|
|
|
Would you like to write your own article ?
Simply
email us |
WTA Backspin
TENNISRULZ.com - March 2003/WEEK
10-11
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
WTA BACKSPIN!
by Todd Spiker
|
|
|
....:::CHUCKING THE CHOKE?:::...
If the course of play at Indian Wells proved anything, it was that it usually
takes some time to learn to be a champion.
On the big Tier I stage, one by one, the young risers fell by the wayside. A
slew of Russians came and went in a blink of an eye. Myskina (poof!), Sharapova
(shazam!) and Safina (abracadabra!) were out. With them went Dokic to vet
Rittner, Stevenson to Ruano Pascual, Granville to Chladkova, Cohen Aloro to
Maleeva, Bovina to Davenport... even defending Wonder Girl Hantuchova herself,
to 31-year old Amanda Coetzer.
Who survived to the Final Four in their place? Well, none other than names
like Davenport, Capriati and Martinez. The 2003 time warp continues.
Of course, there's always an exception. In this case, it was Kim Clijsters.
Still three months shy of her 20th birthday, she amazing remains the youngest
player in the Top 30. For six months now, Clijsters has managed to stand out.
She won her second singles title of the season this week, her fifth in the
past five months, and very nearly added her fourth doubles crown of 2003, as
well. Still, it was enough to jump her doubles ranking into the Top 10, making
her the only woman sporting such an honor in both singles and doubles. Who did
she replace? You guessed it -- Serena Williams.
She also moved past Serena in the 2003 WTA Points Race, and now finds herself
just 543 points behind #2 Venus Williams on the WTA computer (as Clijsters soon
enters into the summer schedule where her '02 faltering results will open the
door for large ranking gains this time around).
After some shaky post-Australian results, is she finally past what happened
in January? Has she chucked the Serena Choke into the garbage? Is she now
going to follow up on that January feeling that she was poised to do something
special this year? Will she be able to be Kim the Promise Keeper in Roland
Garros in a few months, and right her Melbourne wrong?
We may have a better idea at the conclusion of the current tournament in
Miami. There, if things fall the right way, we could see a Waffle vs. Williams
double feature on the final weekend. It may tell a lot about just how high
Clijsters is capable of rising in 2003.
INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA (I-HARD)
S: Kim Clijsters def. Lindsay Davenport
D: Davenport/Raymond d. Clijsters/Sugiyama
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
WEEK 10: Amanda Coetzer
WEEK 11: Kim Clijsters
....31-year old Coetzer was the most fetching performer of the bunch in the
first week of action at Indian Wells, extending her string of great results
another week as she crushed Lisa Raymond, the same woman who crusher HER in the
Memphis final just weeks earlier. But, in the end, it was still-just 19-year
old Clijsters who was the story of the tournament. Her second title of 2003
came in her sixth appearance in the final of her last seven events (and 7th in
her last 9).
RISER
WEEK 10: Vera Zvonareva & Svetlana Kuznetsova
WEEK 11: Vera Zvonareva
....while so many young players fell by the wayside, the two Russian teens who
stood tall were Zvonareva and Kuznetsova. Kuznetsova knocked out Anastasia
Myskina in the 2r. Zvonareva ended up sending Kuznetsova home, then followed
the win up with a victory over Meghannn "Shillelagh" Shaughnessy to get to the
QF.
SURPRISE
WEEK 10: Barbara Rittner
WEEK 11: Conchita Martinez
....while three of the top four seeds advanced to the Indian Wells SF, the one
section of the draw that produced a surprise was the one that included veterans
Rittner and Martinez. First, Rittner sent Jelena Dokic packing in a 3-setter
that extended the Yugoslav teen's career-worst losing streak to four matches.
Then, Martinez knocked out Rittner and, later, Wonder Girl-vanquisher Coetzer en
route to a surprising Tier I SF that proved she's far from ready to join fellow
1990s Spaniard star Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in retirement.
VETERAN
WEEK 10: Conchita Martinez & Amanda Coetzer
WEEK 11: Lindsay Davenport
....Martinez got ready for her big week by handling youngster Virginie Razzano
in the early going before taking advantage of the early exit of the
slow-starting Dokic. Coetzer bridged the gap between Week 10 and Week 11 action
with her biggest win in ages, knocking off defending champion Hantuchova. By
the time the tournament was over, though, it was the reinvigorated Lindsay
Davenport who was the veteran standing the tallest. Her SF win over Jennifer
Capriati displayed the presence of the old new-found confidence that wasn't in
evidence when she first returned from knee surgery; and her doubles title with
Lisa Raymond cemented the new 2003 team as a real contender (they knocked out
the season's #1 duo, Clijsters/Sugiyama) for a grand slam doubles title before
the season is out.
FRESH FACE
WEEK 10: Samantha Reeves
WEEK 11: Nadia Petrova
....Reeves ended Maria Sharapova's dreams of making an early round mark in the
California sun. Meanwhile, the oft-injured Petrova, one of the least-talked
about of the Russians, finally returned to action and did what she almost always
does when she plays doubles with Jelena Dokic -- she shined as the team advanced
to the SF.
DOWN
WEEK 10: Jelena Dokic
WEEK 11: Daniela Hantuchova
....Dokic's 2r loss to Rittner extended her losing streak to four matches, and
her consecutive three-set losses to six (she;s just 2-5 so far in 2003).
Hantuchova, with 59 errors against Coetzer in the 4r, went out with nearly as
much fanfare as she arrived when she won her first (and only) career singles
title at last year's Indian Wells event.
1.4r - Coetzer def. Hantuchova
....Wonder Girl now knows that as difficult as it is to make a Tier I your first
career title, it's even tougher to defend that title a year later.
2.Final - Clijsters def. Davenport
....Clijsters is 23-1 against everyone outside of the Williams family this year
(and 38-5 overall dating back to when her game caught fire late last season).
3.3r - Coetzer def. Raymond
....Raymond crushed Coetzer in the Memphis final in February. Coetzer returned
the favor.
4.3r - Zvonareva def. Kuznetsova
....one of the young Russians without a title, it looks like Vera Z. might be
ready to change that sometime this spring.
5.QF - C.Martinez def. Coetzer
....quietly, Conchita's comeback is starting to show some real teeth. Can she
keep her progress on an upward enough progression for what might be one final
run at the elusive Roland Garros title that somehow slipped through her grasp in
her best days?
===========================================
**TOP 20 SINGLES -- March 17, 2003**
1.Serena Williams...............6939
2.Venus Williams................4994
3.Kim Clijsters.................4451
4.Justine Henin-Hardenne........3544
5.Jennifer Capriati.............2910
6.Lindsay Davenport.............2854
7.Amelie Mauresmo...............2625
8.Daniela Hantuchova............2479
9.Jelena Dokic..................2353
10.Chanda Rubin.................2270
11.Anastasia Myskina............2216
12.Monica Seles.................2075
13.Patty Schnyder...............1713
14.Maggie Maleeva...............1628
15.Eleni Daniilidou.............1593
16.Elena Bovina................1580+
17.Amanda Coetzer...............1518
18.Ai Sugiyama..................1495
19.Elena Dementieva.............1446
20.Anna Pistolesi..............1402+
**TOP 10 DOUBLES - March 17, 2003**
1.Paola Suarez.............4184
2.Virginia Ruano-Pascual...4143
3.Lisa Raymond.............3239
4.Janette Husarova.........2886
5.Rennae Stubbs............2814
6.Ai Sugiyama..............2548
7.Elena Dementieva.........2496
8.Kim Clijsters............2145
9.Cara Black...............2079
10.Elena Likhovtseva.......2038
**MOST WTA TITLES**
2...Serena Williams (Australian, Paris)
2...Kim Clijsters (Sydney, Indian Wells)
**MOST WTA FINALS**
4...Kim Clijsters (2-2)
3...Lindsay Davenport (1-2)
**MOST WTA SF**
5...Kim Clijsters (4-1)
4...Justine Henin-Hardenne (1-3)
3...Lindsay Davenport (3-0)
**BACK-TO-BACK WEEKS IN FINALS**
January - S.Williams (Hopman, Australian)
Feb/Mar - A.Coetzer (Memphis, Acapulco)
Feb/Mar - K.Clijsters (Scottsdale, I.Wells)
**2003 TEENAGE CHAMPIONS**
19y-7m......Kim Clijsters (Sydney)
19y-9m-1w...Kim Clijsters (Indian Wells)
**MOST SINGLES TITLES - 2002/03**
10...Serena Williams (8/2)
8....Venus Williams (7/1)
6....Kim Clijsters (4/2)
WEEK 12/13 - March 17-30
Miami, Florida (Tier I - Hard Outdoor)
--------------------------------------
...::QF::..
S.Williams def. Davenport
Clijsters def. Kuznetsova
Rubin def. Henin-Hardenne
V.Williams def. Sugiyama
...::SF::..
S.Williams def. Clijsters
V.Williams def. Rubin
...::F::..
S.Williams def. V.Williams
....here we go again, though Serena's Scottsdale "injury" might open the door a
crack for a different result (everyone named Williams maybe should hope for an
Eastern return of that Arizona rain).
A Zvonareva vs. Henin-Hardenne matchup in the 3r could be very interesting,
but not nearly so as what would be Kim Clijsters' most important SF since the
"Serena Choke" -- another matchup with S.Williams.
It'll be interesting to see how Hantuchova responds -- will she be much
better with the pressure of Indian Wells now removed, or much worse after
failing to put forth a Wonder Girlian effort in a tournament she'd surely had
marked on her calendar since last year?
==========================================
....:::TDS COMBINED RANKINGS:::...
1.Kim Clijsters..............95.5
2.Serena Williams..............88
3.Lindsay Davenport............67
4.Venus Williams...............50
5.Justine Henin-Hardenne.......45
6.Meghannn Shaughnessy........42.5
7.Amanda Coetzer...............42
8.Lisa Raymond.................39
9.Eleni Daniilidou.............36
10.Monica Seles................35
ON THE NEXT BACKSPIN:
March Awards, and 1st Quarter Report
.
Visit
the Kim Clijsters page here
| Betting box |
 |
|
|
|
