Doha Day Five: OOP

Centre Court (from 14.00hrs)

1. Black/Huber vs. Stosur/Stubbs

2. Venus Williams vs. Jelena Jankovic (NB 16.30hrs)

Career H2H: 4-5
YTD H2H: 0-0

3. Serena Williams vs. Caroline Wozniacki

Career H2H: 1-0
YTD H2H: 1-0 (Sydney, 67(5) 63 76(3)

4. Llagostera Vives/Martínez Sánchez vs. Williams/Williams (NB 19.30hrs; after suitable rest)

Saturday’s OOP: Lyon, St Petersburg, Vienna

Lyon

Matches start at 2.00 p.m.

1. Arnaud Clement (FRA) vs. Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)
2. Michael Llodra (FRA) vs. Gilles Simon (FRA)
3. Simone Bolell (ITA) / Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) vs. Arnaud Clement (FRA) / Sebastien Grosjean (FRA)

St Petersburg

Matches start at 2.00 p.m.
1. Marat Safin (RUS) vs. Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)
2. Horacio Zeballos (ARG) vs. Igor Kunitsyn (RUS)
3. Jonathan Erlich (ISR) / Andy Ram (ISR) vs. Colin Fleming (GBR) / Ken Skupski (GBR)

Vienna

Matches start at 3.00 p.m.
1. Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) vs. Jurgen Melzer (AUT)
2. Marin Cilic (CRO) vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)
3. Julian Knowle (AUT) / Jurgen Melzer (AUT) vs Christopher Kas (GER) / Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) (after suitable rest)

Marin, My Avenging Angel

I have so been short-changing the men this week. I know this. But the women are right there, on my TV, being by turns awesome and woeful. And it’s the last time we’ll see the top girls for like a month or something, so, you know. Sue me. Or go to a different blog. (Do not go to a different blog.)

Anyway. Marin made me the happiest woman alive for about five seconds today by beating my second least-favourite player, Feliciano Lopez, into a bloody pulp like a red-headed stepchild in straight sets to make the semis of Lyon today. He’ll face Philipp Kohlschreiber, who’s beaten him once this year, so that should go well. The other semi-final will be contested between homeboy Jurgen Melzer, who took out second seed Radek Stepanek, and Janko Tipsarevic, who somewhat bizarrely beat Gael Monfils 63 in the third. Could this be Tipsy’s second ATP final – in as many weeks, no less? Stay tuned.

Lyon probably gets the ‘WTF?’ award for the day, as Arnaud Clement (who had lost about fifteen matches in a row until recently) beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, saving a match point or two along the way. He’ll face sole non-painting-slasher Ivan Ljubicic in the semis. The other one will be contested between Gilles Simon and wildcard Michael Llodra, who seems to do bizarrely well at this small(er) tournaments on home soil. So we’ll see.

And in St Petersburg, Marat Safin is into the semifinals after a typically lopsided victory over Uzbekistan’s finest, Denis Istomin. He’ll be joined by Argentine Horacio Zeballos, Igor Kunitsyn and Sergiy Stakhovsky. But hey … Marat!

 

Lyon

Singles – Quarter-finals
[WC] A Clement (FRA) d [1] J Tsonga (FRA) 57 64 76(8) – saved 1 M.P.
[2] G Simon (FRA) d [5] J Benneteau (FRA) 76(5) 63
[3] I Ljubicic (CRO) d F Serra (FRA) 76(6) 62
[WC] M Llodra (FRA) d M Gicquel (FRA) 76(5) 64

Doubles – Semi-finals
[WC] J Benneteau (FRA) / N Mahut (FRA) d M Melo (BRA) / A Sa (BRA) 62 67(4) 10-4

St Petersburg

Singles – Quarter-finals
I Kunitsyn (RUS) d [2] V Hanescu (ROU) 63 36 76(6)
[8] H Zeballos (ARG) d E Gulbis (LAT) 76(8) 64
M Safin (RUS) d D Istomin (UZB) 60 76(4)
[Q] S Stakhovsky (UKR) d B Phau (GER) 62 75

Doubles – Semi-finals
J Chardy (FRA) / R Gasquet (FRA) d [WC] M Elgin / T Gabashvili (RUS) 76(3) 61

Vienna

Singles – Quarter-finals
[1] [WC] M Cilic (CRO) d [6] F Lopez (ESP) 61 64
[7] J Melzer (AUT) d [2] R Stepanek (CZE) 62 62
J Tipsarevic (SRB) d [3] G Monfils (FRA) 64 67(8) 63
[4] P Kohlschreiber (GER) d [5] N Almagro (ESP) 75 64

Doubles – Semi-finals
[3] L Kubot (POL) / O Marach (AUT) d J Isner (USA) / J Kerr (AUS) 64 36 10-6

Doubles – Quarter-finals
[4] J Knowle (AUT) / J Melzer (AUT) d M Cilic (CRO) / L Zovko (CRO) 76(1) 75

Doha Day Four: Meet Your Semifinalists

Your YEC 2009 semifinalists, ladies and gentlemen:

Check the poll. We’re mainly idiots.

JJ was the second to secure her place after beating Wozniacki – who was, let’s face it, not in great shape – 62 62. Venus followed, in the sense of not really doing very much, when an on-form Kuznetsova demolished Dementieva 63 62. I thought Kuznetsova, with her usual finely-honed sense of timing, played fantastic tennis to win, but I feel bad for Dementieva, who worked so hard to get her win over Venus. Regardless, on Venus goes to face JJ tomorrow.

The final semifinalist wasn’t decided until the last match of the day, which lived up to expectations in the most soul-crushing way possible. After playing an excellent first set to win 64, and going 52 up in the second, Victoria Azarenka … well, she did what Victoria Azarenka increasingly does in that situation. She lost. She served for the match twice and simply couldn’t get it done, ending up edged out of the second 57. At which point I turned off the TV (or at least flipped over to Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two). I simply couldn’t bear to watch the predictable third set implosion (and I wanted to see how Phil Tufnell was coming along with the tango). Hence I did not see Azarenka go 1-4 down, nor her subsequent retirement with cramps. (But I can tell you that I have doubts about Tufnell’s ability to conjure up the requisite staccato footwork, flexed knees and general dramatic aggression which will be necessary in a week 7 tango).

Weirdly, my first reaction to seeing that she had retired with cramps was relief; at least it wasn’t that (or not purely that) she had completely fallen to pieces mentally. Then I thought about it a bit and that relief died a quick and yet oddly painful death. The simple fact is that she shouldn’t have been in a third set at all. I don’t want to take anything away from Radwanska, who I thought played well throughout, but I didn’t see her raising her level significantly to take the second set; I saw Azarenka’s level plummeting like a bowl of goldfish dropped from a spire to smash on a cathedral floor, to paraphrase Douglas Coupland. And then once again on finding herself in a third set, she began to struggle both physically and emotionally.

So I’ve thought about it and I think Azarenka’s first priority should be conditioning, because I’m having serious doubts about her fitness and heat-tolerance. Maybe training in Minsk and then coming to play in heat and humidity has something to do with it, or am I completely mad? (Third possibility: I’ve got my hemispheres entirely wrong and it’s summer in Minsk). I genuinely think that developing her stamina to the point where she knows she can last three tough sets would do wonders for her mentality and prevent that element of increasing desperation from creeping into her game as she nears the business end of the match. I know that approach has sometimes proved to be a double-edged sword for Murray, but I think Azarenka has good aggressive instincts, when they’re not drowned out by the howling chorus of demons busily shredding her psyche before her eyes. Anyway, that’s what I think. And god knows I need her to do something to break this pattern, otherwise I may die choking on my own rage by this time next year. I say that out of love, Victoria.

Anyway. Not to sound rampantly insincere, but congratulations to all the semifinalists. No, I really almost mean that. No, I do. It’ll be interesting to see which JJ and which Venus come out to play; I’m betting Tuesday’s JJ against Thursday’s Venus. Draw your own conclusions. And I’m tempted to point out how far Wozniacki will get against Serena with a 1 mph serve, but hey, apparently the stroke of death is as a lover’s pinch for the gritty, glamorous Dane (as I understand we’re now referring to her). So who knows what will happen there? (I’m pretty sure we all do.)

As for the rest … thanks for playing, ladies.

 

Doha Day Four: OOP

1. Caroline Wozniacki (4) vs. Jelena Jankovic (8)

Career H2H: 0-2
YTD H2H: 0-0

2. Svetlana Kuznetsova (3) vs. Elena Dementieva (5)

Career H2H: 6-4
YTD H2H: 1-0 (Stuttgart, 64 62)

3. Agnieszka Radwanska (alternate) vs. Victoria Azarenka (6)

Career H2H: 1-2
YTD H2H: 0-0

Friday’s OOP: Lyon, St Petersburg, Vienna

Lyon

St Petersburg

Vienna

French Invasion (Surrender Presumably Imminent)

The French are taking this home tournament thing seriously. Of the eight quarterfinalists in Lyon, only one is not representing the home nation (Ivan Ljubicic). And yes, Simon and Tsonga you’d expect. Possibly even Benneteau and Serra. But Clement? Llodra beating Pico? Gicquel bagelling Paul-Henri Mathieu (also French, if anybody’s counting)? I’m really not even going to think about saying anything about British tennis at this point.

A match too far for Mikhail Youzhny, who was forced to retire in St Petersburg against Denis Istomin. Igor Kunitsyn and Marat Safin (yes, you read that right) are still flying the flag for the land of vodka and bears, however. And in Lyon, my man Marin is into the quarterfinals after a straight sets win over Daniel Brands. He faces Feliciano Lopez next, who is second only to Fernando Verdasco in his love for crushing my dreams, so it was a nice little run while it lasted.

Lyon

Singles – Second Round
[1] J Tsonga (FRA) d O Rochus (BEL) 63 62
[2] G Simon (FRA) d [Q] D Guez (FRA) 61 62
[3] I Ljubicic (CRO) d N Kiefer (GER) 63 36 63
[WC] M Llodra (FRA) d [4] J Monaco (ARG) 63 64
M Gicquel (FRA) d [6] P Mathieu (FRA) 64 60
[WC] A Clement (FRA) d [7] B Becker (GER) 64 63

Doubles – Quarter-finals
M Melo (BRA) / A Sa (BRA) d J Coetzee (RSA) / S Huss (AUS) 63 64
[WC] J Benneteau (FRA) / N Mahut (FRA) d L Mayer (ARG) / M Vassallo Arguello (ARG) 64 76(3)
S Bolelli (ITA) / I Ljubicic (CRO) d M Gicquel (FRA) / M Llodra (FRA) 46 75 12-10
[WC] A Clement (FRA) / S Grosjean (FRA) d L Arnold Ker (ARG) / J Monaco (ARG) 64 61

St Petersburg

Singles – Second Round
D Istomin (UZB) d [1] M Youzhny (RUS) 62 21 ret. (lower back)
M Safin (RUS) d [5] I Andreev (RUS) 63 01 ret. (left knee)
I Kunitsyn (RUS) d [WC] M Elgin (RUS) 62 63
[Q] S Stakhovsky (UKR) d [WC] A Kuznetsov (RUS) 61 64

Doubles – Quarter-finals
C Fleming (GBR) / K Skupski (GBR) d P Cuevas (URU) / H Zeballos (ARG) 76(4) 64
J Chardy (FRA) / R Gasquet (FRA) d L Friedl (CZE) / J Levinsky (CZE) 75 62
[WC] M Elgin (RUS) / T Gabashvili (RUS) d J Cerretani (USA) / D Skoch (CZE) 63 62

Vienna

Singles – Second Round
[1] [WC] M Cilic (CRO) d D Brands (GER) 76(7) 64
[3] G Monfils (FRA) d J Hajek (CZE) 61 26 64
[6] F Lopez (ESP) d D Koellerer (AUT) 63 63
[7] J Melzer (AUT) d [Q] D Hrbaty (SVK) 64 75
J Tipsarevic (SRB) d M Berrer (GER) 76(3) 61

Doubles – Quarter-finals
C Kas (GER) / P Kohlschreiber (GER) d [2] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) 64 36 11-9
[3] L Kubot (POL) / O Marach (AUT) d M Kohlmann (GER) / A Peya (AUT) 67(4) 64 10-8
J Isner (USA) / J Kerr (AUS) d A Seppi (ITA) / S Vagnozzi (ITA) 63 76(7)

Doha Day Three: Blood, Screams and Tears

I already used ‘agonising’ to describe yesterday’s actions so I suppose ‘epic’ will have to do for today …

Caroline Wozniacki (4) d. Vera Zvonareva (alternate), 60 67(3) 64

Nosebleeds, hamstrings, cramps, tears, and repeated collapses. And only about 50% of them came from Vera Zvonareva.

Actually the less said about Zvonareva the better, as she was clearly in no shape to play, only managed to make it to a third set by virtue of somehow dragging Wozniacki down to her level, couldn’t take advantage of the fact that her opponent was virtually and at some points literally crippled by cramp, and has now withdrawn from any further matches, begging the question ‘why the hell did you show up at all?’.

But Wozniacki is certainly racking up the warrior badges this week. Seriously, she should be tested in a lab or something to find out how she stays so mentally strong. I don’t even have the words to describe the level of courage and grit she displayed in winning that match, but I would imagine it made an indelible impression on anyone who saw the match. It should have. Good girl.

Serena Williams (1) d. Elena Dementieva (5), 62 64

Serena certainly came to play this week (who said she wouldn’t? Oh right, me). She was on totally imperious form in winning the third of her round robin matches, and the fact that her movement looked slightly hampered only actually served to make her more dangerous. Absolutely massive hitting and she was completely focussed from beginning to end. Great performance.

Venus Williams (7) d. Svetlana Kuznetsova (3), 62 67(3) 64

It looked like another chapter in an increasingly familiar story for a while; solid first set followed by an inexplicable walkabout at key moments in the second set. But Venus managed to get it back and was the better player in the third set. Good for her, otherwise she would have had to leave Doha on the wrong end of three tight three-set matches. And that would just suck.

The second qualifier to come out of the Maroon group will therefore be decided by the match between Dementieva and Kuznetsova tomorrow. That should be …. interesting.

Doha Day Three: OOP

1. Vera Zvonareva (alternate) vs. Caroline Wozniacki (4)

Career H2H: 1-0
YTD H2H: 1-0 (Indian Wells, 64 62)

2. Serena Williams (2) vs. Elena Dementieva (5)

Career H2H: 6-4
YTD H2H: 2-3 (Australian Open, 63 64, Wimbledon, 67(4) 75 86; Sydney, 36 16; Paris, W/O; Toronto, 67(2) 16)

3. Svetlana Kuznetsova (3) vs. Venus Williams (7)

Career H2H: 4-3
YTD H2H: 0-0

Thursday’s OOP: Lyon, St Petersburg, Vienna

Lyon

St Petersburg

Vienna