Out of Time

We're less than four days from the start of the French Open! Yay!

Well, "yay" for some people -- fans like me who've been yearning for something to watch other than guilty pleasure TV (Seriously, Ramona? Seriously?), and athletes like Rafael Nadal or Justine Henin just itching to get that next Major title.

For others, it may cause a bit of a knot in the stomach. While the lead-up clay court season has allowed some new names to shine, a few usual stalwarts haven't really gotten the match play they might have wanted before traveling to Paris. That could be why we saw some big names in action at some small tournaments this week -- and not all with good results.

Melanie Oudin, for example, so close to her all-time high ranking, has now lost in three straight first rounds, including a fifty-two minute drubbing by Magdalena Rybarikova in Warsaw this week. Though a quarterfinal appearance in Charleston and some strong Fed Cup results prove she can win on clay, I'm sure she'd rather have come to France with a few more wins under her belt.

Elena Dementieva has fared only slightly better. Often thought of the best player without a Major trophy, I reluctantly admit she's a bit off my radar this time around. A victim of bad luck earlier in the year, she'd been pitted against Henin in two second rounds and then got caught in the whirlwind run of Ana Ivanovic in Rome.

But a loss to Alexandra Dulgheru in Madrid and a three-set, three-hour smackdown by world #100 Tsvetana Pironkova in Warsaw today doesn't bode well for her chances next week. There is some hope -- she was, remember, a finalist at Roland Garros in 2004. But Dementieva tends to do best at Slams when she's riding a wave of positive momentum -- not so much the case this time.

Robin Soderling hasn't had as much bad luck as that. Though he got bumped in his opening round in Madrid, he did make the semis in Miami and the finals in Barcelona. Last year's finalist at Roland Garros is boasting his highest career ranking and had improved to a 54-44 record on the dirt.

But he hit a wall earlier today against Olivier Rochus, a man he hadn't lost to since 2005. After dropping the first set handily, the Belgian raised his service game and held onto a break-lead in the third to score the win. That's Robin's fourth loss to a player ranked out of the top-fifty this year. Then again, the Swede didn't do much better in the weeks before last year's Open, so maybe he has a little less to worry about.

Then there's Maria Sharapova who'll try to round out her own career Grand Slam this month -- but I have a feeling that goal is a bit of a long shot. She did win a title in Memphis early off but has only taken one match in two tournaments since then. Sharapova opened her campaign in Strasbourg with a come-from-behind win over Regina Kulikova and followed it up with a solid victory over a qualifier on Wednesday, so hope isn't entirely lost. I'd like to see her make good on her top seeding, though, just to get a that extra bit of practice in before Paris.

Of course, past results aren't always an indication of future performance. So hopefully these guys will be able to pull it together for the big show. Or maybe they're just readying themselves for a sneak attack! Otherwise, we may be in for a few more -- and earlier! -- surprises than normal.

The Weight of the World on Her (Right) Shoulder

The Warsaw Open wouldn't traditionally be one most tennis fans watch closely. In fact it wasn't even played last year -- Justine Henin last won in 2007 over Alona Bondarenko.

But this year the thirty-two main draw tournament is sure to attract some added interest -- it marks the return of Maria Sharapova to the singles circuit after a nagging shoulder injury sidelined her for nine-months.



Her reemergence couldn't have come sooner. She'd attempted to get back in the doubles game in March, but lost the opening round. As of the latest rankings, she'd fallen out of the top 100 for the first time since 2003, when she was sixteen years old.

And in her 2009 singles debut, she showed signs of the brilliance that has won her three Grand Slam titles -- along with indications that she may not have yet fully recovered.

In the first round she faced Italian Tathiana Garbin, who won her only tour title in Budapest at the turn of the century. Though Garbin had climbed to a career-high ranking of #22 a few years back, she's now hanging around the mid-sixties, ironically where Maria was just last week. In her prime Sharapova should have handled the Italian easily.

The match began just as it should have -- Maria's first serve was on fire, landing in 83% of the time during the opening set. She broke her opponent four times and ran off with an early 6-1 lead. But things unravelled a bit in the second, and it looked like her comeback might have been premature -- the former #1 double-faulted five times and, despite being down a break to start, Garbin evened things up to force a close tiebreak and a deciding set.

By the time she was down 0-2 in the final I feared Maria's injury had been further aggravated and that maybe she should have taken a few more weeks to heal. But then, behind 1-3, she rattled off five straight games to win her first singles match since August.



In a tough draw, she'll likely face Caroline Wozniacki -- who climbed to a career-high #10 ranking this week -- in the second round. It's a hard match to call, but I'm hoping a little chip (of ice) on her shoulder tonight will get her in shape to face and advance past the teenager. Not that I have anything against Caroline, but the tennis world is aching for Maria to get on the court in top form, and bring some much-need spark back to the women's game!

And I think now is just the time for her to do it!

Something's Been Missing

I've said it before, but it's been a rough ride in women's tennis over the last several months.

When we began the year Jelena Jankovic held the top spot, but when she lost at the Australian Open she quickly ceded the position to Serena Williams. Then through a strange series of point-tallying, Dinara Safina climbed her way to becoming the nineteenth woman to be #1.



At first the statistics seemed wrong -- Serena had won the last two Grand Slams, even beating Dinara in the finals of Melbourne. But then she was demolished in the championship round in Miami, lost her next two matches and pulled out of Madrid. Dinara on the other hand followed up second place in Stuttgart with a trophy in Rome.

In the meantime Elena Dementieva grabbed a career high third place for five weeks, but as of Monday gave it up to Venus Williams, who's at her highest post since 2003 despite losing her first match in Spain today. Defending French Open champ Ana Ivanovic has been title-free since October and a couple of teenage newbies keep popping in and around the top ten.

What we need is a dominating force back in the game -- someone who can get to the top and stay there for more than a few weeks at a time. And it may take a while, but we could get the beginnings of an answer next week.

After a disappointing doubles showing in Indian Wells in March, Maria Sharapova announced on her website yesterday that she'd be back on the singles circuit in Warsaw -- her first solo match since August. The triple-Slam winner left the tour with a shoulder injury last summer and has seen her ranking fall from #3 to #65 in the nine months since. But I'm sure she -- as well as a slew of fans -- is happy to be back, and eager to slice her way to the top.



Her post made no mention of whether she was still planning to play at Roland Garros the week after -- I'm sure she's planning to take it one step at a time. But a solid performance could make the draw in Paris all the more interesting.

And I can't wait to watch!