The WTA is Getting it Right at the Slams

Kirilenko: Mentally tough and physically buff

As Day 6 of the French Open came to a nerve-jangling conclusion beneath the darkening Paris sky, incredibly competitive WTA matches were featured all over the grounds.

While this is not a rare occurrence on the Grand Slam circuit, there are some pundits who can't seem to find enough negative things to say about the women's tour these days. Over the last year, we have read about how the rankings are a farce, how the game lacks gritty day-in-and-day-out battlers, and how the top players are susceptible to upsets because of their aversion to commitment and their interest in attaining celebrity and entrepreneurial status.

And you know what? Some of it may be true. At least the part about the upsets. Oh yeah, and the rankings could use a tweak or two. But more than likely the fact that there is so much negativity is the result of a media that sees criticism as it's preferred mode of operation.

Take the Henin-Clijsters semifinal in Miami, that was labeled by the media as a "chokefest." I saw this match as highly entertaining and dramatic. Sure there were a high number of errors in the thrilling see-saw battle between two of the game's all time greats, but only because the match was played aggressively, with very little margin for error, and both players aiming for the lines and trying to outhit the other.

And this isn't the only example of WTA-bashing by the media.

Pete Bodo, in this piece for ESPN, said that Sam Stosur is the closest thing the WTA has to a good role model. I think he's right to praise Stosur (and for the record, I love Pete Bodo as a tennis writer), but must it really be at the expense of the rest of the WTA? By implying that Stosur is the 'closest thing' to a real role model, isn't he also implying that the WTA doesn't really have a role model? And how should fans feel about that?

I'm not so sure.

But I am sure that I found eight role models today, and they were all on court at the same time, playing wildly entertaining matches like their collective lives depended on the outcome.

I found Nadia Petrova and Aravane Rezai playing in what has to be the best match of the whole tournament so far. And it's still not over. Did anyone else watch this match? Talk about electricity. This one felt like a Grand Slam final - and it is only the third round!

I found Alexsandra Wozniak nearly pulling off the upset of the tournament, but finally falling short to a bandaged yet determined Elena Dementieva, who sank to the clay when her victory was finally won.

I found feisty Maria Kirilenko, whose racquet looks almost bigger than her entire body, playing perhaps the best match of her entire career against defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who, true to form, made Kirilenko play her best tennis of the day to finally get the job done.

Finally, I found a bundle of energy named Francesca Schiavone and a mean go-for-broke ball striker named Na Li, engaged in a match that was a hell of a lot closer than the scoreline indicates.

In these four matches I found everything I could ever want in a role model: Strength, determination, power, intensity, courage, emotion, and the unquenchable desire to compete.

Needless to say, the fans at Roland Garros must have found something too - they certainly weren't screaming all over the grounds because they wanted to go home.

No Harm, No Foul

Tennis in the dark, anyone?

It happened on Day 4 of the French Open. It was a beautiful mistake, and a glorious slice of chaos. And while it was stressful for the players on court, it was a unique and wonderfully spontaneous occurrence that made those who saw it feel instantly giddy.

It probably should have never happened, and it probably never will again, but late (very late indeed) in the evening on Wednesday in Paris, two professional tennis players got in touch with their childhood roots by playing on a tennis court that was dark as night.

Literally.

It was crazy. It was wrong. It was downright stupid. But man, was it awesome.

Gael Monfils and Fabio Fognini were dead even, at 4-4 in the 5th set. It was then that things got crazy.

When tournament referee Stefan Frannson sauntered onto the court at approximately 9:30 P.M., he had every intention of stopping the match. It was the right thing to do, after all, because play had been stopped on all of the adjacent courts already. The conditions called for it, and there was nothing that could be done. But for some reason, instead of making a rational and authoritative decision, Fransson decided to play the humanist and consult the players on their preference, and that is when all hell began to break loose.

Picture a Frenchman, and Italian, and a Swede, all trying to come to some logical agreement, while a partisan French crowd screamed, hooted, and hollered for more tennis. It was comical. It was theatrical. Both players made animated gestures and rolled their eyes to the heavens while the other spoke. Frannson, malleable and perhaps influenced by the rowdiness of the tennis-hungry crowd, appeared eager to acquiesce.

Monfils, who had squandered a two set lead in the previous two hours, was eager to continue. Fognini shrugged. It was hard to tell what they were saying. Was that a yes or a no from Fognini? What is Monfils throwing his arms up in the air for? we wondered.

According to Frannson, it was a yes from Fognini. Monfils, eager to enjoy some more fan support, (whether or not he deserved after squandering a huge lead is another question) shuffled over to the baseline.

Fine then, it's decided: Let's play.

But was it fine? It certainly didn't appear to be fine.

Fognini, meanwhile, was having second thoughts after peering up at his camp. They didn't want him to do it. 'Don't play,' said the looks on their faces, and the gestures they made with their hands.

Meanwhile, the darkness crept in.

Finally, a confused Fognini was given a point penalty for delaying play. He wasn't happy about it, but what could he do?

He took the balls and walked to the service line.

What followed was one of those rare and precious moments that is destined to live on in infamy forever. Long conservative rallies from the baseline ensued. Fognini, displaying a level of calm that seemed impossible given the strange and unfortunate circumstances that he was dealing with, tried to keep from drowning in the ocean of Monfils. He had been penalized a point. He was in a tennis stadium full of rowdy French fans. He was now facing break points. And yet somehow, like a Buddhist monk who walks through fire and over glass, he remained completely calm and focused.

Monfils, desperate to steal the win, tried to rally the crowd - and he did, but to no avail. The flashy showman had nothing of substance to bring to the fight, just spurts of emotion and vapor trails of desire.

Neither seemed adequate until Monfils suddenly found his own back against the wall. Then the sinewy Paris native suddenly started to cramp. This roller coaster ride was apparently making La Monf nauseous. Facing match points in the blackness, and cramping to boot, he was sure to lose.

But if tennis teaches us anything on a regular basis it is that there is more inside us than any of us could have ever imagined. We are complex beings full of all that is good and all that is bad. We are fear and courage, strength and weakness, desire and ennui. Somehow, we try to make sense of all that is inside us, we try to compartmentalize what is bad and stick it where it won't be a problem, then we try to nurture what is good so it can shine.

Monfils wasn't dead yet.

And Fognini wasn't as calm as we thought he was.

It appeared to be a huge mistake for tournament officials to let them play under such extraordinarily difficult circumstances. It probably was.

But this is one mistake that tennis fans are more than happy to accept.

When play was finally called at 5-5, it was apparent that justice had been served in perhaps the strangest yet most effective way possible.

In the pitch dark, both players headed for the locker room, one screaming curse words to the gods, the other waving sheepishly to his supporters.

Those who saw it live will surely never forget it.

Dear Sam Querrey: I'm Pissed at You

Sam Querrey said what?

I get it Sam. You're young and the world is cruel. We dress you up in K-Swiss gear and trot you out there on the red clay under the hot sun so you can entertain us. It's not fair, I get it. And it's not as easy as we think it is. Heck, none of us that wish we could see you reach your true potential have any idea about the sacrifices you've had to make. Let me reiterate: I get it.

Wait a second, I don't get it! I just watched your post-match press conference after your submission to Robby Ginepri, and all I saw is a selfish kid who is quitting on his doubles partner just because he's "not in the mood."

I also watched the match against Ginepri, and to my dismay I saw you walking off the court before your opponent had even hit the ball at set point. It reminded me of Luke Wilson's character in the Royal Tennenbaums, who takes his shoes off during a match because he's distraught about his girlfriend.

I'm not sure if I can forgive you just yet, Sam Querrey. I must say, you were pretty honest in the press conference, and I have a lot of respect for that - but how is it that you could feel so much indifference to Grand Slam tennis? This is no small matter Sam, we could have a serious problem here.

Here are some of the quotes from that aforementioned press conference:

Q. What happened out there, Sam?
SAM QUERREY: Um, just tired. Not into it. Mentally not there. I mean, you know what, I don't know. Just not did not enjoy myself out there. It's been like that on and off for like a while. So I'm going home tomorrow.

Q. Is it a natural reaction just being over here?
SAM QUERREY: No. I don't know what it is. I just need to just be in a better mood or just need to enjoy the competition and enjoy being out there more than I do. Right now, I mean, I'll enjoy it, and as soon as one thing goes wrong, I'm done.

Q. Where is home that you're going back to?

SAM QUERREY: California.

Q. Were you in dubs with John?
SAM QUERREY: I am right now. I won't be in about an hour.

Q. Just want to get out of here?
SAM QUERREY: Yeah.

Part of me wants to tell Querrey that he's made incredible strides over the last 18 months, and he shouldn't take his uninspiring 4-set loss to Robby Ginepri - a mere blip in an otherwise upward trend - so hard.

Querrey is young after all, and he'll undoubtedly have to run a few hard miles before he reaches his destination. Monday's flame-out doesn't mean it's the end of the rope for the 22-year-old. But other parts of me are unmercifully critical of his performance on the court. It's one thing to go out battling to survive, but it is another thing entirely to quit. And quit is basically what Querrey did - he even admits to "tanking" in his press conference. At times Querrey was so perturbed, so disinterested, that he might as well have laid down on the court and taken a nap while Ginepri continued to play.

So where do I go from here, now that I am pissed at Sam Querrey? Should I call my local congressman? Should I sell all my Querrey shares and by some Roddick stock - a blue-chipper - which still has some upside left? Should I pick up a bundle of Kei Nishikori and John Isner and forget about him?

No! No! and No!

I may be mad at Sam Querrey but that doesn't mean I'm ever going to abandon him. He's a good kid, and he's got depth and intelligence and creativity. He just needs a little bit of that soldier mentality. He needs to play like his merry band of rowdy followers, the Samurai, is in the stands wherever he goes. Because even if the Samurai aren't in the stands, you can bet that they still are glued to their televisions or computers, hanging on every shot that Querrey hits.

To have the expectations of all your friends and family constantly on your shoulders is definitely a lot of pressure for any 22-year-old to deal with. But it is reality.

Sam Querrey is a remarkably gifted player with enought talent to easily take him higher than his current ranking. But the laid back Californian has to want to reach this potential in his heart - his fans can't do it for him.

Especially when those fans are pissed off that he just played the French Open like it was a knock-around at a family picnic.

Two sides of the Coin: Date Krumm and Safina

Heartbreak for Dinara, Jubilation for Kimiko

Some are calling the upset shocking (Fox) and stunning (Yahoo). Others are calling it predictable. Some (like me) don't even think it was an upset.

Either way you slice it, the match between the 9th seed Dinara Safina and unseeded soon to be 40-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm was a crowd pleaser that was part psychological thriller and part fairy tale.

In defeating Safina, Date Krumm become the 2nd oldest woman to win a main draw match at Roland Garros (it was her first Grand Slam triumph in 14 years). The record still belongs to Virginia Wade, who was three months older than Krumm is today when she won a first round match at Roland Garros in 1985.

Still, being second to Wade did not do anything to dampen the spirits of the Japanese woman who returned to the game after a 13-year absence last year. Her unabashed joy at the conclusion of the match is the emotional high point of a French Open that is only three days in.


Date Krumm: I'm so happy I can't believe it

With the French fans showering her with boisterous applause, Date Krumm headed to the back of the court to get a hug and a kiss from members of her team. Her smile stretched from ear to ear, even as the injured calf that nearly forced her to retire earlier in the match was obviously bothering her a great deal.

But Date Krumm's soul-quenching quest for competition at the age of 39 is clearly more about the spirit than the body. She's not overly concerned about her second round match, saying, "I don't need to worry about the result. I don't need to worry about the money either. I had big successes in my first career."

Wow. If only Date Krumm's victim today could worry a little less about the results. If there ever was a tortured soul on the tennis court, it is Dinara Safina. Up a break in the second set, and up a double break in the third, Safina couldn't maintain her consistency down the stretch. It's no surprise, as the talented former No. 1 has, in addition to serious back issues, struggled mightily with her mental game in the last year.

Mightily, just for the record, might be a severe understatement in Safina's case.

One gets the impression that Safina is so haunted by fear of losing, that she simply can not bring herself to win, no matter how big a lead she gets. The Russian is strong physically, and she's a world-class ball striker, but until she can develop a reasonable sense of belief in herself she's going to be living the Groundhog day tennis nightmare - losing close matches in perpetuity that she could have won.

So, mixed emotions, as the glory of Kimiko Date Krumm's inspiring victory comes with the agony of yet another Dinara Safina setback. Their match today was a stunning picture of two women on divergent paths in life.

One is living the dream, while the other is living the nightmare.

Can He Be Stopped?

Rafa's running red-hot right now - does anybody stand even half a chance of taking him out in Paris?

There are sure to be some surprises this year at the 2010 French Open, but then again, most people are pretty sure about one thing: Nadal is gonna do the deed.

How could he not? His post-match celebration in Madrid spoke volumes. It was big and boisterous, but it was also foreboding. Nadal may be part showman and part humble human servant, but more than anything he is a practical assassin. He had so much aggression left over that he punched his racquet bag as he moved over to his chair.

It was obvious that in his celebration, Nadal wasn't celebrating his third straight Masters shield as much as he was celebrating the fact that he was ready - ready to keep his torrid play up for as long as he needs to, and against all comers.

Clearly, Rafa is a player that can get hot and never cool down. He's the architect of an 81-match win streak on clay. The size of his current streak - 17 - indicates that this might be just the beginning of another epic run by the iron-willed Spaniard.

That being said - last year proved that the unthinkable can happen. Now the tennis world is wondering if lightning can strike twice in two years.

But before we hand the trophy to Rafa, let's acknowledge that there are lots of players who deserve to be considered as possible derailers of the breakaway locomotive from Majorca. Federer, while seemingly unable to conjure a game brilliant enough to befuddle Nadal (2-10 on clay, ughhh), may be saving his most subtle masterpiece for the upcoming weeks. It's hard to imagine but it isn't impossible.

And let's not forget those two brave souls who somehow found a way to snake a set off of Rafa this spring, Ernests Gulbis and Nicolas Almagro. They'll have to play near perfect tennis to do it, but, as Soderling proved last year - it can be done.

Without any further ado, let's dig into the draws:

Federers Quarter:

Does Fed have some tricks up his sleeve?

The mighty Federer made a huge statement in Madrid, when he miraculously (based on his form earlier this spring) pulled himself into form, avenging his loss to Gulbis in Rome, and getting some desperately needed matches under his belt. The experience will have to come in handy as Federer's quarter is perhaps the trickiest in the men's draw.

Fed may have to meet Monfils in the 4th round and Gulbis or Soderling or Cilic in the quarters.

Meanwhile, Gulbis and Cilic are looking at a must see third round match, with the winner sure to be high on confidence going forward.

Pick: Federer

Murray's Quarter:

Murray's play since Australia has left many a believer scratching their heads - or maybe it was that meek 'I can cry like Roger' comment that has caused some confusion as to Murray's mental fortitude. It's natural to be disappointed about losing a Grand-Slam final, but it's also natural to take that disappointment and let it fuel you to even greater heights.

Nobody is expecting Murray to cause much of a stir on what is by his own admission his worst surface, especially now that he has drawn this week's Nice ATP 250 champion, Richard Gasquet.

If he does get by Gasquet, He'll be headed for a possible 3rd round encounter with Marcos Baghdatis and a possible 4th round encounter with the ever-dangerous Tomas Berdych.

Possible quarter final matches with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Mikhail Youzhny await the Scot if he gets that far. John Isner and Tommy Robredo, two complete opposites in terms of play, but both equally dangerous, are also lurking in this quarter.

Pick: Tsonga

Djokovic's Quarter:

It's hard to notice that while this may be Novak's quarter of the draw, the biggest threat to advance to the semis are probably a pair of Spaniards with a lot of F's and E's in their names.

David Ferrer was one of the most effective and entertaining players to watch all clay court season long. He leads the circuit in clay wins, and he's proven, time and time again, that he's pound for pound one of the toughest and most determined dirtballers in the world.

Juan Carlos Ferrero is a former Roland Garros champion who, at the past-your-prime age of 30, has been playing some of his best tennis in recent memory. It must have something to do with the water or tapas in spain, or it could be the Tempranillo wines that some of the players have been known to indulge in (during the off-season of course). Whatever the reason, the Mosquito is a good bet to make the 4th round for a possible match up with Djokovic.

It has been a difficult season for Novak up until this point, but before you write him off please recognize that this is one of the most talented clay courters in the world. Yes, he's enigmatic, and yes, some of his early exits from Grand-Slams in the last few years are maddening, but he's still No. 3 in the world, and still a threat to go deep in the draw. The first few rounds shouldn't be too difficult for Djokovic, and if he can avoid another letdown -either physically or mentally- he may be able to play himself into top form just in time to face a pair of Spaniards who are gunning for glory.

Pick: Ferrer

Look for David Ferrer to make life miserable for all comers.

Nadal's Quarter:

Here are a few names that would normally strike fear into the hearts of the opposition on clay: Fernando Verdasco, Nicolas Almagro, Fernando Gonzalez, and Thomaz Bellucci. But when that opposition is Rafael Nadal, there is no fear, only hunger, a willingness to compete, and a compelling quest to play tennis as perfectly as it can possibly be played.

Almagro, based on his surprising effort against Rafa in Madrid - did anyone see how hard and how flat he was hitting his one hand backhand? - is the most likely to challenge the king of clay. But he'll have to get past Gonzo - just returning from injury - and Verdasco to reach that match. If anyone has the chance, or more importantly the go-for-broke mindset combined with the courage to not back down against Rafa, it is Almagro.

Pick: Nadal

Semi-final picks: Nadal over Ferrer, Federer over Tsonga

Final Pick: Nadal over Federer in 5 (yes, 5)

For in-depth analysis of the women's draw, please visit On the Baseline Tennis news.