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.

Revenge

As I wait with bated breath for my favorite guilty pleasure show to begin tomorrow night, I can't help notice there was similar feeling to the late-round matches of the Pan Pacific Open. A couple women with some long and grueling histories took the court looking to change the recent course of history -- and the results weren't always what you'd expect.

Nadia Petrova and Sam Stosur have been playing each other for eight years on Tour, and though the Russian got off to the better start -- she won their first four meetings in straight sets -- tables had recently turned in Stosur's favor. In one of the longest and most grueling ladies' matches of last year's U.S. Open, the eventual champion edged Petrova on her fifth match point, after over three hours, two tiebreaks and thirty-eight games. Petrova returned the favor this past March in Indian Wells, but Sam's win at Roland Garros suggested the Australian brought her game better on the big stage.

Both had rough roads to the semis in Tokyo. In the second round Stosur faced off against the woman who stunned her in the Paris final a few years back and a few matches later took out long-time nemesis Maria Sharapova, a woman against whom she held a 1-10 deficit. Petrova, meanwhile, was down a set and nearly two breaks against Sara Errani in their quarterfinal before she rallied for the win. Often spotty in her play -- the world #18 has lost fourteen first rounds in the last two seasons -- and her attitude, she was the on-paper and emotional underdog against Stosur. But somehow able to raise her game when it counted, Petrova fired off nice aces, won eighty-five percent of her first serves and saved every break point she faced. With the win, she not only battled her way into her second final of the year, but avenged her recent losses and proved she could still hit with the big girls.

In the other half of the draw defending champion Aggie Radwanska and Angelique Kerber, both arguably having the year of their careers, were on their own collision course. Kerber had also shocked Radwanska in New York last year when, ranked #92 in the world, she stopped short the run of a woman who'd put together a solid summer herself, and made her way to the semis as the clear Cinderella story. Aggie had gotten two wins since then, but Kerber has been steadily improving her game, and post-Wimbledon she might have be the one with momentum on her side.

This week in Tokyo both were on point. Aggie's only real challenge came from a rejuvenated Caroline Wozniacki in the quarters, but with a straight set win there too, she seemed to have recovered from the shoulder injury that plagued her all summer. Kerber, too, had an easy run, dismissing Aggie's quickly ascending sister Urszula in under fifty minutes and getting a walkover when top seed Victoria Azarenka pulled out with dizziness. Radwanska might have been a little relieved by that development -- she'd lost her last six matches against the world #1, all this season, each by a wider margin than the last -- and perhaps that, combined with her need to prove her loss to Kerber last year was a fluke, caused her to up her game in Friday's semi. Twenty winners, four errors and an hour of play later, she had made her way back to the final, her fifth of the year.

Revenge was on the menu for the final too. Aggie had a 3-1 record over her foe, but those first two wins were hard fought three setters and they hadn't met once since 2008. Still, with her dominating win in the previous round and with far fewer hours on court this week, the Pole was better rested and playing better ball. So watching her go down 0-6 in the first set was a bit of a surprise. Petrova stumbled in the second, though, losing five games in a row before getting back on the board, but the third seed eventually closed out the set and forced a decider. Somehow, though, the Russian was able to regroup. On serve for the first six games of the third, Petrova finally earned and converted a break chance in the eighth, serving out the match after just over a hundred minutes.

The title, Petrova's second of the year, certainly allays some fears around her erratic play. It marks the first time she won two trophies in one season since 2006 and the first time she beat three top-ten players to get one. When Monday's rankings come out, she'll have climbed back to #14 in the world, but maybe more importantly, the veteran player will have proven she's not to be counted out quite yet.

After all, don't they always say success is the best revenge?

End With a Bang

The women's tennis season officially wrapped up today as the final balls were hit at the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions. And while the field contesting the title boasted some of the most impressive records on Tour, the ultimate outcome was probably not what many expected.

The top seeds in Bali were mostly occupied with some of the most successful athletes. Marion Bartoli just missed gaining full entry to the year-end championships held last week in Istanbul, but got in one round robin win as a wildcard. Sabine Lisicki came back from an injury-filled 2010 to take two titles and put up career-best showings at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. And twenty-eight year old Roberta Vinci put together her most trophy-filled year, capturing a career-best three crowns herself. But only Lisicki made it out of the first round, and a low back injury forced her to retire late in her semifinal match.

Taking advantage of the German's bad luck -- and, incidentally, Bartoli's a round earlier -- was Anabel Medina Garrigues, the surprise winner in both Estoril and Palermo. They were the first events she'd won since 2009 and helped her climb back into the top thirty. She's been a little quiet in the second half of the year, but by hanging in just a little longer than her opponents this weekend, she made her first final since July.

The bottom half of the draw had a few more surprises, but at least all the matches were fully played out. College Park champion Nadia Petrova, once ranked #3 in the world, avenged previous losses to second-seeded wildcard Shuai Peng this year, and defending titleist Ana Ivanovic reversed her recent losses to Vinci to score the win in just over an hour. The semifinal match on Saturday was similarly straightforward as the Serb got the better of her long-time rival, further improving her slight head-to-head lead over the Russian.

It was the first final Ivanovic had reached this year, and though she had dropped a few spots from her high ranking of 2011, she was nevertheless hanging with the big girls again. She'd beating Jelena Jankovic in Indian Wells and took Kim Clijsters to a third set tiebreak in Miami -- just a few weeks back in Beijing she beat both Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva to make the semis. And she brought that momentum with her to Sunday's championship match, dominating her service games and breaking Medina Garrigues four times during the match. With the win, her only title of the year, she may not make a big move up the rankings, but she will at least gain confidence to play even better when she kicks of 2012.

And with the way her competition is playing these days, that confidence can only be to her advantage.

Let the Trumpets Sound!

Man, it feels like ages since we've been here! And though some of this week's winners have been missing from the game longer than others, when each announced their returns in championship fashion, you almost expected a full parade.

They all deserved it.

Nadia Petrova hadn't won a title in almost three years. The former world #3 once made at least the quarterfinals of four straight Grand Slams, but some very spotty play pushed her out of the top thirty and sent her home after five opening matches this year. Though she was seeded second at the inaugural Citi Open in College Park, Maryland, it's been so long since I saw her make an impact at any event I largely wrote her off from the start.

But despite her unpredictability, the Russian is clearly a strong hitter -- something she reminded us of early this past week. The twenty-nine year old dropped literally a handful of points on first serve in her opening two rounds and rebounded strongly from a set down to Irina Falconi in her semi to dominate the next two, advancing to her first final since New Haven last year. Against top seeded Shahar Peer on Sunday, she fired off seven aces and broke her opponent five times. After about an hour and a half, she was the one hoisting the trophy above her head, the tenth of her career, and putting herself back on the radar this season.

Over on the west coast, plenty of talent made its way to the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles, with top seeded Mardy Fish looking to extend his hard-court win streak a bit longer. And though he slugged his way to a second straight final, he ran into a resurgent Ernests Gulbis on Sunday, and was in for quite a ride. The titleist in Delray Beach last year was just starting to make a name for himself when an injury he sustained at Roland Garros a few months later effectively took him out of contention for a year. He regained a little bit of traction early in 2011, but came to LA with five straight losses since mid-May.

Things turned a corner for him this week, though, as he came back after losing his opening set to Xavier Malisse and then pulled off a one-sided victory over 2009 U.S. Open champion in the quarters, losing just three points on serve in the first set. Against the heavy favored Fish today, he raised his game even higher and survived the nearly three-hour marathon to notch his first top-ten win since he stunned Roger Federer in Rome last year. The victory may have only put a second trophy on his mantle, but the resolve he's shown in his rebuilding phase shows he might live up to the expectations we've all had for him for a long time.

Serena Williams has no expectations to live up to -- she's exceeded them all a hundred times over. Still, since injury, illness and a terrible health scare kept her out of the game for almost a year, dropping her ranking out of the top 150, we were forced to accept the possibility of tennis without her.

But Serena is nothing if not a fighter -- she took less than fifty minutes to dispatch Anastasia Rodionova in her Stanford opener, and though she had a mild hiccup against Maria Kirilenko a round later, she proceeded to the final in the days following with little drama. And though she found herself down a break early to Marion Bartoli on Sunday, she quickly rebounded for a straight set win -- her first non-Slam victory since 2008. But judging by the look in her eyes, it certainly meant just as much to her.

It sure is nice to see all these players back on top of the winner's podium. Whether they're new to it or decorated pros, whether it's been a few months or a few years, their victories herald the return of a new season.

And the future sure looks bright.

Time-Out: French Open Reassessment

I seem to be doing a little worse in my predictions this time around, but in my defense it is always hardest to telescope results at the French Open. And we've seen some strong players fall by the wayside over the first few rounds and a few surprisingly resilient champs prove they're not quite ready to be counted out.

So with less than a week of play left, I'll take a moment to look back at what we've seen and figure out who still or now has the best chance to make the illustrious final four among the men and women.

The top men's bracket turned out to be a lot less competitive than I'd thought. Ernests Gulbis retired during his first round while Albert Montanes was only able to take a set off last year's runner-up Robin Soderling. A couple other seeds -- Gael Monfils, Feliciano Lopez, for example -- also lost before the third round, allowing Roger Federer to make the quarters without dropping a set. That set up a rematch of last year's championship game which Federer won easily. And while Soderling is certainly a stronger player now, I'm standing by my call that Roger will advance.

Same with the bottom bracket, where four-time champion Rafael Nadal is once again playing at the top of his game. He's been challenged a bit, losing serve a few times in his last few matches, but he still hasn't dropped a set. And when he got past Thomaz Bellucci in the fourth round -- the same round in which he lost last year -- he successfully overcame the mental obstacle and got back to the quarters.

His next opponent took care of the biggest threat in the quarter for Rafa -- Nicolas Almagro, who is having some of his best success this year, simply rolled through Fernando Verdasco in two of their four sets and only allowed one break of his serve. The Spaniard has made the quarters once before, but with recent wins over the likes of Tomas Berdych, Lleyton Hewitt and Robin Soderling, this is certainly his best showing based on skill and talent. He did take a set off Nadal in Madrid, but beating him three-out-of-five is a whole different story. While Rafa may face his biggest test of the tournament, I think he'll back up my earlier prediction.

My next call was negated a few days ago. In a bracket I claimed from the start was pretty stacked I'm actually surprised third-seeded Novak Djokovic made it so far. Of course, his biggest threats had been eliminated for him by Robby Ginepri and his next challenger, Jurgen Melzer. Ginepri, the unlikely last American man standing, pulled off a stunning upset of world #18 Juan Carlos Ferrero while Melzer took care of my pick, David Ferrer, in a fairly routine three sets. Though Nole has beaten the twenty-nine year old veteran in their last two meetings, the way he played in the last round makes me think he might be a little tired. And if the man who beat my choice for this quarter makes it to the semis, I'll chalk it up as a win for me!

The last quarter is much more up in the air. I'd said we'd see a lot of upsets here, and it turns out that we did. I had big hopes for Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, but he was downed in the second round; John Isner, too, lost unnervingly easily to Tomas Berdych in the third, and Andy Murray, the top seed in the bracket, was two sets and a break down in the first round. Ultimately it was Berdych and Mikhail Youzhny who made the quarters, two men who've met ten times before. And though the Russian has the slight edge in their head-to-head, I feel like Berdych has been just slightly more impressive this spring, and I'm giving him the last men's ticket to the semis.

The top women's quarter was hard to call for the exact opposite reason as that last men's section. There was just so much talent, so many titles, such high quality play that several people said the winner of this bracket would win the whole thing. And after a week of play, that certainly looks to be the case. The top seeded Serena Williams is still alive and playing some of the best tennis in the women's draw. So is my pick Sam Stosur, who handed four-time champion Justine Henin her first French Open loss since 2004. I still think the Australian has a fighting chance to make the final four for the second consecutive year, but I'm a little worried about that call -- Serena's been much more impressive than I would have expected, given her three-month layoff post Melbourne. Sam did beat her once though, last year in Stanford, and she played some phenomenal ball to come back for the win against Henin. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The bottom quarter of the women's draw was also one with a lot of strength, and I don't think I would've called for either of the two ladies left standing. Fifth seeded Elena Dementieva has had a couple of challenges on her way to the quarters, having lost a break lead to Anabel Medina Garrigues and coming from behind to beat Aleksandra Wozniak, but she hasn't faced any seeded players to advance. Meanwhile, Nadia Petrova took out my pick for the bracket, Venus Williams, in a surprising two sets after saving match points against another tournament favorite, Aravane Rezai. As much as I'd love to see Elena back in a Major semi -- and then some -- I think Nadia, who hasn't beaten her countrywoman in over three years, might be able to pull off another upset this time.

This section of the women's game is where I've been most surprised. Sure, I said the Italians would do well and predicted Francesca Schiavone would fight for the semi spot. But I have to hand it to Caroline Wozniacki, who so many people said should have sat out this French Open. But, boy has she proved us all liars. She's the third seed in Paris, so she hasn't yet played anyone who should beat her, but I thought for sure red-hot Alexandra Dulgheru would take her out, and of course Marbella champ would stick it to her. But props to Caro -- I'm so glad to see her looking healthy. That said, Schiavone hasn't dropped a set since the first round, and wins over a tough Na Li and Maria Kirilenko show just how strong she is. I would love Wozniacki to continue fighting, but I have a feeling her luck has to end sometime.

Not necessarily so for fourth seeded Jelena Jankovic who is not only playing beautfully, but has the least experienced quarterfinal opponent of the top players. Though Yaroslava Shvedova actually took out my choice for this section, Aggie Radwanska, and beat Jankovic in the second round of the U.S. Open last year, so she shouldn't be overlooked. But this is the first time the Kazakh has gotten past the third round of a Slam, while Jelena is looking for her third semi. If she keeps her cool I see no reason she shouldn't get back.

So I'm not going to bother giving myself a score for my forecasts this time -- there's still a chance I get a couple right, after all, and I'll find a way to justify my other calls! But one of my predictions has certainly come to fruition -- this year's French Open has been chock full of great tennis and some very exciting moments.

As for who I think can win the whole thing, well my money's still on Rafa. And, man would I love Stosur to bring it home for the women! But with only a few days of action left, you know it's only going to get better from here!

Where'd That Come From?

If you'd written off Ana Ivanovic from the top tiers of women's tennis recently, you probably weren't alone.

The former world #1, '08 Roland Garros champ, hadn't put together back-to-back wins since Brisbane in January. The last time she beat a top-twenty player was at Wimbledon, she's been title-less since Linz two years ago and watched her ranking drop into the high double-digits after a disappointing showing in Indian Wells. Ana has done some things to get back in form, hiring Steffi Graf's former coach among them, but it hasn't seemed to do much good.

At least not until this week.

For months we watched Ana put up a fight -- she actually had several leads over Kim Clijsters at the Billie Jean King exhibition match in March and kept things close against Aggie Radwanska at two straight tournaments -- but never quite pull off the win. So when she got past Elena Vesnina in the first round in Rome on Monday, I thought it was a fluke. A straight set win over ninth seed Victoria Azarenka yesterday, I considered encouraging.

But I never gave her a chance against Elena Dementieva in the third round. The Russian had won all four of their previous matches -- at least one on every surface -- and ceded only two sets. Sure, Elena has one of the weaker serves on the Tour but, if possible, Ana's is usually worse. But all the new coaching seems to have successfully, and suddenly, paid off. Ivanovic has dished out eleven aces already this week, outnumbering her double faults almost two-to-one.

Today she won seventy percent of her first serve attempts and held Dementieva to only a third of the points in the first set. She rolled through the first half with a 6-1 win. The ladies traded breaks in the next set and ultimately forced a tiebreak, which Ana won, 7-5. After less than a hundred minutes, she's made only her second quarterfinal in the past twelve months.

Of course, by virtue of a low rank and no seeding, the road ahead will be tough. Ivanovic faces a feisty Nadia Petrova in the next round, a woman she hasn't beaten since 2007, and a third straight match with Radwanska looms in the semis should she make it. Then again, in a tournament which has already seen so many casualties -- Sam Stosur withdrew, while Caroline Wozniacki, Dinara Safina and Svetlana Kuznetsova all lost early -- there's plenty of room for surprises.

And it may just be Ana's strategy to catch the whole tennis world by surprise.

Going the Distance

It was quite a marathon day for some of the best players in Paris. Andy Murray took two and a half hours before dismissing Potito Starace, and while Victoria Azarenka may have gotten by in straight sets, she needed nearly two hours and more than a hundred and fifty points before sending Kristina Barrois home.

But others had even tougher times earning their right to advance.

David Ferrer faced former top five player Nicolas Kiefer in his second round match. The fourteenth seed seems to have gotten his game back on track this year after what must have been a frustrating 2008, while Kiefer has struggled. Though he's ranked 37th in the world, he hasn't put together back-to-back wins all year, even losing three first round matches on clay. Ferrer should have been confident coming into play.

The two split the first four sets, with Keifer easily being the more aggressive player -- he marked seventy-one winners during the match compared to Ferrer's fifty and whizzed fifteen aces by his opponent. When David was unable to capitalize on his two set to one lead, it looked like he might make his earliest French exit since 2004.

But his serve really came through in the final set. He won more than ninety percent of his first attempts and Nicolas could barely get his raquet on the ball. After more than two hours -- including a sixty-nine-minute third set -- it took barely thirty minutes for him to get through the fifth, earning the luxury of meeting Robin Soderling in the third round.



On the women's side all eyes were on the high-profile match-up between compatriots Maria Sharapova and Nadia Petrova. Though eleventh-seed Petrova came to the match as the technical favorite, Maria had won five of their last six meetings. Sure, she's still testing the waters after a nine-month absence, but Sharapova clearly wanted to win this match to prove her committal to her comeback.

The two traded breaks to start the match before Maria rallied to take the first set 6-2. Nadia retaliated with a quick 6-1 win in the second and took the early lead in the third, running to 5-2. But then Sharapova broke back and forced extra innings by getting to six all.

As we all know there are no tiebreaks in the final set at Roland Garros -- Maria had to hold on to a break lead to score the 8-6 victory. The seventy-one minute last set was ten minutes longer than the first two combined, and Sharapova's perseverance clearly showed that she had come to Paris to compete -- and that maybe she could be a contender in these games. Even still, while she may have a few easy rounds coming up, there's a long ways to go if she hopes to win her fourth and final Major.



As impressive as Maria's win was, though, certainly the biggest match of the day came when Marat Safin, playing his last French Open, took on wild card Josselin Ouanna. Veteran Safin was obviously the favorite, as Ouanna had only played one Grand Slam event in his career, losing in the first round in Paris last year.

But the first two sets both went to tiebreaks, both lasted over an hour each -- and both went to the #134 Frenchman. Marat dug deep though and fought back to level the match. By the time the fifth set began the casual observer would assume both momentum and experience were on the side of the Russian.

The crowd, however, which included eleventh seed Gael Monfils, was clearly behind their countryman, and the cheers must have done a lot to boost Ouanna's confidence. He struck the ball well, went after amazing shots and withstood twenty-four winners and six aces in the fifth set. After seventy-nine minutes Ouanna pulled off the biggest upset of his career, dealing an often-volatile Marat what must have been a devastating blow and prompting one commentator to point out:

"If you're gonna lose, you wanna lose to somebody high-ranked. He doesn't want to lose to a wildcard Frenchman"

It was Josselin's second straight five-set victory of the tournament. And though he must be tired, he's going to have to rest up and get back into focus if he's going to get past Fernando Gonzalez in the third round -- the twelfth-seeded Chilean will definitely be a tough nut to crack.

But I'm sure Ouanna has never been more sure of himself than he is today.

So here's hoping the action over the next week and a half is as exciting as it has been these last few days! With so many strong talents in Paris anything can happen!

And I, for one, can't wait to watch it!

Talk About a Shocker

I feel terrible for ignoring the women all this week, but with the Fed Cup semifinals taking place over the weekend, there really wasn't a lot of action to speak of until Saturday.

But when they started, did they ever make up for an otherwise quiet week.

Defending champion Russia was the heavy favorite against the Italians. They claim five of the top ten rankings and have won four tournaments this year.

Unfortunately none of the titlists are playing on the country's Fed Cup team -- they could have used them. Instead of relying on Elena Dementieva or Vera Zvonareva, the Russians' hopes rested on Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova. And these stars proved to be no match for the likes of Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone.

While Kuznetsova did manage to win one of her singles matches, the Italians capitalized on their homecourt advantage and Schiavone rolled through her matches, clinching the victory and advancing her team to just their second-ever Fed Cup final.



There they'll face another upstart team. Even though the U.S. hold two of the top five ranking positions, neither Serena nor Venus Williams are playing on the team. With up-and-comer Bethanie Mattek-Sands leading the American charge against the Czech Republic, it wouldn't be a huge surprise if the U.S. went home early.

But teenager Alexa Glatch pulled together two upsets of Iveta Benesova and Petra Kvitova and Bethanie rebounded from her singles losses to seal a victory in her doubles match, sending her team to their first final since 2003.



That sets up quite an interesting final for November, and I'm not sure who the favorite will be. It'll definitely be an intense summer season as the girls gear up for the title match. It may be a challenge, but I'm rooting for my compatriots to win another title -- crazier things have happened!

Congrats to all!

Qatar-Ball

I go off on vacation for just a couple of days and look at what happens!

You might have thought the first few rounds of the year-end Sony-Ericsson WTA Championships in Doha would go off without a hitch, but the surprises started from the get-go.

The original eight women began in Qatar as planned -- the round-robin draws looked as you'd expect if you've followed women's tennis this year. In one half the two Serbians, top-seeded Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic were randomly grouped with Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva; on the other side the two Williams sisters were to take on two more Russians who've seen their own stars rise this year, Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva.




But before the semifinals even began there were some big changes. Third seed Serena Williams pulled out after splitting her first two matches with a stomach muscle injury -- the second year in a row she had to withdraw -- and Ana Ivanovic was forced out with a viral infection. Alternates Aggie Radwanska, the nineteen-year-old from Poland, and Nadia Petrova, the fifth Russian in the draw, took their spots.



Ultimately the field was whittled down to Jelena, Elena, Venus and Vera -- the latter two players advanced to the semis with impressive 3-0 round-robin records. Given their stellar performances over the last several days, it's really no surprise that Venus and Vera were the ones who made it through to the finals.

On paper the final was one that few would have called. They were the last two to qualify for the tournament and held the seventh and eighth seeds going in. Neither had seen quite the success of Jankovic, who won three straight titles after her final appearance in Flushing Meadows, or Safina, whose triumphs during the summer gave her the U.S. Open Series. Vera has never made it past the quarterfinals of a major tournament, and Venus, who hasn't qualified for the year-end tournament since 2004, has recently notched some surprising losses to Flavia Panetta (twice this year!), Na Li and a relatively unknown Petra Kvitova, among others.

But aren't these two really some of the best women's tennis had to offer this year? Vera has had a great 2008, earning titles in Prague and Guangzhou, as well as Olympic Bronze, on her way to a career-high #9 ranking. Venus, too, despite her defeats has seen some real victories, winning in Zurich and of course Wimbledon -- her third straight championship there.

Williams and Zvonareva have met six times before their Doha final, with Vera only winning the first match-up at 2003's French Open where Venus was ranked #3. The stage this time may have been too much for her, and Venus eventually took the title after three long sets. But I'm optimistic that we haven't heard the last of the spunky Russian.



As the Doha Championships come to a close, the final standings look quite a bit different than they did last year (with 2007's year-end ranking in paren):

1. Jelena Jankovic (3)


2. Serena Williams (7)


3. Dinara Safina (15)


4. Elena Dementieva (11)


5. Ana Ivanovic (4)


6. Venus Williams (8)


7. Vera Zvonareva (22)


8. Svetlana Kuznetsova (2)


9. Maria Sharapova (5)


10. Aggie Radwanska (25)

Ostensibly missing from the list are Justine Henin, of course, Anna Chakvetadze, unfortunately, Daniela Huntuchova and Marion Bartoli -- maybe next year!

Congrats on a great 2008!

And, with the women's matches decided, we're off to China where the men have already started their year-end championships.

See you in Shanghai!