6 dozen balls

Agnieszka and Karolina in the semifinals in Stuttgart

2011-04-22T01:10:00.002-05:00

Aga has impresive streak of good form. She just defeated the second time in a month Francesca Schiavone, playing very aggresively, and making the quick work of it. She had the express match in the first round, and now she defeated tricky Christina Barrois of Germany to advance into the semifinal in Porsche Open. People start noticing the "new" Aga, impressed with her improved serve, the versality of her game, the "take initiative" style, which works so good for her.
http://www.tennisgrandstand.com/archives/9408
She is going to play Caro on Saturday, and on paper she is not favourite. That's OK too, no presure, just the chance to go back into the top ten. I don't think that will be affecting her too much. Caro herself was impresive in her defeat of Andrea Petkovic. Both players are having pretty hot streaks of good form, it will be interesting to see if Aga can be one of those rare few players who are capable of beating Caro these days.

Aga and Daniela victorious in Miami!

2011-04-04T02:14:00.002-05:00

Aga scored the biggest doubles success of her career! Playing with Daniela Hantuchova only fourth time, she won her first Premier Tournament, famous Glam Slam! In the final they faced Nadia Petrova and Liezel Huber and defeated them in third set super tiebreak. It was Daniela ninth doubles title, but first since 2006. Aga won before playing with her sister Ula in Instanbul in 2007. Aga lost in singles to Vera Zvonarieva in quaterfinals, but her results over all are so promising! I always believed she has the abilities to do really well, and doubles with the right partner could take her far. She was in semifinal of 2010 of AO with Maria Kirilenko. Lets hope she will play with Daniela again, and win Grand Slam for Poland one day!

Polish Ninja takes Roland Garros Champion out of Miami!

2011-03-28T22:37:00.007-05:00

Aga is having the incredible year after that awful history with the stress fracture last year. Not only she competed in AO, but she got all the way to quaterfinals, where she lost to Kimmi, but not after putting up a good fight. Then she got to QF in Dubai, fell in 1r in Doha. Then she started the american hard court swing and got to 4r in Indian Wells. All those were excellent results, keeping her in or around top 10. She plays in Miami Sony Ericsson Open this week and today she won a very important match. She made my day (which until then did not go too well!). Playing against her nemesis Francesca Schiavone in the fourth round she won that match 60 62! She lost to Fran four previous encounters, you can say Franny was career stopper for Aga, first way back in 2007, then in Bejing Olimpic Games, then in 3r AO 2010. It almost seemed that Italian has patent for winning with Aga. But not today. She won first 9 games of the match, breaking 5 times. Then she weathered the storm, being broken and keep on pushing, chasing Francesca all over the court, going for gutsy shots, and won in the third match point! Yeee! Doesn't matter what happens next (she plays Vera Zvonareva, lost to her once in 2007) I am the happy fan tonight!
Here is the video with highlights of the match, Polish Ninja at her best!
http://www.wtatennis.com/video/20110328/miami-aradwanska-vs-schiavone_2256553_2325975

Sad end to dissapointing season

2010-10-04T22:02:00.002-05:00

Aga out for the rest of the season, injury rather troubling, rankings down, talk about missing AO...
http://womenwhoserve.blogspot.com/2010/10/radwanska-out-for-remainder-of-season.html
The only positive I can find right now is, next year no more mandatory events she doesn't want to play, maybe some smaller tournaments, maybe a title?
Get well soon, Aga!

Trying to understand why such a interesting player can be so frustrating....

2010-09-27T18:44:00.001-05:00

http://www.tennischick.net/2010/08/trying-to-appreciate-radwanska.html

While Sharapova out of top 20, Aga through to the third round in Tokio

2010-09-27T12:20:00.000-05:00

http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2010/09/27/Sharapova-defeated-in-WTA-Tokyo-tournament/UPI-59091285603609/

Aga in Tokio

2010-09-27T12:09:00.001-05:00

http://www.live-tennis.com/category/Tennis-News/Agnieszka-Radwanska-v-Olga-Govortsova-WTA-Tokyo-live-stream-201009270001/

Aga lost, but....

2010-08-09T00:41:00.000-05:00

Svetlana Kuznetsova ends title drought, but Agnieszka Radwanska makes her earn it at Carlsbad - latimes.com

Radwanska routs Safina in San Diego event

2010-08-05T12:34:00.000-05:00

Radwanska routs Safina in San Diego event

Tennis players not all-sport athletes - Open Court

2010-08-05T11:26:00.000-05:00

Tennis players not all-sport athletes - Open Court

Safina falls back into losing habits against Radwanska

2010-08-05T01:19:00.000-05:00

Safina falls back into losing habits against Radwanska

2010 Mercury Insurance Open (San Diego) Main Tennis Draw - On the Baseline Tennis News

2010-08-02T22:46:00.000-05:00

2010 Mercury Insurance Open (San Diego) Main Tennis Draw - On the Baseline Tennis News

The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Radwanska back into WTA top 10

2010-08-02T22:42:00.000-05:00

The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Radwanska back into WTA top 10

Wimbledon: Five Things We Learned On Day 4 - SBNation.com

2010-06-26T00:49:00.000-05:00

Aga, the quiet player...
Wimbledon: Five Things We Learned On Day 4 - SBNation.com

Sony Ericsson WTA Tour | Players | Player Blogs | Blog | Agnieszka Radwanska's Madrid Blog: Sunday

2010-05-16T22:09:00.000-05:00

Sony Ericsson WTA Tour | Players | Player Blogs | Blog | Agnieszka Radwanska's Madrid Blog: Sunday

Tennis Authorities Must Be on Drugs to Let Odesnik Play -- Tennis FanHouse

2010-04-08T17:00:00.000-05:00

Jerzy Janowicz lost because tennis authorities let cheater play!
Tennis Authorities Must Be on Drugs to Let Odesnik Play -- Tennis FanHouse

Picks and Predictions for the Sony Ericsson Open Round of Sixteen - On the Baseline Tennis News

2010-03-29T23:54:00.001-05:00

Picks and Predictions for the Sony Ericsson Open Round of Sixteen - On the Baseline Tennis News

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Aga profile on Sharapovanovic.wordpress.com

2010-03-27T19:20:00.000-05:00

http://sharapovanovic.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/anything-but-floppy-agnieszka-radwanska/

James LaRosa's Sweet Spot Blog - PUSHER!

2010-03-23T00:43:00.002-05:00

LaRosa's Sweet Spot: March 17, 2010
3/17/2010 2:00:00 PM
LaRosa's Sweet Spot Archive

I'd just finished playing tennis with Knots Landing star Donna Mills (best first blog sentence ever), feeling pretty good about winning, when my opponent shook hands with me at the net and, with a smile, called me the dirtiest word in tennis. No, not cheater. Or juicer, or match fixer. Or even bad tipper. No, Abby Cunningham looked me square in the eye and called me a pusher.

PUSHER!

Is there any word more dismissive in tennis? Sometimes it's wrapped in a nicer bow. Counter-punching they call it. Defensive. Sometimes it even comes with the compliment that the player really gets so many balls back. They're a "wall." But really what they're saying is, I have guts and try to make things happen and you're passive, you wait for mistakes and you suck.

Or simply, I play real tennis and you don't.

The word carries up the ranks to the very top of the pro tour. Caroline Wozniacki? Pusher. Andy Murray? Pusher. Agnieszka Radwanska? Pusher. But here's the thing I can't help but notice on the ground in Indian Wells. Caroline Wozniacki? Still in the tournament. Andy Murray? Still in the tournament. Agnieszka Radwanska? Still in the tournament. A stark contrast to the bloodbath of heavy hitters - Azarenka, Sharapova, Verdasco, Cilic - who've grossly overhit their way out of the desert.

What is it about players who win matches without relying on huge weapons that fills us with so much disdain? Whose opting for court craft over brawn to get the job done boils our collective pickle? And let's be clear about at least the three counterpunchers I've already mentioned. They may not rely on weapons and hyper-aggressive play, but they can certainly turn up the heat when they have to. Yet their intention to play more within themselves infuriates those who see how highly they're ranked and feel they just don't deserve it. Or, oh how much higher they could go if they'd just take chances! Until then, what a waste of a life.

PUSHING toward a title.
You know what a waste of a life was? Mine, watching Nadia Petrova come back from a set down yesterday to utterly dominate Wozniacki, only to turn around and get bageled in the third because she thought she could hit through whatever funhouse was going on between her ears. Can Caroline be overpowered? Yes. But it takes a hell of a lot to do it. Does she get respect for that? Not enough.

Ditto Murray. How many times have we heard how he'll never be a real contender until he learns to let loose and unload? Be a man for god's sake! And yet he made it as high as No 2 in the world, and in the beef stew that was the men's draw in Melbourne, who was there on the very last day? When the Scot needs to bring it, he can (see his sizzling match v. Rafa in the AO quarters). But otherwise, he confounds the entire tennis establishment by winning conservatively.

When all is said and done, pushers are a frustrating lot. They're so damn steady, so damn boring, it's enough to drive you insane. Yes, we pushers know this. We see you over there going for more and more, tiptoeing further and further out of your comfort zone to be done with it already. We see you get angry with yourself when you inevitably realize you went for too much. We delight when you crack your racquet in disgust and hurl curses at yourself and your mother. "How could I be losing to them?! They're not even doing anything!!!" RAGE!

Andy Murray loves your rage. Agnieszka Radwanska loves your rage. I love your rage. Miss Sunshine, Caroline Wozniacki? She eats your rage for breakfast. You see, tennis is a game of brawn, but it's also a game of psychology. And the shivers of delight that go up the pusher's spine when they've driven you so bonkers that you've struck yourself in the head with your racquet last so much longer than any fist pump from a clean winner. Pushers aren't scaredy cats. We're demented and evil.

Now, don't get me wrong. If I could have Novak Djokovic's backhand or Donna Mills' forehand, I'd snatch that baby up in a heartbeat. I'm a huge fan of power tennis done right. And when you get two big hitters going at it on all cylinders – Kim Clijsters v. Alisa Kleybanova Monday night here in the desert (the best women's match so far this tournament) or, currently playing out before me, James Blake v. Nicolas Almagro – there's really nothing better. But there's more than one way to skin an opponent. And believe me, Caroline's 8 winners to Nadia Petrova's 57 unforced errors is skinning. And devouring, and eating the bones. And it's a job well done.

Not that Caroline got any credit. When pushers win, they don't win. The other person lost. I can't tell you how many matches I've played where they said they gave it away. Screw you! You know why you lost? Because you hit the ball out more than I did. Fancy that! Sure, Petrova imploded, along with Henin, and Kuznetsova, and Cilic, and Sharapova. But they had help.

So all you counter-punchers with your single-digit unforced error counts, all you fans of players who constantly get ridden for merely keeping the ball inside the lines, stand tall. And when someone gets in your face and venomously or disdainfully spits the word at you – PUSHER! - you puff out your chest and say thank you.

Or just soft lob it back to the middle of the court. Cuz that's how we roll.

Pushers. We keep the ball in.

--

Follow this pusher at http://www.twitter.com/jameslarosa

Comments
tennisanyone(3/17/2010 8:26:49 PM)
Yeah, yeah, James but the best of the best are the ones with power and craftiness like Roger Federer!
Angryduck:
James, as your favorite women's 3.5 singles player, I will proudly tell you that I too am a pusher. I've heard this one before after winning pretty easily, "I'm just not used to someone hitting as SOFTLY as you do!" Yeah, lob this! So, thank you for making me feel good about my pushing ways! On another note -- you should have let Abby Cunningham win -- she probably would've slept with you then. ;) (NOTE -- I realize she's probably a lovely respectable woman that Donna Mills, but I'm stuck in the 80s, so I love the xxx running around that cul-de-sac!)
JAMES (3/19/2010 7:20:22 PM)

Well hey tennisanyone, if you can keep the ball in AND hit the skin off it, I'm with you. Angryduck, you keep on pushin'. And yes, Donna is actually a sweetheart. But, like Abby, ruthless on the court.
angryduck71 (3/18/2010 8:43:00 AM)

SORRY JAMES, I HAD TO JUST PUT YOUR POST IN, GIVE YOU ALL THE CREDIT, BUT YOU COULD NOT SAID IT BETTER!

Sony Ericsson WTA Tour | News | Latest News | Keep Your Friends Close...

2010-03-18T01:27:00.000-05:00

Sony Ericsson WTA Tour News Latest News Keep Your Friends Close...

Polish semifinal in Indian Wells set!

Kvitova upsets Radwanska at Generali Ladies

2009-10-17T10:58:00.001-05:00

Kvitova upsets Radwanska at Generali Ladies

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Pennetta, Radwanska land in Linz semis |West Palm Beach News, South Florida Breaking News, Forecast, Video from WPTV

2009-10-16T23:04:00.001-05:00

Pennetta, Radwanska land in Linz semis |West Palm Beach News, South Florida Breaking News, Forecast, Video from WPTV

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Open fun to start ...as soon as rain stops

2009-08-29T03:18:00.000-05:00

Here we go again, New York!

No room at the top for elite youngsters ... yet

2009-08-05T00:57:00.001-05:00

No room at the top for elite youngsters ... yet

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No room at the top for elite youngsters ... yet

2009-08-05T00:49:00.001-05:00

No room at the top for elite youngsters ... yet

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Hard court season

2009-08-02T23:36:00.006-05:00

Long awaited by certain players it is finally here, the US series hard court season. In the meantime, Ula Rad played one more time on clay, in Bastad, Sweden, she lost in the first round to Iveta Benesova. Then, she along with Marta Domachowska went to Istanbul, where they played on hard courts (change from last year, when Aga won that tournament on clay just before RG).
Both girls had promising showings, with Ula beating Stefanie VOEGELE, Ekaterina DZEHALEVICH, and loosing third round match to Timea Bacsinszky. Marta also lost in the third round (to Lucie Hradecka) first taking out Patricia Mayr and Aravene Rezai. She also competed in doubles and was eliminated in the second round by eventual Champions, Hradecka/Voracova. Marta is working with the new coach, Slovak Mario Trnovski and it seems she is playing better. That win over Rezai, she showed some signs of strenght and stability, let's hope it not one time fluke.
Aga was already on the American soil, sweating on the Stanford courts. She played Sorana Cirstea winning 60 61, but lost her second round match with Daniela Hantuchova 64 76 61. She couldn't close the match in the second set and Daniela took full advantage of that.
By the way, Stanford was won by Marion Bartoli, who took out in the tight three setter Venus Williams. That is going to put Marion ahead of Agnieszka in the rankings, she is falling to number 13 on Monday. Playing in that tournament was the defending champion, Aleksandra Wozniak, but she lost in the first round to none other than... Daniela Hantuchova.
Aga and Ula are already in Los Angeles, Aga having bye in the first round awaiting for the winner of Sugiyama/qualifier match, and Ula is playing Julie Coin. There are reports of last minute changes in the draw, Sabine Lisicki was suppose to play Daniela Hantuchova but she wrote on her twitter that now she is seated. (Bartoli, the winner of Stanford or maybe Stosur, who took Serena in the quarterfinals, but was complaining about back pain and then lost to Marion in SF?) Also scheduled to play in that tournament is Karolina Wozniacki, with bye in the first round and Ola Wozniak, playing Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
On the boys side of things, our promising junior, Jerzy Janowicz got wild card to ATP Washington after a good showing in challenger Porsche Poznan last week, where he got into semifinal. Lukasz Kubot lost in the third round of qualifying, and he is playing doubles with Marach,facing Martin Damm i Robert Lindstedt. Lukasz was also playing in Stuttgart, where he got into quarterfinals (lost to Nicolas Kiefer) in singles and played semifinals in doubles (lost to Hanescu/Tecau). Later he played in Hamburg Germany where they lost in second round doubles.
Fyrstenberg & Matkowski are going to play Australian Stephen Huss i Brit Ross Hutchins in Washington. Fyrstenberg played in Stuttgart and lost in SF (with Marcelo Melo), and also they played together in Hamburg, where they lost in the first round.
On the other spectrum of things Radwanskas sisters are going to be students in the fall, they were accepted in Krakow Physical Education College.

Wimbledon postscriptum

2009-08-02T22:45:00.004-05:00

I know, it ended, like ages ago. I am not good in being consistent. Anyway, Agnieszka ended up winning that match with Melanie Oudin 64 75 and facing none other that one of the sisters, this time Venus. Her match score 61 62 would suggest easy win for Venus, but it was actually much closer. Anyway, Aga seems just not finding the answers for the Williams clan, no matter what she tries. After that match papa Radwanski lost his cool (if he ever has) saying things he probably thought throughout the tournament, about Aga not acting professionally on the court, without fighting spirit, and the like. Well, we all knew that, so I am not surprised he finally sounded out. But following was this big national debate in the media, "Should papa Radwanski let someone else train his daughters..." I personally thing things are doing just fine, but the girls should be told more than once, that certain things are really not helping. Like directing your anger on the court at referee, acting drama, showing your weaknesses, frustration, being upset with lost point, simple mistake.... That's just my opinion, the question is, are they going to listen to their father (actually, Ula is even more guilty of loosing her matches by acting like a spoiled brat) Grow up, girls, you have so much more in you! But that's just so easy to say! Hell, I know!
So, that was end of Wimbledon for sisters, and the rest of our players didn't add much more to the scoreline. Well, Lukasz with Marach lost in quarterfinals, pretty good showing for them.
Marcin Matkowski lost in the third round of mixed doubles. And Magda Linette lost in the first round in singles and second round in doubles.
Sabine Lisicki won match with Karolina Wozniacki, and then couldn't handle Dinara Safina, she lost in QF hard fought three setter, 76 64 61. Sabine also lost her second round match in doubles, she was playing with Ola Wozniak against Williams sisters. In juniors, Olivia Rogowska was eliminated in her first round match.

First week at Wimbledon, two Poles still standing!

2009-06-28T11:25:00.005-05:00

Agnieszka Radwanska and Lukasz Kubot still in!
So two Polish players are into the second week of Wimbledon, putting some sugar into the sour beginning of the Championship. We had the first round exits, some surprising, some expected. Marta Domachowska lost three set match to Anabel Medina Garrigues, which evolved in typical fashion for Marta, 63 36 46. From what I understand, she played worst and worst as match progressed. Marta is now officially way beyond 100 WTA player, I wonder what next for her, back to ITF tournaments?
The really stinging upset was done by Eastbourne champions Fyrstenberg/Matkowski, they lost in the first round to Eric Butorac/Scott Lipsky of USA in straight sets, 63 63 63. Having the opportunity of the five sets match to make things right they just blew it completely. So much, that Fyrstenberg was suppose to play Ula Rad in mixed doubles, but he just went back home leaving poor girl so disappointed. Bad sport, boys, you continue to make those strange performances, and this is really annoying, it is hard to support you!
There was women doubles team Jans/Rosolska and they did, what expected, they lost in the second round to Huber/Black 75 62. Good effort, but not much to celebrate.
What we can celebrate is Lukasz Kubot/Oliver Marach in the last 16 in doubles, winning their first and second round match without much problem. They are facing Victor Troicki/Christopher Kas in the first match on court 7 on Monday.
The last, sad, but not unexpected, Radwanska's sister lost to Petrova/Mattek-Sands in first round of doubles 64 76, playing tiebreaker 75.
And that takes us to the good part of events. The reason Aga did not have any more left in her for that doubles match. Aga is in the fourth round, and she played the week from hell to get there.
In the first round she fought the tight first set with Sanchez winning it 75, and then completed the match with 61 in the second. But it wasn't nice match to watch, considering Agnieszka behaviour on the court. Fans are taken aback by her glum, serious, sometimes arrogant looks and comments throughout the course of the match. She just doesn't smile any more, and shows so much frustration whenever things are not going her way, that it is just painful to watch sometimes. Focusing and keeping emotions in check, and being moody, and unpleasant is another thing. I know, it is frustrating for her, that she is not doing as well, as last year, and expectations are so much higher. I just wish she would relax a little bit, she is doing fine, and I believe it's going to be a good year in perspective, but I guess it's not easy to be in her skin, with everything going on around.
Saying all of this, I hope that after this week things are going to be different. Aga went through two very difficult matches, she played Shuai Peng in the second round and that was a horror three hours match. It was played on Thursday, Aga was doing quite well for the set and half, when things started to unfold. Peng started to attack and Aga just stopped playing. She lost that set in the tiebreak 68, even thou she had match points when she was leading in the 8 game.
The last set was the seesaw, with both players fighting for every point, lots of deuces and lost chances to break, all the way to couple match points not taken. The final score: 62 67 97.
So after that horror of a match, Aga had some rest and she had to play doubles with her sister. The match was close, certainly in the second set, but there was no more fuel in Aga after such a difficult day.
For Ula Radwanska, it was the end of Wimbledon, since she lost in the second round to Dominika Cibulkova. Ula won her first round match easily (with Masa Zec Peskiric) 63 63, but she wasn't able to find solutions to Dominika running to every ball like a hound. 62 64 was the score. Ula played not as consistent as in the first match, more nerves and less effectiveness in her game plan. Somehow disappointing, since this is her second Wimbledon and second round was the minimum for her.
So she showed some promise, but did not use all her chances!
So came the Saturday and Aga faced the second in her China Wall, Na Li. Na Li was afraid of Aga, and Aga was afraid of Na Li. Funny, and it showed on the court. First game Li was broken, than she broke right back, but eventually Aga broke again to take the set 64. She started well in the second and it looked easy until 53, when Aga waisted 2 match points. And then again, like in the horror match number 1 with Peng, Aga's game started folding, her strokes shorten, and timid Aga lost next game. The tenth game was just this fight for life, Na attacking and making UE, giving Aga easy points and taking away the game points with punishing forehands. She finally broke Aga to even out 55 and when all seems to be heading to horror match number 2, suddenly Na fell apart and was broken easily to give Aga 65 lead. The last game was a little tense, but Aga kept her nerves under control this time and she took the match 64 75.
So Aga is going to play this surprising opponent, American, 17 year old qualifier Melanie Oudin (124 WTA), who took out Jelena Jankovic (barely standing from all her ailments and heat of the day on the court) for the QF. Aga chances? She is the favorite, Americans are creating this frenzy about the next big player from their soil, I somehow have my doubts, but we will see how it will unfold. The good thing is Aga is having this big weight of her back. She survived and defended almost all her points. She is not falling out of top 20, chances are, she may still be 15 after this. Maybe she will come to this match playing more relaxed and we all have more pleasant time watching her!
The other Polish players, those foreign Polish are creating lots of buzz on the courts. Along with Aga in the last 16 are Karolina Wozniacki (defeated Kimiko Date Krum in the thriller 57 63 61, took out Maria Kirilenko-after taking first her Stella McCartney contract-60 64 (ouch!), and taking care of Anabel Medina Garrigues 62 62). Karo is facing Monday another Polish-German Sabine Lisicki. Sabine won with Anna Chakvetadze 64 76 62, then defeated Patricia Mayr 62 64. Then she faced woman, who is afraid of playing Polish, no matter where they are coming from, even if she is fresh from the oven Roland Garros champion, Kuzy. Kuzy lost 62 75, so she could celebrate her birthday shopping in London until she drops!
Aleksandra Wozniak, Eastbourne semifinalist did not have a good showing, maybe because she faced Francesca Schavione, who went all the way to the last 16.Ola lost 64 46 46. She also played doubles with Sabine and they lost in the second round to Williams sisters.
Also Karolina played doubles with Cirstea Sorana, and they were also eliminated in the second round by Mariya Koryttseva/Tatiana Poutchek.
Marcin Matkowski is still playing mixed doubles with Lisa Raymond, they are in the third round tomorrow.
We also have the girls junior on the court, Magda Linette is facing number 3 seed Ana Bogdan of Romania.
So the Super Monday on Wimbledon could be eventful for Polish tennis, let's see, where it takes us!

Global Village Tennis News: Tennis news, coverage, editorials and the home of ©"Kourtin' Karen": Sania Mirza Gets Wildcard Into Bank of the West Classic

2009-06-22T22:28:00.001-05:00

Global Village Tennis News: Tennis news, coverage, editorials and the home of ©"Kourtin' Karen": Sania Mirza Gets Wildcard Into Bank of the West Classic

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Why Wimbledon Will Be The Last Slam for the Williams Sisters - On the Baseline Tennis News

2009-06-22T13:20:00.001-05:00

Why Wimbledon Will Be The Last Slam for the Williams Sisters - On the Baseline Tennis News

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Karolina Eastbourne Queen!

2009-06-20T22:53:00.002-05:00

Karo did it! It was close two sets match, and Virginie was fighting hard. The wind was sometimes a factor, but Karolina hang by the teeth and won, the first set after a tiebreak and second 75. It is her fifth title and second this year, she is really progressing nicely for last several months. Also, she established herself solid 9 in the rankings with points from that win.
In the meantime I missed a little Olivia Rogowska, Polish Aussie, who was playing Wimbledon qualifications. She lost the last (third round) match to Russian Regina Kulikova 6-1 6-1. Rogowska, who turned 18 10 days ago, beat Austrian Yvonne Meusberger 6-3 1-6 6-3 in the second round of qualifying on Wednesday.Earlier she recovered from a set behind against German Carmen Klaschka to triumph 1-6 7-5 6-2 in the first round match. She will compete in the junior event.

Mixed emotions before Wimbledon

2009-06-19T17:55:00.006-05:00

Lots is going on for Polish players, some of it very good, some of it a little disappointing. Aga lost her match with Razzano 76 75, not displaying good form which all her fans would expected on her favorite surface. Virginie was playing good, and she followed by forcing Marion Bartoli into retirement in the semifinal (Marion got injured during the match and is not sure if she will be playing Wimbledon). So now the final in Eastbourne is set between Razzano and Karolina Wozniacki. Karolina fought three sets match with Canadian Polish (the battle of Woz) Aleksandra Wozniak, but prevailed. This is 5 final this year for Karo, and the chance for fifth title, but Ola is also making great progress since she recovered from her injury earlier in the season. She will be ranked 21 on Monday coming in Wimbledon, although this ranking is going to change after GS, depending on her performance there. She defeated Kuzy, Zheng, and Dushevina on the way.

Aga will drop to number 14 (as of Monday June 22) and really needs good showing on the third Grand Slam of the season. (She is seeded 11 at Wimby) She is defending last year QF points, so there is lots at stake. Was the poor performance at Eastbourne just hiccup and is she going to surprise us all? She is playing Spanish Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the first round. She is the favorite on paper. Maria plays good on clay, but she may be dangerous on grass and is a lefty. Ultimately it all really comes down to Aga serves and her game, she did not bring it to her match with Razzano! Somehow I am not inclined to analize her draw any further at this point.
Aga is also playing doubles with her sister Ula and they are facing Petrova/Matek-Sands, not the luckiest of draws. Our doubles team Jans/Rosolska are facing Yuliana Fedak/Mervana Jugic-Salkic in the first round, and if they win, there is a big challenge of playing Cara Black/Liesel Hub er in the second, number 1 seed. Marta Domachowska was trying to qualify for the doubles draw but lost in the first round. She is playing singles thou, but has a though opponent in Anabel Medina Garrigues, WTA 20.
The doubles are popular at Wimbledon ( I was surprised that there was the qualification for it!). Wozniak is paired with Sabine Lisicki (facing Maret Ani/Roberta Vinci), Wozniacki chose Sorana Cirstea as a partner and they are playing against number 5 pair Su-Wei Hsieh of Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)/Shuai Peng of China, who eliminated Radwanska's sisters in QF of Roland Garros, but later lost in the semifinal.

In singles Ula is facing Masa Zec Peskiric, (uff, what a name!) of Slovenia, the young player with similar (maybe slightly smaller) results as her. Should not be a problem, considering the resent good form Ula seems to be in. But you never know these days with ladies!

And how are the ladies placed? Karolina plays Kimiko Date Krumm and shares her quarter with Domachowska, Safina, Lisicki, and Kuznetsova. Agnieszka is grouped with the defending champions Venus, along with Ivanovic, Jankovic, Dokic, Stosur, uff, enough...Aleksandra Wozniak has the task of playing with Francesca Schiavone and Zvonareva, Larcher de Brito, Razzano, Bartoli, Dementieva and Ula as a company.

The last quarter belongs to Azarenka, Sharapova, Cirstea, grass specialist Tanasugarn, Zheng, British starlet Robson, and "the real number 1" Serena.

Tomorrow, Karolina is playing her final match in Eastbourne, is she going to find the answer to spirited Razzano and follow in Agnieszka footsteps?

Men on the other hand, brought us happy news today, as Fyrstenberg/Matkowski won their first title on grass, dominating in doubles competition! They defeated Travis Parrott (USA) - Filip Polasek (Slovak Republic) 6:4,6:4 in the final of Eastbourne, but on the way fought off match points from Bruno Soares (Brazylia) / Kevin Ullyett (Zimbabwe) 2:6, 7:6 (7:5), 11:9 and of course ,the Roland Garros Champions in the first round. Just in time before the big one, boys, good prognostic!
In the first round of Wimbledon Frytka/Matka will face Eric Butorac/Scott Lipsky of USA, and they may face number 4 seed Mahesh Bhupathi of India/Mark Knowles of Bahama in the quarters and Bryan brothers in the semifinal. Lukasz Kubot with his partner Oliver Marach are playing Jonathan Erlich/Jamie Murray in the bottom part of the draw.

Wozniak targets top 10

2009-06-19T12:03:00.001-05:00

Wozniak targets top 10

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Polish green

2009-06-18T00:58:00.003-05:00

It was a good day for Polish players, including those of Polish origin. It seems suddenly that we are the powerhouse on grass, of all surfaces and I don't even know, if we have any grass courts. Maybe they have them in Canada and Denmark, because both Karolina and Aleksandra put a good performance today. Karolina took to three sets with Samatha Stosur, but the score was Topsy turfy, 61 57 61. Aleksandra was more decisive, playing only 2 sets with Jie Zheng. So that's two quarterfinals, and in the third is Aga, who didn't play too long, thanks to Na Li retirement at 31 in the first.
To top that, Frytka and Matka won theirs match and advanced to QF also!
Now, I hope this good showing continues and we will have some more celebration tomorrow!

Experience over youth

2009-06-16T22:21:00.003-05:00

Older sister moved on, younger sister back to the training court! Aga won 61 61 with Ula and now is facing Na Li in the second round. The Polish bunch did really awesome today, Karolina Wozniacki defeated Alisa Kleybanova 63 62, but the biggest upset was provided by Aleksandra Wozniak. She defeated Roland Garros Champion Kuzy 60 63! Woa, Kuzy supposely is still thinking about clay, I wonder if she will pull Ana Ivanovic in Wimbledon, if she won't turn the switch to green grass pretty soon! Anyway, they are all falling like flies, yesterday it was Lisicki, Ivanovic who lost to Nadia, now Ana was join by Jelena (Jankovic) who was upset by Chakvetadze, coming back after the injury Vera could not handle Mauresmo, Bartoli showed she is fond of grass by defeating Dulko. Do they need rest before Wimbledon, or they are not ready?

Now this next match will be enigma, Na Li was in the final of Birmingham just last week, but she lost to up and coming star (former junior Wimbledon finalist) Magdalena Rybarikova (who eliminated Ula in the process, I guess that could make Ula feel a little better about her defeat)
So, who is the favorite? There is a lot of buzz, especially in British media about Agnieszka chances on grass. I guess we gonna find out some pretty soon, I know Aga has some problems playing with the Chinese girls in general, so here come the first test about her prowess on grass.

More good news, our men doubles team Fyrstenberg/Matkowski surprised number 1 of Eastbourne double competition, Roland Garros champions Lukas Dlouhy (Czech) i Leander Paes (India)!

Sister rivalry

2009-06-15T23:28:00.004-05:00

We are going to watch another chapter in sister rivalry tomorrow. Ula and Aga Radwanskie are scheduled to play against each other in couple of hours in Eastbourne. Both former Junior Wimbledon Champions, there are feeling pretty good on grass. The bad thing is for one of them the tournament will come to an end. The good thing is at least one of the Radwanska's will be in the second round.
Ula played three good matches in qualifications which is a good sign for her. I cannot really decide, which one I want to win, it is such a tough choice. If Agnieszka loses, she won't defend all those points from last year. On the other hand, Ula is slowly climbing up the rankings and this is her chance! Let the best win!
Our girls doubles team Jans/Rosolska lost to British wild card. Also, Lukasz Kubot was playing in Wimbledon qualification and he lost in the first round, so no single Grand Slam entry for Lukasz this time, he can concentrate on his doubles.
Sabine Lisicki lost to Samantha Stosur, Sam is really getting dangerous, I wonder how far she can go with those impressive single results. Sabine on the other hand, kind of disappointing result, 62 61, not even the close match?
I wonder what news the morning brings...

One easy win, two tough loses

2009-06-13T13:35:00.003-05:00

Ula had one quick match today, she took first step in getting closer to main draw in Eastbourne by defeating Ayumi Morita 63 61.
Not so much luck for Marta Domachowska. She lost three setter with Jarmila Groth 36 63 63. Marta seems to be on the pretty step slide, cannot string together a few good matches in a row and her form is really erratic!
There was also defeat on the men side in London, where Kubot/Marach lost their semifinal match in two sets to Moode/Youzhny. It still a pretty good result for Lukasz, a step farther then Frytka and Matka.
The main draws in Eastbourne have been released and Agnieszka has to wait for the end of qualifying matches to see who her opponent will be. She is in the quarter with Dementieva.
Karolina Wozniacki will play Alisa Kleybanova and Aleksandra Wozniak faces (WC) RG champion (!) Sveta Kuznetsova. There is also Sabine Lisicki who is playing Samantha Stosur (uuu, that will be interesting encounter!) Surprise contender, Zvonarieva is back and she will tried what form is Amelie Mauresmo these days. Ivanovic is put to the test against another "never know what kind of match she is going to play" Nadia Petrova. And Gisela Dulko is against Marion Bartoli.
Uff, I bet all those match-ups are making this tournament pretty exciting to follow!

Grass keeps growing!

2009-06-12T23:39:00.007-05:00

The tournaments on grass are under way and things are interesting for Poles. There was three Polish QF today, in London Fyrstenberg/Matkowski played Jeff Coetzee/Jordan Kerr and they lost. In the last QF of the day Lukasz Kubot with Oliver Marach played (WC)Colin Fleming/Ken Skupski. The match was going game by game on serve most of the first set (57), things got interesting when Polish/Austrian due faced match point in the second at 45. They even out 55 and went on to win this set in the tiebreaker. And then they won the super tiebreaker 10 7. So Kubot is now in the doubles semifinal, facing Wesley Moodie/Mikhail Youzhny. Lukasz is really getting good at this doubles stuff, I am impressed!
Things weren't so lucky for Ula Radwanska in Birmingham today, she lost to Magdelena Rybarikova of Slovakia in QF 63 63. Still, good run for Ula, she played 3 good matches, winning with Maria Kirilenko, Petra Cetkowska and Julia Georges quite easy. She got some practice before Wimbledon. Now she entered qualies in Eastbourne, joining Marta Domachowska. They both are supposed to play Saturday, Marta first match on court 1, facing Jarmila Groth, and Ula last match of the day (probably time permitting) against Ayumi MORITA (JPN)
Waiting for the main draw, Aga currently no 11, and lots of top players entered this event.
Speaking of perennial inconsistency Marta Domachowska, she played ITF tournament and lost in QF to Tatiana Malek. Hmm, where are you going with this, I wonder? Marta outside 100 with her first round RG exit, things are not looking rosy, if she is not going to get her act together pretty soon!
Anyway, next couple of weeks are not going to be easy for Radwanska family, hope everybody is healthy and ready, Aga has lots of points to defend, both sisters are favoring the grass surface, see what they can do with it!

RG reminescences

2009-06-12T23:27:00.002-05:00

I don't think I am good at this, but anyway: Agnieszka lost that match in three sets, but her consolation may be, that Svetlana won the French Open title in the end, beating Serena, Samantha Stosur and Dinara Safina on the way. Radwanska's sisters also played very tight QF match in doubles, and lost eventually to more experienced Chinese/Taiwanese team.
Over all, the clay season was so so for Polish players, but it is still quite a treat having so many of them in the big events.
Hopely we will hear more about the next generation, like Sandra Zaniewska who beat Laura Robson of Great Britain in the second round of junior RG.
No on to the green stuff, and one antsy player, Ula Radwanska making strides in Birmingham!

Aga to face Kuznetzova for the quarterfinal!

2009-05-30T10:36:00.004-05:00

Aga into second week of Roland Garros in singles and playing for the quarterfinals in doubles with Ula tomorrow! They are facing Kveta Peschke/Lisa Raymond next.
Agnieszka Radwanska won her second round match with Maria Koryttseva easily 61 64, and today defeated Katerina Bondarenko 62 64 advancing to the fourth round. Agnieszka and Ula are the last Poles standing, after Jans/Rosolska upset in the second round to Yan/Zheng and Fyrstenberg/Matkowski losing their second round match to Tommy Robredo and Marc Lopez. Lukosz Kubot with Oliver Marach were also eliminated by German pair Michael Kohlmann/Alexander Waske.
Boys are also playing mixed doubles. Marcin Matkowski with Lisa Raymond and Lukasz Kubot with Sibille Bammer advanced to the second round.
Along with Aga Aleksandra Wozniak advanced in the last 16, she won her matches with Lourdes Dominquez Lino and Petra Martic. Karolina Wozniacki defeated Vera Dushevina, Jill Craybas and is playing next with Sorana Cirstea. Sorana could be a tough opponent, but still I doubt she is capable of eliminating Karo. Ups, Karolina lost - Sorana defeated her in two tight sets 76 75.

The young Aussie Pole, Olivia Rogowska fighted really good, but she lost in the third set to Katerina Bondarenko, to give Aga the chance to revenge for AO, which she did. I think Olivia put in a great effort and we will hear about her more in the future!
So next for Agnieszka is another encounter with Sveta. Kuznetzova is leading 43 in their head to head meetings, winning 3 times in 2007 and 1 time in Indian Wells last year. Aga won with Sveta 3 times last year, recently in Championships in Doha. Svetlana is playing good recently, she won Stuttgart and lost in the final to Dina in Rome. The whole tennis world is saying that she is the clear favorite, because of her recent form and her powerful style of play. The style of play which is falling apart in game against Radwanska. So we'll see, if Sveta is going to deny Aga another GS QF. So far Aga won easily her matches and looks good, so is Sveta. Here come the test for both of those players. I am looking forward to it! Bring it on!

Roland Garros

2009-05-27T15:41:00.004-05:00

There was 8 players representing Poland in Paris, and 7 are still playing. Marta Domachowska lost her first round single match to Na Li. She was also playing double with Tamira Paszek and she also lost. No surprise there, Marta is continuing her inconsistent ways and cannot string together more than a couple of good matches. She is going to be outside top 100 after RG. Bummer, but I am losing all hope I had left left for her. She is pretty, but not a smart tennis player. She may deliver some better results in the future, but I doubt she will ever do anything significant.
I am also starting to wonder about Urszula Radwanska. Everybody is saying she is stronger physically, more talented, more aggressive than Agnieszka. But her head is missing in the matches. She lets herself to be bothered by court surface, spectator's behaviour, lost points, bad strokes, match not going her way, and she is not able to use all her potential. This is not the stuff the champions are made of. She lost her first round to Yanina Wickmayer, after winning the first set 64. What else is new? (She lost in Warsaw to Daniela Hantuchowva in the second round, not showing much!) I wonder how she managed to win that double Junior Roland Garros championship a couple years back?! I certainly hope she will do better on grass, which she insist is more her surface along with hard courts.
Ula and Aga are playing doubles and they won easily their first round match with Ukrainian Victoria Kutuzova and French Aravane Rezai, 62 61. Uff, at least no sweat for Aga here, she needs to stay healthy for her singles matches!
Aga won her first match 63 61 beating Rossana de Los Rios and is facing Maria Koryttseva in the second round. She is definite favorite leading their head to head count 4:0. Let's hope no surprise there! If she wins there maybe interesting encounter in the next round. Her opponent maybe Katerina Bondarenko (revenge for AO) or wild card entrant Polish/Australian Olivia Rogowska. This promising junior (whose parents immigrated to Australia in about the same time Wozniak and Wozniacki families did) defeated Maria Kirilenko in straight sets 64 64. Whoa!
Speaking of Polish immigrants and their children Karolina Wozniacki won her match with Vera Dushevina in three (64 57 16) spanned over two days. She is facing Jill Craybas next and I don't expect surprise there, Jill is not doing good so far this season.
Ola Wozniak also won her match, beating 46 64 36 Monica Nicolescu. Next for Aleksandra will be Martic.
On the men side Frytka/Matka won their first match, and they are facing Marc Lopez/Tommy Robredo next. In case they won they can be facing Lukasz Kubot/Olivier Marach. Still, Lukasz did not played his doubles match yet, so it is a big if for both teams. Kubot/Marach are playing Frenchies Mathieu Montcourt/Edouard Roger Vasselin tomorrow.
Lukasz won qualifying matches and got into the main draw in singles, but lost his first round match to Victor Troicki. It was pretty long match, five sets with the score 36 63 64 67 64. Good effort for Lukasz, maybe he is learning in the latter part of his carrier how to be a better single player, after all.
Agnieszka, Karolina, Ola, and Olivia are all playing tomorrow. I am waiting for the good news!

Warsaw (not so) open

2009-05-18T23:41:00.004-05:00

The tournament I was looking forward so much is getting more and more bizarre. Agnieszka withdrew with back injury, and now there is this big issue about money/cars/star treatment...
http://www.polskieradio.pl/thenews/news/artykul108420_radwanska_coach_smashes_tournament_organizers.html
Things are unfolding quickly, and it all started with Maria Sharapova announcing that she is playing Warsaw as her comeback tourney. The list of names of players dropping out gets longer and longer. First disappearance, Nicole Vaidisova, then Azarenka (injury), Lisicki (injury), Peer (injury). Right after Agnieszka, the higher seat and Madrid star, Karolina Wozniacki was the latest casualty. Now, this maybe not the end of this, because with RG quali draws being announced any minute now, some girls maybe faced with the tough choice, stay in Warsaw and face much higher opponent and possibly loose, or fly to Paris. So I really wonder what Ula and Marta are going to do? Marta just won her first round match with Amanmuradova. Ula is supposed to play tomorrow. When I think of timing of this tournament, the whole idea of squeezing it as third in a row week to week right before RG - it was not clear thinking on part of organizers. But what clear thinking I expect of Stefan Makarczyk, its director, the guy who is coming with the idea of Parking for Suzuki only, not allowing the biggest Polish star park her car on the grounds? She was his biggest star according to tour officials a couple of weeks ago! Injured or not injured, she is still the most successful Polish tennis player and could do a lot PR for the tournament, and make some fans happy by signing autographs or similar things! By the way, she is supposed to sign the sponsoring deal with Longines... on Wednesday! Good for her!
I only wish that all of it would not happened at all! Now it will be salt in my wounds if Maria with the draw wide open will win this tournament! It was not supposed to be that way!

Back to normal?...

2009-05-12T08:24:00.003-05:00

The Polish double team Rosolska/Jans just lost in Madrit second round match, Agnieszka lost to Stosur in the first round. She is talking about back/shoulder pain and being tired and is not sure if she will play in Warsaw! Playing in Warsaw is something Maria Sharapova considers, as first tournament after coming back from 9 months injury/vacation/semi retirement. I am not a happy camper!

Lucky days for Polish tennis!

2009-05-09T22:38:00.005-05:00

It has been an exciting last couple of days in tennis for Poland. In Rome Agnieszka Radwanska won match with Ana Ivanovic. It went up and down, with first Aga taking first set, than Ana picking her game to take the second and leading 4 games in the third. But than Aga started playing much better and Ana couln't do anything about it. Aga took next six games and won the set 64 and match advancing into the quarterfinal. She played two very long matches in two days, and her next opponent was no other than one of the Williams sisters, this time Venus. Aga was already feeling the toll those matches took on her, having back pain which forced her to withdraw from doubles competition with Agnes Szavay. The match with Venus was rather short, and the score would suggest, easy win for Venus. It wasn't the best match for Aga, but still, the games were pretty close, but Aga was losing crucial points, being unsuccessful when coming to the net, or out of range with her groundstrokes. Venus on the other hand was really focused, not making many UE and serving pretty consistently. No chance for Aga this time, and again, she did awesome job with her first three matches, but she couldn't continue on the highest level required to beat the top player Venus herself. I was disappointed thou, that even after she played with Venus, the Tennis Channel showed the other 3 quarterfinals and not Aga! But that win over Ana, still considered top player (former Rolland Garros champion) made me very happy!
The young WTA stars this week did so so. Azarenka won with Wozniacki in 3 round, and than defeated Kanepi in Qt. She finally was eliminated by Kuzniecova in SF. She apparently played poorly and showed a lot of immaturity in handling the situations on the court. I guess she is still growing up and learning, but I wonder if that rage of her she is not always able to handle is leading her in the right direction. She won three titles with that explosiveness of her this year, so far she is considered the next big thing. Time will tell.
The current big thing is of course the consolidation of the current no 1 and possible the next GS champion, Dinara Safina. Dinara won the epic match with Venus, denying the veteran the good result on clay. She showed so much ability and maturity, that I am impressed! Everybody is saying that if she continue that way, it looks very promising for Rolland Garros. Personally, I am really rooting for Safina, so she continue be no 1 and prove that she is better than many other players on the tour. I am tired of reading and hearing about the greatness of WS and how they are above the rest! I am really hoping that someone will step up to the task!
While the young guns shot themselves out of the tournaments early (Lisicki retired in QF in Estoril, Michelle Larcherde Brito lost to Shahar Peer in the first round even after LL entry, later Peer retired in her match with Yanina Wickmayer of Belgia- who won tournament in the end) the other veteran, Svetlana Kuznecova did go all the way to the final week after her Stuttgart victory. This time she did not have any more weapons left for Safina, and so title went to the computer generated, not the "real number one", Dina!
While all of this was going on, the really surprising news were coming from Belgrade, where ATP tournament is being played, with the culmination of single and double finals tomorrow. Each day Lukasz Kubot of Poland was playing and when he lost in the final round of qualifying to Dominik Hrbaty , he got surprised lucky looser entry into the main draw, thanks to retirement of Darcis. Then he won the first round match, in the second round Igor Andreev retired with injury, Lukasz won the QF match with Kristor Vliegen, getting himself into semifinal competition with huge serving giant Ivo Karlovic. And Lukasz did impossible, at least for the Polish tennis, after 26 years when Wojciech Fibak played in the final of Basel in October 1983 we have the Polish player in the ATP tournament final. But not only that, he also did reach the final of the doubles competition with his partner Oliver Marach of Austria! He is facing Novak Djokovic in the final, and then after that match he will be playing the the doubles against Swede Johan Brunstrom and Jean-Julien Rojer of Curacao.
The Polish Sunday is going to spiced with the first round match in Madrit, where Agnieszka Radwanska is playing Samatha Stosur. If she wins, Anna Chakvetadze is awaiting her. Her quarter includes two recent double champions/finalists Kuzniecova and Safina. Not a good prognostic, if they continued their winning ways.
And after losing to Aga, Ana Ivanovic decided, that her injury is too much (or losing to Aga is too much, as many of her fans cried ) and decided to skip Madrit Open. I guess she can make more money doing photo shoots (she is losing her share of bonus pool payment if she is skipping mandatory event). But if she is not going to start winning immediately, she is probably on her way out of the top ten, so maybe it doesn't matter anyway...
The rest of the field is showing up in Madrit, and the third chapter of the "Dirt Drama in the Spring" is just about to unveil. The first victim - Marion Bartoli lost in the first round to Aleksandra Wozniak. Go Ola!
So I wonder how many wins for Polish players I wake up to tomorrow. Go Aga, go Lukasz!

2009-05-05T22:18:00.002-05:00

Things got interesting in Rome today. Jankovic, Ivanovic, Wozniacki, Zheng, Penneta, Kanepi along with the bunch of Russians all came through. Aga won a thriller against Rezai, but Bartoli, Wozniak, and Cornet weren't so lucky. Guess who is missing: Miss "I am the best player in the world and true #1" lost in the first round to Patty Schnyder- ungraceful looser Serena Williams! After declaring herself the best, she again cannot deliver (after loosing in the first round in Marbella). So what will be her excuse this time?
Aga won her first match with Alona Bondarenko 60 61 in under an hour. The match with Aravene went completely opposite. She lost the first set, picked up her game and even out in the second, got to 51 lead in the third and than started falling apart. Rezai even out, they score a tie and went to play tie breaker which Aga was already down to 3. Finally she escaped with 97 score but that match put me on the roll coaster!
So next for Agnieszka is Ana Ivanovic, who defeated her 3 times with one walkover in Doha last year for Aga. Is Aga going again to serve as confidence builder for Ana like last year in Linz? I hope not, but Ivanovic looked good today in her match with Schiavione.
On the men side we got one surprise today, with lucky looser Lukasz Kubot winning his first round match in Belgrade, setting up a match with Andreev.
And down there in Bukarest Marta Domachowska playing ITF tournament won her first match also, I really hope she can do something good with that little tournament!
Ladies playing in Estoril got seeds through, and Michelle Larcherde Brito didn't do much with that lucky looser opportunity, she lost to Shahar Peer. It took three sets, but almost maybe two separate matches, since the score was really strange, 46 60 60. So the seeds and the stars are on their way to second round confrontation.
Let's hope the weather holds in Rome tomorrow, since some interesting matches are scheduled: Kuzniecova (Stuttgart winner) against in form Penneta, Venus Chakvetadze (who won today with Wozniak) Azarenka Wozniacki (which one ladies is going to perform on this red stuff better?) Martinez Sanchez Petrova (is Nadia going to eliminate another Spanish player of multiple names?). Of course the most exciting one is Aga against Ana. The consensus is Ana wins this one. I will say, wait a minute, not so fast...

2009-05-03T23:40:00.002-05:00

Agnieszka lost to Dinara at Stuttgart. It was not a bad match, but I was expecting a little more of a battle. Still Aga is not doing bad in matches with lower rank opponents, but cannot deliver a stunning/breakthrough performance with serious contenders. Her next match can be a tricky one, too. She is playing Alona Bondarenko, who last year on clay recorded her best results. Teoretically Aga has an upper hand in this one, but somehow I think she is not happy when playing any of Bondarenko sisters, especially after this year AO. So I don't even look further into the draw.
The Stuttgart champion added another quizzical turn to WTA maze. Veteran with the most lost finals wakes up and grabs a title! Kuzniecova got the course down to Safina, or maybe Safina got the number 1 spell (I am #1, I have to prove I'm worth it! OMG, I forgot how to play that game!)
So Act I of the drama " Spring clay season in Europe" got all the favorites underperform. Some of them got some decent matches, most of them lost too early to consider it a good start. In the beginning of Act II Amelie got early exit by Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (I just know she is not CSN, but with so many of them with such a long names, I am always lost, which Spanish player is this time) I wonder if this is beginning of the end for Mauresmo, she gets inspired and plays a few good matches and then goes again into her loosing ways (too bad she met Aga in Paris in her draw when she was into her winning ways!) The rest of the field performed accordingly, maybe with the exception of Na Li, but I somehow don't see Li always coming through (unless she plays one of the polish players...)
Tomorrow matches which may turn either way: Szavay/Wozniacki (Agnes coming back it seems, Caro not showing the signs that she maybe dangerous on clay), William/Safarova (what form is Venus in?) Cornet/Sugiyama (Alize is loosing everything these days!)
Question? Are we going to see Dinara in Rome? She mentioned she wasn't feeling good in the final, but she is not playing tomorrow, so she gets some rest after traveling from Stutgart. Anyway, with Serena showing up in Rome I expect Safina will try to defend some of her points and will be playing, regardless of her conditions.
The other tournament in Estoril holds some interesting possibilities for couple of ladies, Lisicki among them along with Kirilenko, Groenefeld, Peer, Benesova, Kvitova, Cirstea, and trying to win the main draw entry from qualies Michelle Larcher the Brito. It will be interesting to see if Kimiko Date Krum can win with Peer (the battle of old glory with unfullfilled potential) or how Sabine is going to handle Kirsten Flipken (should be easy win, no?)
On paper, after all the buzz about WTA next shooting star, Sabine should win this tournament, let's see how this one is going to play.
Of course the question of the day for me: is Aga going to stumble, or is this one going to be the beginning of something good? Let's hope for the latter!

2009-04-30T21:59:00.002-05:00

Aga is going to play Safina tomorrow in Stuttgart. Azarenka, Wozniacki, Lisicki are out, I guess winning on the green dirt is not the same as on red! And in Fez, Marta Domachowska, after winning two rounds, lost today to Ekaterina Makarova. No suprise here, but I guess it is good Marta finally broke out of that loosing streak!
Agnieszka never played Dinara, so it is going to be the test for both. Dinara being number 1, and Aga facing the higher ranked opponent, after not so good start of the season- in theory no pressure for Agnieszka! I am looking forward to those matches. It seems, that Aga is always facing Williams sisters, Kuzy, or some unpredictable players in the draw. She is not playing too many matches with those versatile players which make game more interesting and not so powerful and one-dimensional! I think it maybe interesting match if both will bring their A game to the court tomorrow!
It will be interesting to see, which of the young talents with that powerful, fast shotmaking will be able to adjust their game to the clay surface. So far Vica, Caro, Sabine and even Pavlyuchenkova in Fez lost to opponents which they should be bitting. Is clay more demanding and require more experience/patience/variety for the young guns to handle it? Or is it just pure luck? It seems veterans are back, with Jankovic, Dementieva, Safina, Kuzniecova, Penneta, even Bartoli winning. In that sense, even Aga is more clay court player (after winning the Istanbul last year, defeating Dementieva in the final). Cannot wait for that match tomorrow!
Go Aga!

2009-04-26T23:48:00.003-05:00

Poland advanced to World Group II by defeating Japan 3-2! I am so happy for them. It was quite a thriller with Ula loosing two rubbers and everything falling on the doubles team Jans Rosolska, but after exciting three set match the girls sealed the deal and now we officially made tennis history! Aga put on a solid performance, which gives good impresion just before the start of the marathon to RG!
Now I am waiting for the Stuttgart matches to start. With Fed Cup weekend I will have to wait a little longer, since so many players need travel and some rests, that Azarenka/Navarro match will have to be the highlight of the day.
The draw in Stuttgart is packed with some interesting competition: of course my favorite, two Polish girls - one Canadian Pole, Radwanska - Wozniak. Then some first round encounters to watch: Wozniacki/Benesova, Cornet/Hantuchova, Lisicki/ Schnyder, Zheng/Petrova, Dementieva/Groenefeld. I expect the first mentioned to come on top, but than again I just predicted wrong with Sarah yesterday, ha ha!
Ula Radwanska is going to Fes this week, playing against Klara Zakopalova. Is clay in Marocco going to suit better Ula's taste than the one on her home soil in Gdynia ? (she said she dislikes clay alltogether which is surprising for the former junior Rolland Garros 2007 doubles champion!)

2009-04-25T14:09:00.006-05:00

It has been a while since I started this blog and I was not in a mood to write, but was doing a lot of reading.
So I am starting the new chapter, which I think will be very exciting period in tennis, especially WTA. Over the weekend the Fed Cup ties are played. Poland is tied 1-1 after the first day, with Aga winning with Morigami and Ula loosing to Sugiyama. And then one after another the the European Clay tournaments are rolling right into Rolland Garros. I am especially happy about new tournament in Warsaw, my hometown. Currently, there is no top 10 in the list of players participating, but the names of those who do are going to make this one very interesting! (and by then, 16-23 May, some of those players maybe top ten!) Just look at the list: Radwanskie Aga and Ula, Wozniacki and Wozniak, Lisicki, Zheng, Bondarenko sisters, Czink, Errani, Garbin, Peer, Gallovits, Dokic, Vaidisova, Gavortsova, Mayr....who needs top ten players with the lineup like that!
http://www.warsawopen.com.pl/

Right after the weekend it will be very interesting to see how the Stuttgart draws are going to unveil the state of the game. The players list includes a lot of recent breakthrough stars (Azarenka, Wozniacki, Lisicki) as well as established or forgotten favorites (Agi!) One interesting development: wild card into qualifiers was given to currently 572 on WTA Sarah Gronert and she just defeated Anika Beck of Germany 61 75. I won't be surprised if she will make it into the main draw, given how easy her part of the qualies looks (sorry ladies, no offense) So while many fans are wondering how Safina, Jankovic, Ivanovic are going to perform, and if Dementieva, Kuzniecova and Petrova are going to have a good clay season, and if Dokic will return to good form, or even how Kim is going to make a difference, somehow I have the feeling that it is going to be the season of big changes, with some major developments in women tennis. I just hope that Radwanska sisters will be the part of that change!

Tennis balls or snow balls? Hmm, let me think...

2009-01-18T15:15:00.001-06:00

In a couple of hours down under the tennis players from around the world will start competing in the first Grand Slam of the year. Let the games begin!