Indian Wells: Kvitova, Groth, Hewitt Out

That’s the bad news. The good news is that it’s televised from tonight. Thank god. 

The women’s matches were the more interesting last night, as the top seeds were in action for the first time. Almost all cruised through, including Clijsters, Zvonareva and defending champion Jankovic. The highest-profile casualty was Petra Kvitova, who is seemingly intent on proving that she is simply not to be trusted week in or week out; she lost in three sets to Barbora Zahlalova Strycova, thus easing Ivanovic’s draw a little. Andrea Petkovic managed a very tricky opponent in Lucie Safarova, but Jarmila Groth, the 29th seed, lost to Sara Errani and 30th seed Tsvetana Pironkova went down to a dare-we-say-she’s-slightly-resurgent Alize Cornet.

No major names in action on the men’s side yet but plenty of interest. Delightful to see Julien Benneteau getting a straightforward 64 64 win over Feliciano Lopez, and the unseeded Davydenko surviving a potentially tricky encounter with Fognini. Wildcard Bernard Tomic rather battled to a victory over Bopanna, and fellow young gun Milos Raonic- remember him? – is back and beating Marsel Ilhan like it’s going out of style.

Disappointing losses however for Lleyton Hewitt, roundly defeated by Yen-Hsun Lu, and Kei Nishikori, edged in three by Igor Andreev. Never mind boys.

Meanwhile, in a development that is in no way related to next summer’s Olympics, half the men’s field have also been playing doubles and there were wins for Federer (with Wawrinka), Nadal (with Marc Lopez), Melzner, Quisner, Djokovic (with Troicki) and the Murray brothers. And a good time was had by all, I’m sure.

Men

Singles – First Round
[WC] J Blake (USA) d [Q] C Guccione (AUS) 36 63 62
R Mello (BRA) d R Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP) 64 63
P Cuevas (URU) d P Andujar (ESP) 75 63
J Benneteau (FRA) d F Lopez (ESP) 64 64
[WC] B Tomic (AUS) d [Q] R Bopanna (IND) 67(5) 76(1) 64
S Giraldo (COL) d D Gimeno-Traver (ESP) 64 67(5) 63
Y Lu (TPE) d L Hewitt (AUS) 62 63
A Golubev (KAZ) d F Mayer (GER) 62 61
L Kubot (POL) d M Kukushkin (KAZ) 76(8) 64
B Becker (GER) d T de Bakker (NED) 62 75
F Serra (FRA) d T Gabashvili (RUS) 64 67(1) 76(4)
N Davydenko (RUS) d F Fognini (ITA) 57 62 64
[WC] M Raonic (CAN) d M Ilhan (TUR) 62 76(4)
[WC] R Harrison (USA) d J Chardy (FRA) 67(5) 76(2) 63
P Petzschner (GER) d D Brown (GER) 64 75
I Andreev (RUS) d K Nishikori (JPN) 64 67(2) 64

Doubles – First Round
R Federer (SUI) / S Wawrinka (SUI) d [2] M Mirnyi (BLR) / D Nestor (CAN) 61 62
M Lopez (ESP) / R Nadal (ESP) d [4] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) 76(5) 76(2)
[5] J Melzer (AUT) / P Petzschner (GER) d N Almagro (ESP) / D Ferrer (ESP) 36 61 12-10
J Isner (USA) / S Querrey (USA) d [6] M Llodra (FRA) / N Zimonjic (SRB) 36 63 10-8
A Dolgopolov (UKR) / X Malisse (BEL) d T Berdych (CZE) / J Tipsarevic (SRB) 46 64 10-8
A Murray (GBR) / J Murray (GBR) d M Melo (BRA) / B Soares (BRA) 75 36 10-6
N Djokovic (SRB) / V Troicki (SRB) d J Chela (ARG) / J Monaco (ARG) 63 75
J Benneteau (FRA) / R Gasquet (FRA) d K Anderson (RSA) / P Kohlschreiber (GER) 64 76(4)

Women

Singles – Second Round
(2) Kim Clijsters (BEL) d. Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 62 60
(3) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) 63 76(4)
(5) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. Zuzana Ondraskova (CZE) 62 60
(6) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. (WC) Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 62 61
(10) Shahar Peer (ISR) d. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) 46 76(5) 63
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) d. (12) Petra Kvitova (CZE) 36 62 75
(14) Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. Gisela Dulko (ARG) 36 62 62
(15) Marion Bartoli (FRA) d. (Q) Monica Niculescu (ROU) 26 63 62
(17) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) 62 75
(19) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) d. Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN) 64 62
(21) Andrea Petkovic (GER) d. Lucie Safarova (CZE) 76(8) 75
(23) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. Melanie Oudin (USA) 64 63
(25) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) d. (WC) Sania Mirza (IND) 63 63
Sara Errani (ITA) d. (29) Jarmila Groth (AUS) 75 46 62
(Q) Alizé Cornet (FRA) d. (30) Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 75 36 62
(32) Julia Goerges (GER) d. Sybille Bammer (AUT) 61 63

Doubles – First Round
Jans/Rosolska (POL/POL) d. (2) Peschke/Srebotnik (CZE/SLO) 16 62 105
(3) Huber/Petrova (USA/RUS) d. Hercog/Hsieh (SLO/TPE) 60 62
(6) Azarenka/Kirilenko (BLR/RUS) d. Llagostera Vives/Parra Santonja (ESP/ESP) 57 63 119
(7) Benesova/Zahlavova Strycova (CZE/CZE) d. Martínez Sánchez/Medina Garrigues (ESP/ESP) 76(4) 67(3) 105
Chuang/Dulgheru (TPE/ROU) d. (WC) Hampton/Oudin (USA/USA) 63 46 106

OOP

Stadium 1 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Dinara Safina vs. Daniela Hantuchova
2. ATP: del Potro vs. Ljubicic
3. Caroline Wozniacki vs. Sloane Stephens
4. ATP: Nadal vs. de Voest
5. Anabel Medina Garrigues vs. Maria Sharapova (NB 19.00hrs)
6. ATP: Soderling vs. Berrer (NB 20.30hrs)

Stadium 2 (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Verdasco vs. Berankis
2. Samantha Stosur vs. Laura Pous-Tio
3. ATP: Young vs. Murray (NB 14.00hrs)
4. ATP: Tipsarevic vs. Querrey
5. ATP: Malisse vs. Tsonga
6. Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Christina McHale

Stadium 3 (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Baghdatis vs. Devvarman
2. ATP: Karlovic vs. Ferrer
3. Ekaterina Makarova vs. Victoria Azarenka
4. Peng Shuai vs. Li Na
5. ATP: Sweeting vs. Monaco
6. ATP: Bryan/Bryan vs. F.López/Raonic

Court 7 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Elena Baltacha vs. Flavia Pennetta
2. Alexandra Dulgheru vs. Lucie Hradecka
3. Dulko/Pennetta vs. Jankovic/Pavlyuchenkova
4. Kops-Jones/Spears vs. Mattek-Sands/Shaughnessy
5. ATP: Bellucci/Harrison vs. Cilic/Karlovic

Court 8 (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Robredo vs. Zverev
2. Grandin/Uhlirova vs. King/Shvedova
3. ATP: Simon vs. Schuettler
4. ATP: Almagro vs. Russell

Court 4 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Klara Zakopalova vs. Urszula Radwanska
2. Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Iveta Benesova
3. Anna Chakvetadze vs. Maria Kirilenko
4. Sofia Arvidsson vs. Nadia Petrova

Court 6 (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Nieminen vs. Montañes
2. Simona Halep vs. María José Martínez Sánchez
3. ATP: Smyczek vs. Kohlschreiber
4. ATP: García López/Montañes vs. Kubot/Marach

Court 5 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Aravane Rezai vs. Zhang Shuai
2. Alisa Kleybanova vs. Agnes Szavay
3. ATP: Dolgopolov vs. Hanescu
4. ATP: Bopanna/Qureshi vs. Butorac/Rojer

Three Times For The Ladies, Show Me Some Love

I just love Fed Cup photos.

Good luck getting the champagne out of your knickers, Kim.

Adorable Pavs.

Joyful Jarmila.

Quintessential Flavia.

Justine Henin: still retiring.

Boom boom pow.

Fed Cup faces.

It must be love.

Always have to do a double-take when I see Yanina smiling.

I could literally post pictures of Alize all day.

But I won’t.

And Sveta has the last word.

Fed Cup Results: Italy, Russia, Czech Republic & Belgium Kick Ass

Italy 4 – Australia 1

Jarmila Groth d. Francesca Schiavone, 67(4) 63 63
Flavia Pennetta d. Samantha Stosur, 76(5) 67(5) 64
Francesca Schiavone d. Samantha Stosur, 76(1) 36 75
Flavia Pennetta d. Jarmila Groth, 63 62
Sara Errani / Roberta Vinci d. Anastasia Rodionova / Rennae Stubbs, 26 76(1) 64

Woe for the home side in Hobart as Italy, once again, are just Too Good. Do you really think they’ll lose at all this year? After Jarka Groth’s surprise win over Francesca Schiavone in the first rubber, it was all downhill from there; Sam Stosur’s career writ large as she allowed winnable matches over first Pennetta and then Schiavone to slip away in a series of poor tiebreaks and timidity at crucial moments.

As for the Italians, Pennetta kept the tie rolling and was the backbone of the team, while Schiavone – visibly still suffering the after-effects of her Australian Open run – came up with some inspired play  to see off Stosur in the crucial third rubber.

Warriors. Then Rennae Stubbs bade farewell to Fed Cup. There were tears and a plastic kangaroo.

See you in the commentary box.

Russia 3 – France 2

Alize Cornet d. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 36 63 64
Virginie Razzano d. Maria Sharapova, 63 64
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova d. Alize Cornet, 36 63 62
Svetlana Kuznetsova d. Virginie Razzano, 64 64
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova / Svetlana Kuznetsova d. Julie Coin / Alize Cornet, 76(4) 60

Oh, Alize Cornet. What a rollercoaster you are. After slumping horrifically following some agonizing Fed Cup losses, you finally win your first ever live rubber – against Kuznetsova, no less – and go a set up against Pavlyuchenkova, on the brink of victory for your country. Then …

Pavlyuchenkova, subbed in for a possibly-injured, definitely-quite-useless Maria Sharapova, comes back and wins the match, letting Kuznetsova tie it up over Razzano. And then to add insult to insult, they pair up to win the tie in the doubles against … Alize Cornet.

Conclusion: never count on Alize Cornet, Pavs kicks Fed Cup ass, Sharapova’s still on the rocks, and Sveta is god.

Slovak Republic 2 – Czech Republic 3

Quite the performance from team dead-eyed lefty weapons of mass destruction, as I like to think of them. Between them, Safarova and Kvitova demolished Dominika Cibulkova and Daniela Hantuchova (twice) to take an unassailable 3-0 lead with more than a touch of WHAM! SPLAT! KABLAMMO! about it – and I mean that as the highest of compliments. Both were brilliant, so we can forgive them for letting the dead rubbers slide. Slovakia were simply outgunned.

 

 

 

Also, their kits are dead pretty.

Belgium 4 – USA 1

Yanina Wickmayer d. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 61 76(6)
Kim Clijsters d. Melanie Oudin, 60 64
Kim Clijsters d. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 67(10) 62 61
Yanina Wickmayer d. Melanie Oudin, 62 60
Liezel Huber / Vania King d. Kirsten Flipkens / An-Sophie Mestach, 63 75

We don’t really need to go into it, do we?

It Wouldn’t Be Fed Cup Without Random Picspam.

Team bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Team wholesome.

Team not-remotely-wholesome-but-damn.

Team got-dressed-in-the-dark.

Team hot captain.

Team of contrasts.

Team words of wisdom.

Fed Cup First Round Preview

Italy v Australia

H2H: 0-5

Venue: Domain Tennis Centre, Hobart, Australia

Italy (defending champions): Francesca Schiavone, Flavia Pennetta, Sara Errani, Roberta Vinci, Corrado Barrazzutti (captain)

Australia: Samantha Stosur, Jarmila Groth, Anastasia Rodionova, Rennae Stubbs, David Taylor (captain)

Saturday OOP: Groth v Schiavone, Pennetta v Stosur

Russia v France

H2H: 5-3

Venue: Olympic Stadium, Moscow, Russia

Russia: Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Dinara Safina, Shamil Tarpischev (captain)

France: Alize Cornet, Virginie Razzano, Pauline Parmentier, Julie Coin, Nicolas Escude (captain) 

Saturday OOP: Kuznetsova v Cornet, Sharapova v Razzano

Slovak Republic v Czech Republic

H2H: 0-3

Venue: Sibamac Arena, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Slovak Republic: Daniela Hantuchova, Dominika Cibulkova, Magdalena Rybarikova, Jana Cepelova, Matej Liptak (captain)

Czech Republic: Petra Kvitova, Lucie Safarova, Barbora Zahlalova Strycova, Kveta Peschke, Petr Pala (captain)

Saturday OOP: Hantuchova v Safarova, Cibulkova v Kvitova

Belgium v USA

H2H: 1-5

Venue: Sportpalais Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

Belgium: Kim Clijsters, Yanina Wickmayer, Kirsten Flipkens, An-Sophie Mestach, Sabine Appelmans (captain)

U.S.A: Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Melanie Oudin, Vania King, Liezel Huber, Mary Joe Fernandez (captain)

Saturday OOP: Wickmayer v Mattek-Sands, Clijsters v Oudin

It’s going to be a good weekend …

The Austro-Hungarian Empire. Famous for Fuck All.

All they did was slowly collapse like a flan in a cupboard, as many important historians have said. Although they did indirectly lead to two of my favourite things: Embers by Sandor Marai, and now the best set of player party photos since Linz (not that one).

I mean, it’s pretty hard for tournaments these days to really stand out, especially if they aren’t a big name like Indian Wells, or don’t have any striking local indigenous fauna. So frankly, all credit to the people at Bad Gastein for taking the little-used approach of hearkening back to their history as a fashionable spa resort in the nineteenth century. (Thanks, Wikipedia!)

Alize. Sweet as a little pie.

Probably should have taken off the wristbands though.

For a good few minutes, I was trying to understand why I didn’t remember Sorana playing this tournament. Sorry, Julia Goerges.

There are a few unfortunate tan lines going on here.

Petkorazzi practices her royal wave.

Not another evening among the ton listening to the latest on-dits, Patricia Mayr seems to say.

It’s not that I don’t like Timea Bacsinszky. It’s just that whatever you dress her in, she always looks like she’s just been dragged out of a crack den. By her hair. Through a hedge.

I’m not going to lie, I don’t know if this is a player or a random bit of muslin, but I really want that dress.

And saving the best until last …

Khader Nouni. Officer. Gentleman. Possible doorman. 

God among men. 

Fed Cup: Warrior Princesses

A little shout-out to some of the performers of the weekend.

How about Fed Cup debutante and recent Australian Anastasia Rodionova, who came back from a bagel to defeat Alona Bondarenko and take the legs out from under the Ukraine team?

Or little Bojana Jovanovski, who beat Magdalena Rybarikova to keep the tie alive?

Sam didn’t face the highest quality of opponents, but gets the nod for delivering two singles points for her team under pressure.

Daniela Hantuchova beat Jovanovski, notched up another victory over JJ in the singles, then teamed up with Magdalena Rybarikova to clich the tie in the doubles. Good girl.

And my lovely Wicky, after being effectively demoted for the comebackers, turned out to be the heroine. She did what Henin and Clijsters between them couldn’t and took two singles points, clinching the tie for Belgium.

Poor Andrea Petkovic. She played so well against Parmentier and then upset Rezai for Germany’s second point, only for a woeful performance with Barrois in the doubles to lose the tie and leave her in tears.

It would be remiss of me, however, not to recognise the fact that Coin and Cornet put in a fantastic performance when it counted.

It would also be remiss of me not to call attention to the hotness of Nicolas Escude.

Consider it done.

Fed Cup Play-offs: Results

Belgium 3 – 2 Estonia

R1 – K.CLIJSTERS (BEL) def. M.ANI (EST)
6-4  6-2
R2 – Y.WICKMAYER (BEL) def. K.KANEPI (EST)
6-2  4-6  6-1
R3 – K.KANEPI (EST) def. J.HENIN (BEL)
6-7(6)  6-4  6-3
R4 – Y.WICKMAYER (BEL) def. M.ANI (EST)
2-6  6-1  6-1
R5 – M.ANI / M.RUUTEL (EST) def. K.FLIPKENS / Y.WICKMAYER (BEL)
2-6  6-4  6-3

Ukraine 0 – 5 Australia

R1 – A.RODIONOVA (AUS) def. A.BONDARENKO (UKR)
0-6  6-3  7-5
R2 – S.STOSUR (AUS) def. M.KORYTTSEVA (UKR)
6-3  6-0
R3 – S.STOSUR (AUS) def. L.KICHENOK (UKR)
7-6(4)  6-3
R4 – A.MOLIK (AUS) def. M.KORYTTSEVA (UKR)
2-6  6-2  7-5
R5 – R.STUBBS / A.RODIONOVA (AUS) def. L.KICHENOK / N.KICHENOK (UKR)
6-2  6-7(2)  6-1

Germany 2 – France 3

R1 – A.PETKOVIC (GER) def. P.PARMENTIER (FRA)
6-3  6-2
R2 – A.REZAI (FRA) def. T.MALEK (GER)
2-6  6-3  6-0
R3 – A.PETKOVIC (GER) def. A.REZAI (FRA)
6-1  7-6(2)
R4 – P.PARMENTIER (FRA) def. J.GOERGES (GER)
7-6(4)  6-4
R5 – J.COIN / A.CORNET (FRA) def. S.LISICKI / A.PETKOVIC (GER)
6-3  6-1

Serbia 2 – Slovakia 3

R1 – J.JANKOVIC (SRB) def. M.RYBARIKOVA (SVK)
7-6(5)  6-3
R2 – D.HANTUCHOVA (SVK) def. B.JOVANOVSKI (SRB)
6-2  6-2
R3 – D.HANTUCHOVA (SVK) def. J.JANKOVIC (SRB)
7-6(2)  7-5
R4 – B.JOVANOVSKI (SRB) def. M.RYBARIKOVA (SVK)
6-1  7-6(4)
R5 – D.HANTUCHOVA / M.RYBARIKOVA (SVK) def. J.JANKOVIC / B.JOVANOVSKI (SRB)
6-4  6-3

WTA Weekend Ahead: Fed Cup

And so it springs upon us in a haze of volcanic ash, injuries, recrimination and bitterness. I’m excited.

Semifinal #1 – Italy v the Czech Republic

Lucie Safarova has already given her team a crucial lead in the crazy-eyes stakes.

R1 – F.PENNETTA (ITA) v. L.HRADECKA (CZE)
R2 – F.SCHIAVONE (ITA) v. L.SAFAROVA (CZE)
R3 – F.PENNETTA (ITA) v. L.SAFAROVA (CZE)
R4 – F.SCHIAVONE (ITA) v. L.HRADECKA (CZE)
R5 – S.ERRANI / R.VINCI (ITA) v. P.KVITOVA / K.PESCHKE (CZE)

Semifinal #2 – United States v Russia

Team Russia. Thrilled to be here. With no Williams sisters in sight.

R1 – M.OUDIN (USA) v. A.KUDRYAVTSEVA (RUS)
R2 – B.MATTEK-SANDS (USA) v. E.DEMENTIEVA (RUS)
R3 – M.OUDIN (USA) v. E.DEMENTIEVA (RUS)
R4 – B.MATTEK-SANDS (USA) v. A.KUDRYAVTSEVA (RUS)
R5 – L.HUBER / B.MATTEK-SANDS (USA) v. E.DEMENTIEVA / E.MAKAROVA (RUS)

World Group Play-off – Belgium v Estonia

Justine has a boo-boo (broke a finger catching a ball at the net, apparently) so Wicky will suit up.

R1 – K.CLIJSTERS (BEL) v. M.ANI (EST)
R2 – Y.WICKMAYER (BEL) v. K.KANEPI (EST)
R3 – K.CLIJSTERS (BEL) v. K.KANEPI (EST)
R4 – Y.WICKMAYER (BEL) v. M.ANI (EST)
R5 – K.FLIPKENS / J.HENIN (BEL) v. M.ANI / K.KANEPI (EST)

World Group Play-off – Ukraine v Australia

Actually the entirety of the Ukraine’s team. (Interviews with Stosur, Molik and Rodionova here, if you like that sort of thing.)

 R1 – A.BONDARENKO (UKR) v. A.RODIONOVA (AUS)
R2 – M.KORYTTSEVA (UKR) v. S.STOSUR (AUS)
R3 – A.BONDARENKO (UKR) v. S.STOSUR (AUS)
R4 – M.KORYTTSEVA (UKR) v. A.RODIONOVA (AUS)
R5 – L.KICHENOK / N.KICHENOK (UKR) v. S.STOSUR / R.STUBBS (AUS)

World Group Play-off – Germany v France

The French Fed Cup team: Mr. Blonde, Mr. Orange, Mr. Pink and Mr. White.

R1 – A.PETKOVIC (GER) v. P.PARMENTIER (FRA)
R2 – T.MALEK (GER) v. A.REZAI (FRA)
R3 – A.PETKOVIC (GER) v. A.REZAI (FRA)
R4 – T.MALEK (GER) v. P.PARMENTIER (FRA)
R5 – K.BARROIS / J.GOERGES (GER) v. J.COIN / A.CORNET (FRA)

World Group Play-off – Serbia v Slovak Republic

With Ana Ivanovic unwilling to humiliate herself for the sake of her country, and JJ reportedly suffering from a left wrist injury … step forward, Bojana Jovanovic. It’s time to be a heroine. 

R1 – J.JANKOVIC (SRB) v. M.RYBARIKOVA (SVK)
R2 – B.JOVANOVSKI (SRB) v. D.HANTUCHOVA (SVK)
R3 – J.JANKOVIC (SRB) v. D.HANTUCHOVA (SVK)
R4 – B.JOVANOVSKI (SRB) v. M.RYBARIKOVA (SVK)
R5 – J.JANKOVIC / A.JOVANOVIC (SRB) v. D.HANTUCHOVA / M.RYBARIKOVA (SVK)

World Group II play-offs are also taking place between Poland and Spain, Canada and Argentina, Slovenia and Japan, and Sweden and China, Should be a good weekend.

Now It’s Time To Say Goodbye

The FFT held its ‘Farewell to Amelie’ ceremony tonight at the Paris tournament. I didn’t see it, and I’m a little glad. It might have killed me.

Warning: feelings to follow. And pictures, obviously.

One last time in the spotlight.

I have no way of knowing, but I bet Elena handled this beautifully. She’s classy that way. Speaks amazing French, too.

Franny’s speech, on the other hand, I would have loved to have heard for very different reasons.

I hope Alize caught some win from this hug.

Mama Momo!

Is it too late to say ‘don’t go?’

DON’T GO, MOMO.