Cynthia Lum/WireImage.comHer first clay-court title in nearly six years
makes Serena
Williams a favorite for Paris.
Serena
Williams overcame a very competent veteran in Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 3-6,
6-3 to win the Family Circle Cup final on Sunday, while 1,000 miles
or so southwest, a guy she knows pretty well, James Blake, went down
in a heap of unforced errors to a little known Spaniard Marcel Granollers-Pujol
6-4, 1-6, 7-5.
Serena could teach Blake a lot about competing and how one should properly
approach closing out matches. Serena is more solid from the ground than
Blake is, but if you compare their weeks, it’s striking how she
was able to punch her way through a fairly strong field to win her
first clay crown in nearly six years and how he bobbed and weaved through
a weak field until the final, and then couldn’t step on a guy
who was only playing Houston because he couldn’t get into Estoril
or Valencia.
Someday, somewhere, Blake may shock us all and play up to his capabilities
for a long stretch, but what’s sad in this case is that he consistently
lets himself and his fans down even when he has a title sitting right
in front of him on a silver platter.
Even though he’s scored two impressive wins in Davis Cup as of
late, he cannot seem to get his nose substantially ahead of the pack
because he does not trust that he’ll make the right decisions
when his nerves begin to fray. It appears as if he, more than many other
players, could really benefit from on- court coaching. Look at his two
biggest wins since December – a four-set nail biter over Mikhail
Youzhny in the Davis Cup final, and a five-set thriller over Paul-Henri
Mathieu in the same competition. Do you think Blake didn’t benefit
from Patrick McEnroe’s
coaching in both those matches? Think again.
Even though Serena’s mother, Oracene, always has more than few coaching
words for her daughter, for the most part, Serena has learned to work
her way through tough spots and doesn’t need consistent pats in
the back from her team. She relishes the opportunity to contest pressure
points, to change the pace, to come up with huge serves and returns when
necessary. Now, she’s won three straight tournaments and is off
to her best start since 2003.
She outfought a game Maria Sharapova in the quarters, the tricky French
up-and-comer Alizé Cornet in the semis, and then the deep-hitting, long-match
loving Zvonareva in the final. She pushed her ranking up to No. 6 where
it will likely stay until Roland Garros. If someone were to ask who
the favorite is to win in Paris this year, need any analysts look
any further than the sometimes glorious Ms. S., especially with defending
champ Justine Henin hurting and Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic immersed
in their own on-court struggles? No, they wouldn’t.
WIN ROLAND GARROS AGAIN AND MOVE UP THE ALL-TIME LADDER That doesn’t
mean that Serena will win her second French crown, because few great
champions before her have had the propensity to go on mental walkabouts
at crucial times during the season with the verve that Serena has shown.
She can be had on clay by all the aforementioned elite players, as well
as by Svetlana Kuznetsova. But if she keeps on the practice court, spends
time in the gym and doesn’t
allow her attention too wane, she’ll go into Paris as the favorite
and if she should win her second Roland Garros crown, she'll capture
her ninth Slam title. If so, she will have won every major at least twice,
which in the 21st Century, will mean that she’ll go way up the
Hall of Fame ladder, past Monica Seles in my book. And that would be
something that even the cantankerous Richard Williams would smile about.
Because there are a number of tennis industry folks who don’t like
Serena, her game is consistently picked apart, but she is a remarkably
solid player off every wing. Go down the Top-20 list, and only Henin
can touch her all-around abilities.
If Blake were anywhere near that solid, he wouldn’t be losing to
a Spaniard ranked No. 84, but he did, because he and his coach, Brian
Barker, have been unable to fix his poor serve, or develop a playing
style that he is consistently comfortable with off hard courts. Just
imagine Serena playing in the same final, being up a break in the third
and then losing to No. 84 Olga Savchuk. That would never happen because
she believes that she’s the better player and can back it up.
With that said, the ATP Tour continues to have better depth than the
Sony Ericsson WTA Tour does and Granollers has made a steady climb in
the rankings this year. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves
because Granollers was the 13th-ranked Spaniard going into Houston last
week, no great shakes. Could anyone conceive of the 13th-ranked American
going to Europe and winning a similar-sized hard-court event? Amer Delic
is that man in the rankings for the US, and it would be altogether shocking
to see him win a tournament of any kind anymore, much less one in Europe.
Neither Blake nor Andy Roddick are playing TMS Monte Carlo this week
once again, which is looking more and more like a bad move with each
passing year. It’s understood that they don’t want to spend
three months in Europe, but they both own Florida homes and are wealthy
enough to jet back and forth in luxury without mentally overtaxing themselves.
If
they are ever going to be factors in Paris, they need more matches against
the big boys, which was Roddick’s correct approach in playing
Dubai prior to Indian Wells and Miami. Playing Rome, possibly Hamburg,
World Team Cup or Austria isn’t enough.
However, Sam Querrey is going the full Monte this week, and pulled a
real shocker when he stunned Carlos Moya 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. Don’t
be surprised if the '08 French Open is Moya’s last.
Mal Taam/MALTphotoMaria Kirilenko snared the Estoril singles
title and the doubles
crown with Flavia Pennetta. Roger Federer has a decent draw to the quarters, but David Nalbandian
could await there, which should be a fine test of where Federer’s
game is truly at. Had Nikolay Davydenko not retired in the Estoril final,
Federer might have gone north with more confidence, but he needs a win
over a major player to get his head right again. In my forthcoming column
for Foxsports.com, I’ll get more into depth on Federer and the rest
of the Monte Carlo participants, but I’m sure that Sir Roger will
happily take his first title of the year.
NOTES: KIRILENKO, SHARAPOVA, COURIER Maria Kirilenko won
her first clay-court singles title in Estoril by besting Iveta Benesova
6-4, 6-2. She also won the doubles with Flavia Pennetta. Kirilenko's
unsung game continues to improve and there should be no reason why Russian
Fed Cup captain Shamil Tarpischev should have left her off his team
that is to play the US this weekend. She’s good enough to beat
anyone on the US team handily and could be a fine addition in doubles.
Speaking of Sharapova, the world's most popular women’s athlete
just turned 21 and will have a big birthday bash on Tuesday in
Manhattan at Tenjune. TAG Heuer is hosting the party and expected guests
include Topher Grace, James Francom, Chace Crawford, Joy Bryant, Mamie
Gummer, Thakoon, Behnaz Sarafpour and Alexander Wang. The now drinking
legal Maria will finally be able to toast herself.
Jim Courier beat Wayne Ferreira 7-6(3), 7-6(1) to
win the singles title at the $150,000 The Residences at The Ritz Carlton,
Grand Cayman Legends Championships, the second event on the '08 Outback
Champions Series tennis circuit. Remarkably, Courier’s victory
is his first on the Outback Champions Series since 2006. In the third-place
match Sunday, Jimmy Arias defeated Paul Haarhuis 7-6(3),
2-6, 10-8. “It was a very physical match,” said Courier of
the final, played in windy conditions on a clay court in the island
paradise.
“Yesterday (against John McEnroe) was difficult because John is
a cutting player, but today against Wayne was more difficult physically
and the emotions of the finals also weights on you.”
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