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?

Looking for the Turnaround

As is often the case at some smaller tournaments during the tennis season, this week's events give some players who've been a bit out of the spotlight recently a chance to remind us of their relevance. Some have been grinding their way back onto the scene for weeks and months, while others have had such a stroke of bad luck they've become more known for their losing streaks. But with their performances this week, they all have a chance to put their years back on track.

Alejandro Falla is one of those players who can put up a good fight here and there, threaten the big stars from time to time, but eventually doesn't make much of a mark. In 2010, remember, he had a two-set lead on Roger Federer in his Wimbledon first round, but eventually fell in a bagel in the fifth. This year he beat John Isner at the All England Club, but was winless in Tour main draws after that. He came to Kuala Lumpur unseeded, having dropped eleven ranking spots in the past week, but after his opening round win over Rajeev Ram, he might have brought some confidence back to his game. He'll next meet Alexandr Dolgopolov, seeded fourth but admittedly spotty all year, so the Colombian has a chance to pull off an upset, and possibly put him on a more consistent upswing.

Albert Ramos has arguably made a bigger statement at various moments this year. He has yet to win a title, but made the Casablanca final back in April. With wins this year over Feliciano Lopez, Richard Gasquet and Fernando Verdasco, you know he can hold his own, but he's barely won a handful of matches since Rome. He had an easy first round in Malaysia, needing just an hour to dispatch qualifier Julian Knowle, and will certainly have a tougher match against third seeded Kei Nishikori next. But if Ramos can raise his game and harness the strength we saw earlier in the season, he might just get the upset.

A little more is at stake for former world #3 Nikolay Davydenko. Possibly nearing the end of his career, the veteran Russian has struggled to come back from injury that ended a streak of huge wins over Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal nearly three years ago. But he's not giving up quite yet -- he's made three semis this year, most recently last week in Metz and opened his Kuala Lumpur campaign with a straight-set win over lucky loser Sanam Singh. He escaped a meeting with a seed in his next round -- Denis Istomin took care of Pablo Andujar for him -- but if he's going to make a serious push to get back into the sport's elite, he'll have to take advantage of the the road that's opened up for him here.

Over in Bangkok some higher profile names are trying to get back in the conversation. Fernando Verdasco has made big strides already this year -- having fallen to #27 in the world on the heels of a weak 2011, he made his way to the final in Acapulco, put together a solid clay court season, and even stunned 2010 Madrid champ Rafael Nadal on the weird blue clay in Spain. He hasn't beaten anyone in the top twenty since then, though, and has slid a few spots back down the rankings. He was tested by Tatsuma Ito in his first round this week, dropping the opening set before rebounding for the win in three. A couple more wins in Asia could turn the dial squarely back in his favor.

Even more in need of momentum, though, is his next opponent. Donald Young was on a clear upswing this time last year, making the fourth round at the U.S. Open and following it up with a run to the final here. The 2012 season doesn't look much like that -- having started the year at #40 in the world, on the verge of becoming the next great American in the sport, Young then famously put together a string of seventeen straight losses from February through August. Though he did finally end the streak in Winston-Salem, he's still 3-22 on the year and now holds a ranking of #124 -- with 150 of his 460 total ranking points on the line in Thailand. He did manage a win over Yen-Hsun Lu in his first round Tuesday, but he's going to need to step up his game further -- another early loss won't make it easy for him to regroup.

Gael Monfils has proven to be a bit more resilient. The Frenchman had climbed to a career high #7 ranking a little over a year ago, but when a knee injury forced him to miss much of the spring and summer on Tour, he dropped out of the top forty. But he made a successful, dreadlock-free return in Metz last week, defeating Phillipp Kohlschreiber in the quarters and taking Andreas Seppi to the limit in the semis. He needed all three sets today too to take out Kevin Anderson, and with the win earned a spot against sixth-seeded Victor Troicki in the second round. It would be an on-paper upset, but Monfils seems to be playing above his ranking and could just "surprise" us with another deep run here.

There's a lot on the line for all these guys -- a good showing during the Asian swing could give them a lot of momentum going into next year, but a bad run could be devastating, for some more than others. Hopefully these athletes can make a statement this week, but if not, they'll need to regroup quickly if they want to prove they've got more fire left in them.

Turning It Up

With so many of the sport's biggest stars dominating the headlines the last few months, it's been difficult for those in the second and third tiers to make a statement. But this week's winners brought their best game when they needed it most, one returning to the winner's stand for the first time in a while, the other getting there for the first time.

Over in Metz defending champ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was trying to put his year back on track. After ending last season with some of the best wins of his career, the Frenchman has been a little quiet in 2012. Though he fought through injury to make the semis at Wimbledon, he lost his opener in Toronto and in the second round of the U.S. Open. It took a while to get back into the swing of things in his home country -- he got down breaks to Jesse Levine in the quarters and was forced to a decider against Nikolay Davydenko on Saturday.

But against tough-to-crack Andreas Seppi in the final, Tsonga didn't seem to think twice. He was practically untouchable on serve, dropping just one point on his first attempts and allowing his opponent -- the man who took a 2-0 set lead over Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros, you might remember -- just six return points in total. Tsonga didn't allow the Italian one break opportunity, and in under an hour lay claim to his second title of the year. And with just a few months in the season, it might not have come at a better time.

To the northeast of the action in France, a slightly less-decorated crew were vying for the title in St. Petersburg. Of the eight seeds only two had ever won titles before, but that didn't mean the field wasn't fraught with lots of talent looking to make a leap. Third seeded Martin Klizan, winner of four Challengers events this year and, appropriately, the man who took Tsonga out in New York, rode to the fourth round at the Open and climbed to a career-best #45 ranking by the time he came to Russia. He spent almost four hours on court Saturday with top-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, but eventually took out the former world #8 in the break-filled grind.

The bottom half of the draw was a little more interesting. Fabio Fognini, who'd made a legion of fans himself in New York, taking a set from Andy Roddick during his farewell tour and emerging as one of the more likable characters of the first week, was the only seed to survive the first round. After losing his first set to Tobias Kamke he rebounded strongly, winning the next eight to make his second final of the year. But there was not much he could do against Klizan in the final -- the Slovak rebounded well from his semifinal marathon, won more than two-thirds of his points on serve and broke his opponent five times. This match just took him an hour, but he closed out the win and sealed in the first Tour trophy of his career. It might not be enough to make him a household just yet, but if he's able to continue his run into next season, it might just give him the confidence he needs to really break through.

Neither of this week's winners got to the top without a few struggles. They lost serves, games, matches -- but when it really mattered they were able to turn up the heat on their opponents and really shine. If they keep finding a way to do that, I wouldn't be surprised to see either start making waves, even among the most elite in this sport.

The Comebacks and the Coming Out

This is an interesting period of the tennis season -- with the Majors over and done for the year, casual fans might not pay attention to what's happening on court. But there are still several weeks worth of tournaments left, and there's a lot on the line for players trying to make a statement this year. Some may be trying to reverse several months of less-than-spectacular results, while others are looking to capitalize on recent momentum. And though they've already scored some impressive wins, they might need to raise their game even more at the end of this week.

Caroline Wozniacki came to Seoul with her lowest ranking in over three years and on the heels of two first-round Slam exits. She held onto the top seed this week, but with no titles on the year -- she'd won at least three annually since 2008 -- it seemed the former world #1 was on the downswing. But she came out firing this week, dropping just three games to giant-killer Arantxa Rus in her opener and taking just an hour to oust Caroline Garcia, she who took a set and two breaks from Maria Sharapova at last year's French Open. She'll next meet Klara Zakopalova who hadn't won a match since July, and against whom the Dane holds a solid 2-0 record. If she can hold her ground, it might put her on track to win her first trophy of the year.

But Kaia Kanepi, trying for her own comeback -- again, might stand in her way. After a stellar start to the year, injury sidelined her after Roland Garros. She arguably has had an easier road than Wozniacki in her first tournament back, but with two straight-set wins she seems to have eased her way back into fighting shape. Next up will be Kiki Bertens, another up-and-comer who won her first career title in Fes this past April. The Dutchwoman has pulled off a few upsets this year -- Nadia Petrova in Montreal and Christina McHale at the U.S. Open -- but if Kanepi plays to her full ability, she should be a real contender for this title.

Over in Guangzhou we've seen a couple other players fight their way back into relevance. Sorana Cirstea, once a standout in Paris, has been climbing up the rankings for most of the year, beating Marion Bartoli in Madrid, Na Li at Wimbledon and Sabine Lisicki in New York. She's had a couple of struggles this week, dropping serve four times in her first round and needing a tiebreak to close out her second. But today against Alize Cornet, whose advance in China had been helped largely by retirements of her opponents, the Romanian was on point. Against the former #11 she converted four break opportunities and won a solid seventy percent of her first serves. The win might have given her the confidence she needs to pull out a few more wins.

Unfortunately for the third seed, though, she next faces British teenager Laura Robson. The Olympic Silver medalist has been having a coming out party this summer, beating two former Major champions at the U.S. Open and rising to a career-high ranking of #74 in the world. So far in Guangzhou she's taken out second seeded Jie Zheng and survived a break-fest with Shuai Peng earlier today. Now in her second Tour semifinal -- she got this far in Palermo back in July -- she might actually be expected to get the win. And with her compatriots finally proving they've got the stuff to win, all eyes will be on Robson to deliver too.

It's not over yet, of course, with a few rounds left before winners are crowned, but these ladies' performances so far certainly look encouraging. As former stars look to regain their place at the top of the sport and rising ones climb their way to new heights, it sure looks like we'll get even more depth in the women's game. And while the biggest crowns of the year have already been awarded, it sure looks like they might be in a good position to get next season off on the right foot.

A Chance for Revenge

This past U.S. Open was a little different from other Majors we've seen the last several years. With Rafael Nadal out of the picture and Roger Federer sent home in the quarters, we saw a few less-familiar faces in the final weekend. And while the most experienced and most decorated were the ones eventually vying for the title, you have to think the others may have squandered a huge opportunity to play for a big trophy.

This weekend was their chance to swing the pendulum back in their favor.

The pressure was high on David Ferrer to carry Spain's mantle in New York with Nadal missing, and in making his second semifinal there, he arguably delivered. But he failed to capitalize on a one-set lead over Novak Djokovic and delayed his first career Slam final by at least another couple months. So he was sure to change things when he led his country in their Davis Cup tie this weekend. Playing on home soil, the defending champions were already at an advantage, and with Ferrer fired up their edge was that much greater.

Ferrer got off to a slow start, dropping his first set to resurgent American Sam Querrey on Friday, but rebounded quickly to get the first point for the Spaniards. Teammate Nicolas Almagro had a slightly tougher day, forced to his fourth five-setter of the year against big serving John Isner. But Nico was able to stay ever so slightly stronger and gave his country a two tie lead going into the doubles match. Things got a little tense over the weekend -- with the Bryan brothers finally putting the U.S. on the board, the tide very well could have turned. But Ferrer took the court again on Sunday, this time facing off against Isner, who'd actually won their last meeting less than a year ago. He lost the first set again, dropping a tiebreak to his opponent, but regrouped quickly to close out his match. The win put Spain in their fourth Davis Cup final in five year, but more importantly for their leader, redeeming his loss from just a week ago and putting him in a place to do even more amazing things the balance of this year.

Tomas Berdych had been in a slightly more precarious position all year. A staple in the top ten, he'd nevertheless been rather spotty this season, going winless on the grass and squandering match points versus Isner in the Winston-Salem final. In New York he'd pulled off the upset of the tournament, dominating world #1 Roger Fededer in the quarters, and even took a set off Andy Murray in the semis before the wind-torn match shifted the momentum. He needed to rebound quickly too, leading his Czech team against the three-time runner-up Argentines, and he more than performed.

He had to come from behind, though, even more than did Ferrer. Juan Martin Del Potro, himself on the mend this year, had given the South Americans an early lead with a fairly routine win over Radek Stepanek. Berdych, then, fell to a 1-2 set deficit to veteran clay courter Juan Monaco and lost a break lead in the decider. Momentum seemed to be on the home team's side, but the Czech stayed tough to even the score on Friday, then teamed with Stepanek to take the doubles tie and the lead into Sunday's play. With DelPo sitting out the reverse singles with injury, Berdych was able to dominate against substitute player Carlos Berlocq and clinch the win for the visiting team. And playing at the top of his game again, he might have erased a bit of the sting from his loss in the Big Apple.

The weekend's action sets up a repeat of the 2009 Davis Cup final, one which the Spaniards fully owned. Things may be a little different this time, with leaders on both teams looking as sharp as they have in some time. And with the pain of recent defeats hopefully gone, we're sure to see everyone put up some exciting fights when it really matters.

Sneaking Through

It's been a rough couple days for seeded players since the U.S. Open. With many of the sport's very top tier taking a short break from competitive play, a couple others may have hoped to get in some easy wins at this week's events. But, it turned out, the challenges started from the get-go, and those who've survived may find themselves with some big opportunities.

The draw in Tashkent was a little sparse. Defending champion Ksenia Pervak, struggling still with injury -- she pulled out of Dallas with a hamstring strain and retired from her first round in New York -- skipped the event entirely, and top seeded Monica Niculescu, who'd only put together ten match wins on the season -- couldn't maintain an early lead in her opener and fell to Karin Knapp after nearly three hours of play. With the top half of the bracket cleared out, some lesser known players like qualifier Donna Vekic and last year's runner-up Eva Birnerova, who'd only scored two main draw wins on Tour this year, have been able to progress largely unchallenged.

But there may be more at stake in the bottom half of Tashkent bracket. Irina-Camelia Begu, one of my newcomers of last year, has dropped well down the rankings this season, failing to defend points in Budapest or Marbella. She did upset Caroline Wozniacki in the first round of the U.S. Open, but otherwise hasn't made much impact. She's unseeded in Uzbekistan, but with upsets of Alize Cornet and Galina Voskoboeva already this week, she's playing like she did a year ago. If she can keep it up, she might be ready for her real breakthrough, and make a real play for that first career trophy.

Unfortunately for Begu, she'll next face the only seed remaining in Tashkent -- while Aggie Radwanska has been stirring the pot in the top five of the sport, younger sister Urszula has been having a coming out party of her own. Ranked out of the top hundred at the start of 2012, she beat Marion Bartoli in Brussels, made the final in 's-Hertogenbosch and handed Serena Williams her only break on the way to Olympic Gold. Now at #40 in the world, the young Pole rebounded after losing a set to Alexandra Panova in her quarterfinal and is in a good position to make the final. Begu won't be an easy foe, but it could be exactly the prep she needs as she looks to make the big breakthrough.

There was a little more star power at the Bell Challenge in Quebec City, but so far it hasn't served them any better. Second seeded Yanina Wickmayer, who's made a couple finals this year, but only won two matches since Stanford, was handily ousted by qualifier Lauren Davis in the second round. And similarly spotty Dominika Cibulkova, who put up a couple good fights at the U.S. Open, didn't even make it out of her Canada opener -- a game from a three set win, she eventually succumbed to the veteran Belgian Kirsten Flipkens, marking her tenth first round loss of the season. And while these vanquishers have made a statement already, they're not the only ones.

Homegrown Aleksandra Wozniak has been on the comeback trail all year, winning her second ITF title since getting over a wrist injury and very nearly ousting Venus Williams in Miami. She's had a couple big wins on hardcourts this year -- Klara Zakopalova in Dallas, Jelena Jankovic in Montreal -- and after surviving a tough Elena Vesnina on Tuesday, she seems to have her wits about her. She'll next meet one-time American sweetheart Melanie Oudin, who's won their previous two meetings, but momentum and the crowd may be on the Canadian's side, and I'd look for her to do well as she tries to reach the quarterfinals here.

Mona Barthel has already booked her spot in the quarters, and tomorrow will take on defending champion Barbora Zahlavova Strycova for a spot in the semis. Barthel stormed on the scene early this year, beating four of the top five seeds as a qualifier in Hobart to take her first title, but she's been relatively quiet since. She had a couple of wins over big stars -- go figure, Jankovic and Bartoli were among them -- but only made one semi since January. Winless in her last three Majors, she's looking to redeem herself in Quebec and, unpredictable as she may be, it looks like she's getting her feet back under her. If she keeps up her level, she might be able to end the year the way she started it.

There are still a couple rounds of action left before any of these ladies is able to claim a title for themselves. But their performances so far this week bode well, if not for these tournaments, then hopefully for the rest of the year. The Slams may be over for 2012, but there's a lot more play left to be had, after all. And ending this season on a good note could put any of these ladies in a position to make a splash in the coming years.

"I Don't Think You're Ready..."

For years it seemed that Andy Murray, long touted as Britain's best hope for its first Grand Slam trophy since 1936, fell just a bit short.

Yes, he had put together a decorated career -- twenty-three titles heading into the U.S. Open, eight Masters and Olympic Gold -- had risen as high as #2 in the world, had pulled off some big upsets over the greats like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. But while his contemporaries were able to break through at the Majors, Murray was left listless, failing to win a set in his first three attempts and eventually succumbing after taking the first one this year at Wimbledon.

That changed in New York this week, when the twenty-five year old with the weight of the United Kingdom on his shoulders proved he could handle the pressure and was finally able end the region's seventy-six year Slam drought. And the match he did it in was more than worthy of making history.

Murray had faced a couple challenges en route to his second U.S. Open final -- he'd battled through four sets with Feliciano Lopez in the third round and came back from sets down against both Marin Cilic and Tomas Berdych before securing his spot in Monday's match. Defending champion Novak Djokovic, on the other hand, had a relatively straightforward path, dropping only a set in his windblown semi against David Ferrer on Saturday before closing out the match yesterday afternoon. Nole was arguably the more rested competitor, had five Majors in his pocket already, and was 29-3 on hardcourts already this season. History was on his side but, as it would turn out, fate was not.

The #3 seed came out swinging Monday, getting the first break of the match, but ceding it almost immediately. Djokovic climbed back from behind later in the set and eventually forced a tiebreak, one that lasted twenty-two hotly contested points. After squandering a handful of set points the Scot finally got the first set and amazingly built a 4-0 lead in the second before Nole regrouped. In an amazing turn, the Serb won five of the next six games and clawed his way to five-all. He failed, this time, to push his opponent to another tiebreak though and was suddenly down two big, seemingly insurmountable, sets.

That's when things started to change. Nole got an early break in the third and Murray berated himself -- he cursed his exhausted, "jelly"-turned legs, sprayed an inordinate number of errors and was broken a second time to lose the set. He was no better off in the fourth, but though he continued to get angry -- both at his box and at his supposedly feeble legs -- he kept reaching for every ball. Djokovic got a break again early, but it took some of the most spectacular shot-making of the tournament for him to force a deciding set. Still, with momentum on his side and Murray's body seeming to be failing him, it looked like we were in for a repeat champion.

But part of the magic of New York is that you can't ever count someone out. After over four hours of play Murray seemed to get a second wind -- he ran off with another two break lead in the decider and though he gave one back he was decidedly in control when Nole started to cramp. It took nearly an hour more, but he was finally able to close out the match, securing for him and his country the trophy that had eluded them for so long.

So after a long, drawn-out wait, it appears Andy Murray finally is ready to be considered part of the sport's top tier. Whether he's able to follow up on this maiden Major like his stoic mentor Ivan Lendl and capture several more trophies or whether he becomes a one-Slam wonder in the vein of Gaston Gaudio and the like is yet to be seen -- something tells me there are at least a few more wins left in this one.

And we might just have to prepare ourselves, ready or not, for the fact that whatever jelly Andy Murray is made out of is the kind that will win championships.