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Spadea's Davis Cup Plea Rejected
Sharapova slams Kutzy; Serena,
Mauresmo mow 'em down
By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net
Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA |
| Maria Sharapova made quick
work of Svetlana Kuznetsova at the WTA Championships. |
FROM THE WTA CHAMPIONSIPS IN LA –
With her stick-like figure, Maria Sharapova may look like the weakest
player at the WTA Championships. But she has a lot of Tommy Hearns
in her and, if she plays like she did in thrashing the Marvin Hagler-esque
Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-4 on Thursday, she could very well walk
away with the title.
And what if she did? Would someone argue that she's the People's
No. 1, given her one Slam title, the "fifth Slam" of the
Championships and three other titles? Her fans certainly would.
First, Sharapova has to get there and given that she came into the
tournament complaining of a sore shoulder, she might not last. But
the rest of the field better be very wary of her because she's a
spitfire indoors. Sharapova came into the match 0-2 against Kuznetsova,
a much stronger physical specimen. At '03 Wimbledon, she lost a
tight 7-5 in the third-set contest to the bicyclist's daughter.
Six weeks ago in Beijing, Kuznetsova hammered her 6-2, 6-2. But
that's when Kuznetsova was riding a huge wave of confidence coming
off her US Open title and Sharapova's confidence was down. It was
outdoors, windy and Kuznetsova moved her all over the court. That's
very difficult to do indoors, where there's no wind, no glaring
sun, just thin air and balls waiting to be slugged.
"She was on top of her game today," Kuznetsova said. "She
was hitting very hard. I was thinking she was playing so great and
I'm not doing anything. I should have tried something different
and I just tried to hit harder."
Sharapova said the key was starting well and that she did, going
for broke on her returns and whipping groundstrokes into the corners.
Had Kuznetsova served better, the match might have gone into a third
set, but Sharapova is particularly lethal on fast surfaces and,
if you give her a second serve into her wheel house, she'll spit
it back down the line. She never allowed Kuznetsova to dictate with
her forehand and if the US Open champion can't set up for her money
shot, she's quite vulnerable.
Sharapova toasted Kutzy in the first set and, after losing control
of her serve for a significant part of the second set, took her
time and found the T. The 17-year-old ended the contest with 23
winners to only nine from Kuznetsova and ended the match with a
gorgeous inside-out backhand return of serve winner.
"I didn't serve well and she returned pretty good. She didn't
let my build me game." said Kuznetsova.
Sharapova says she fashions herself a "Renaissance woman"
now, although she's not interested in acting. She does love fashion
and shopping, which doesn't exactly make her Anna Karenina or Gertrude
Stein, but at least she's attempting to expand her intellectual
horizons, which will aid her on court. She is a huge fan of the
NBA and loved playing for the first time in the storied Staples
Center.
"I'm so excited to be here, to be one of the top eight girls.
It's great to be playing where the Lakers play," she said.
"You just feel the excitement. I know I went out there and
played my game. I was on."
Kuznetsova is now 1-1 in the Black Group in the eight-woman round
robin competition and now faces a probable live or die match against
Amelie Mauresmo, who embarrassed Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 6-0 to win
her opening match. Mauresmo is as confident as she's ever been and
committed only six unforced errors to 25 from Zvonareva. She's serving
big and with variety, mixing heavy slice and topspin from the baseline
and volleying beautifully. "She was very confident, served
really well and hit unbelievable groundstrokes," said a predictably
tearful Zvonareva, who has played five weeks in a row. "It's
tough for me to come here for the first time and show my best game."
MAURESMO V. DAVENPORT IS STILL
THE TOURNAMENT'S TOP STORY
Mauresmo will have to at least reach the final to take back the
top ranking from Davenport and may very well have to win it. All
she wants is a chance to succeed. "It would be great [to get
the No. 1 ranking back]," Mauresmo said. "Hopefully I
can make it this week even though I know it will be very tough.
She's been playing well also. I'm looking forward to the next match
every day." However, should the American reach the semifinals,
Mauresmo will have to win the tournament to move up.
Even though she still needs a few shots of WD-40, Serena Williams
won her second match, overcoming Elena Dementieva 7-6 (7-3), 7-5.
Serena was her typical self after the match, mostly disparaging
her play. But, she's pleased with the results of the new elements
she's adding to her game: a backhand slice, a more effective lob
and a further willingness to charge the net. She'll have Davenport
next, who clocked her in the Carson final. Even though she's not
in top shape, the good news for Serena is that she hasn't felt any
pain in her knee for at least a month.
Susan Mullane/ Camerawork USA |
| Vince Spadea can't
convince coach Patrick McEnroe to put him on the US Davis
Cup team. |
Spadea's Davis Cup plea falls short
Vince Spadea e-mailed out an unsuccessful plea to be named to the
Davis Cup squad to the media Wednesday, but it didn't make much
of a difference. The abbreviated version is this: Vince wrote a
letter to captain Patrick McEnroe, asking to be named to the team
based on his 2004 record over Mardy Fish. On Thursday, McEnroe named
Fish, Andy Roddick and the Bryan Bros. to the team. Here's
some of what Vince wrote:
"Throughout
the year, I have expressed my desire to represent my country in
Davis Cup, a privilege I felt I earned earlier in the year with
respect to previous Davis Cup matches. For reasons never articulated
to me, and despite my solid results throughout the year, you have
consistently chosen not to select me to the Davis Cup. Earlier
this year, after having won an ATP tour title and reached the
semifinals of the NASDAQ 100, you declined to name me to the Davis
Cup team for the quarterfinal match against Sweden, as well as
the semifinal match against Belarus. In bypassing me in your selection,
you stated that in order for you to select me to the Davis Cup
team, I would have to demonstrate significantly better results
or a higher ranking than the younger Americans in contention for
Davis Cup play this year.
"I have done that this year, and, but for Andy Roddick, I
am ranked higher than all of the other American players interested
and available to play Davis Cup.
• 2004 ATP entry ranking (as of 11/7/04): Spadea (19), Dent,
(32), Fish (37)
• 2004 year-to-date ATP singles wins: Spadea (40), Dent
(32), Fish (28)
• Top finishes in ATP European red clay tour events: Spadea
(2004 Italian Open quarterfinals, 2003 Monte Carlo semifinals,
2003 French Open 3rd round), Dent (2004 Monte Carlo 2nd round,
2004 French Open 1st round), Fish (2003 Italian Open 2nd round,
2003 French Open 1st round).
"I hope and expect that you will honor your word, and my
hard work and achievements this year, and name me to the team
for the final in Spain. Further, with regards to the integrity
of the process, I feel that the Davis Cup selection should be
an equitable one in which members are selected based on merit.
Other irrelevant and unjust off court factors, such as age or
friendships, should have no bearing on the team selections. Having
ended the year in the top twenty and ahead of other younger Americans,
my performance and ranking this year clearly demonstrate that
my age has no bearing on my ability to perform at the highest
level of our sport. Further, my record shows that age, unquestionably,
should not be a factor in deciding the Davis Cup team. I know
that I have earned a playing position on the American team in
the upcoming Davis Cup final."
P-MAC DEFENDS HIS CHOICE
McEnroe then told Tennisweek.com, "Spadea's had better results
than Fish on clay, but this isn't a clay-court season. We're playing
one match," McEnroe said. "I'll say it again: in my
mind, in my opinion, Mardy has a better chance to win a match
(than Spadea). Does that mean he's necessarily a guy who's going
to win more matches on clay throughout the course of a two-month
season? Well that's debatable. I'm asking him to try to go win
one match. And if you put Vince Spadea – or anyone –
in their first live match in Davis Cup in the Davis Cup final
in front of 25,000 people who are going crazy – and I've
been there for Roddick's first Davis Cup match, for Mardy's first
Davis Cup match, for James Blake's first Davis Cup match, for
Ginepri's first Davis Cup match, down two sets to love, the whole
deal – that's very tough. We can't afford that in this big
a match. And as I said, as solid a year as Vince has had, he hasn't
done great in the majors. He hasn't had great results in Slams,
which leads me to think that in five-set matches, it's one thing
if the guy's unbelievable in five-set matches or if the guy got
to the semis of the French. Yeah, he's had better results than
Mardy on clay this year. He hasn't had the results that to me
make it a no-brainer that he is the obvious pick. To me, Mardy
has a better chance to win a match, he's been part of the team."
© Mark Lyons |
| Mardy Fish |
More than anything, it's a matter of
trust and McEnroe doesn't believe that Vince is a big-match player.
I agree. Spadea has been on tour a long time and while he's a
terrific fighter and has won some amazing, early-round five-setters
at Roland Garros, he has proven to be a much lesser player than
clay court greats Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moya and can't
stand toe to toe with a zoning Rafael Nadal. It's unlikely that
he can match the inspiration of even a Tommy Robredo.
That doesn't mean that Fish will win a match in Spain. Yes, he
has more firepower than Spadea does, but one has to doubt his
resolve after he choked in the final of the Olympics against Nicolas
Massu. Plus, he's had a mediocre fall. But unlike Vince, at least
Fish reached the final of a huge event this year. Vince's most
notable run was winning Scottsdale, a fine achievement, but it
wasn't exactly an A-plus field.
McEnroe's job is to go with his gut. That's what great coaches
do. He could be wrong, but Fish does have winning records against
Moya and Ferrero (although all their matches were played on hard
courts). That will give him some self-belief going into the matches.
And, if he plays as well as he is capable of, he can match up
with them in the firepower department. The only thing that Vince
can hope for is that they drop a level and he can outlast them.
With all that said, McEnroe did have another option I'm sure that
he considered: Dropping Mike Bryan off the squad, letting Mardy
play doubles with Bob Bryan and, if Fish bombed in the first day
of singles, subbing in Vince on day three. But the move would
have been a huge risk for a couple of reasons: Bob Bryan would
have objected to the move, even though Mike has been injured;
if Fish did win his first singles match and had to play doubles,
he might not be fresh enough to go on day three; and Andy Roddick
would not have been pleased with his good friend Mardy being left
off the squad.
TennisReporters.net's former partner and The
Miami Herald's Sandra Harwitt makes a very good point when
she says that McEnroe should consider taking Vince as the practice
player and if Fish looks lousy in the days prior to the match
or is losing to Vince in practice, he could then bring in Spadea.
Vince apparently is willing to go as a practice player. McEnroe
isn't sure yet who he is bringing, but has mentioned Robby Ginepri
as a possibility.
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