus 56% for the Chinese #2. The ladies traded breaks through the first set -- three a piece -- before Zheng, a shrimpy 5'4", finally won in the tiebreak. The server lost another five games in the second, but Jie was able to hold when it counted, winning the last game of the match for a chance to play in her first ever quarterfinal here.

They weren't the only ones. Five-foot-ten Nadia Petrova lost her serve three times in her defeat of reigning French Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva traded breaks with Gisela Dulko five times in the second set of their third round match. Apparently, it would seem, losing your serve doesn't guarantee your opponent a win, a hard lesson Alexandra Dulgheru learned when she broke a six-foot-tall Wickmayer nine times in the first round and still lost.

Of course, this isn't an argument that players shouldn't work on improving their first serve percentage, or that having the ability to bomb ace after ace won't serve you in the long run. But it is amusing that the usual race-to-break mentality of tennis can be so easily turned on its head. And it highlights just how important an all-around game is on Tour. Maybe when we start to see some real, legitimate big servers or even -- God forbid! -- serve-and-volleyers, especially on the women's side, we could start to see a whole new style of tennis, and a new crop of champions emerge.

Until then, I'll continue to harbor delusions of being able to compete with the pros with my dinky little serve! Hey, if they can do it, so can I!