 |
 |
|
|
| THE
TR.net NEWSLETTER: MONDAY, JANUARY 9, NO. 158 Hingis falters against Henin-Hardenne Bartoli shines in Auckland; Monfils plays Federer tough
When it comes relevant comparisons, putting the new Martina Hingis against the still evolving Justine Henin-Hardenne is about as a revealing of a mirror that the Swiss wants to gaze into. So after JH-H waltzed past Hingis 6-3, 6-3 in the opening round of the Sydney International, it's important to ask just where the diminutive Swiss is in comparison to the equally smallish Henin-Hardenne? Apparently, at least a few strides behind. In order to beat four-time Slam champ Henin-Hardenne, you have to be able to rally with her for at least eight balls, because it's very difficult to hit her straight off the court. If she deigns it appropriate to engage in power ball with you – which she occasionally does when she unleashes her fangs against a larger specimens such as Kim Clijsters or Lindsay Davenport – there's a chance you can coax her into being overly ambitious. But, she's way too smart to over hit against someone as rusty as Hingis, especially when she has played her before when she was just a puppy and realized that if she herself didn't ratchet up her serve and forehand, that she couldn't properly unleash her whole bag of tricks. Henin-Hardenne has been off of the tour much of the past six months, so she's not exactly in prime form either, but she knows she a much improved player over 2002, the last year that Hingis played full time. So, her task was to go out on court and ask Hingis to bring it at a level about 50 percent better than she had the last time they played and Martina couldn't. Now that does not mean that Hingis will not be able to do so later in the year, but after her fifth singles match in a week and saddled with a hip flexor, she couldn't do it on Monday. She's not going to psyche Justine out anymore, so she must run with her and get her out of her rhythm. She's not ready for that yet and it appears that she hasn't improved her serve that much, so her learning curve may be steeper than she thought last Friday, when she calling out Maria Sharapova at the Gold Coast. When Henin-Hardenne began her tremendous run in 2003, she got herself into tiptop shape and went for shots that she used to push around. Hingis should have realized that when she was doing TV commentary on the Belgian's matches and needs to do so herself, but she'll have to get her confidence back first. "There's a lot of inspiration all around and Justine was one of them," Hingis said in December. "I practiced with her in Key Biscayne and I said, 'I'm not really that far off.' But you have to be hungry and want it. I should be better than before. If I wanted to play the tennis I played three years ago I would not survive. You have to grow with the game." Bartoli shines in Auckland I've seen her chase down balls until 11 p.m. after a loss and heard her discuss Davis Cup history in detail. She's by no means one of the locker room gals and has an odd relationship with some of the other French players, but she's pretty congenial for a woman whose father closely watches her every move. So even though she didn't take down the best field ever assembled, it was heartening to see her win her first title in Auckland with a 6-2, 6-2 crushing of fellow 21-year-old Vera Zvonareva. "I played really amazing tennis today," said Bartoli, who was contesting her very first Tour singles final. "During November and December I did a lot of physical training, which helped me today because sometimes we had some very tough rallies and I was winning these points and a couple of points later I was still winning them because I was not tired." Don't be surprised in Bartoli reaches the second week of the AO. It was decent run for former Top 10-er Zvonareva, who was contesting her first Tour singles final since capturing the Tier III Memphis title last February. But, with only winning four games in the final, she still has a long way to go. With all the talk about Nicole Vaidisova and Ana Ivanovic, Czech 18-year-old Lucie Safarova has fallen through the cracks, but not for long. After beating Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-4 to win the Gold Coast , the lefty girlfriend of Tomas Berdych put herself firmly into the Top 20 mix for 2006. "I'm really looking forward to playing next week and then in the Australian Open," said Safarova, who won her first Tier III title but won Tier IV titles at Estoril and Forest Hills last season. Safarova is now ranked No. 35, while Pennetta (who beat Hingis there) has cracked the Top 20 for the first time. DENT, KUZY SCORE WINS IN HOPMAN CUP In Sydney, Kuznetsova squeaked by Shinobu Asagoe 6-1, 5-7, 7-5, always a good win considering how tough the Japanese veteran is. Also advancing were Ivanovic and Maria Kirilenko. Ivanovic overcame the slumping Shuai Peng of China 6-2, 6-4, while Kirilenko advanced past the injured Gisela Dulko. Ivanovic will take on Amelie Mauresmo in a rematch of their RG battle and Kirilenko play the injured Russian Nadia Petrova. Other early Sydney results of note were Aussie Chris Guccione upsetting No. 5 Juan Carlos Ferrero 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 and Juergen Melzer over Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2, 7-6(1).
Monfils plays Federer tough "It's almost like Wimbledon [in the Middle East]: I play and I win," said Fed, who has now won the last five ATP events played in the Middle East. "It's really nice to win back-to-back titles. It makes you want to come back and win a third time. [Monfils] is young, has a different style from other players and a great opportunity to do very well in the future. I really had to watch out. I was down very quickly as it took me a few games to figure out how to play against him. Then, he was very close in the second set and I really had to come up with some very good tennis." The 19-year-old Monfils showed some bravado when he said he didn't play that well. "I am not sure I played very well today as I had problems with my serve and missed a lot of shots when he was slicing to my backhand," the 25th-ranked Monfils said. "But, I played better than in the last two finals I lost. I enjoyed myself more. I don't think about reaching the Top 10 or in terms of numbers. I just want to improve my game and give my best each time I play. I had a good week here but I realized I need to work on a lot of things." On a great day, Ivan Ljubicic can threaten Fed, too, but has not been a prime time Slam player. Outside of the Slams though, he's been very good and, in Chennai, ended Carlos Moya's hopes of a third consecutive crown in India. Ljubicic came within a point of losing his semi against Belgian Kristof Vliegen before winning 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6). Then, he returned later in the afternoon to take a 7-6(6), 6-2 victory against Moya. "It's a great way to start the year. I don't remember the last time I played two matches in one day but today it really worked out well," Ljubicic said. "I think playing this morning definitely gave me some advantage to get into the match and quickly find my rhythm." The French had a great week overall. Florent Serra claimed the Next Generation Adelaide International with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Xavier Malisse. Serra advanced to the final by defeating No. 3 seed Tommy Robredo, No. 7 Jarkko Nieminen in the quarterfinals and No. Dominik Hrbtay in the semifinals © TennisReporters.net 2006 |
|
Home
| Commentary
| The Scoop
| Newsletters
| Q&A
| Forum
| Archives
| Links
| About TR.net
| Contact TR.net |
|
