There was actually a lot of tennis action this week, though you only got to see a sliver of it, and that was only if you are one of the lucky ones with TTC.
First up, the ladies.
Maria Kirilenko followed up last week's title run with another final appearance, and kudos to her for testing Venus and taking her to three sets, but in the end Venus prevailed 6-3, 1-6, 6-4. According to media reports, it was an ugly match with a lot of double faults. Oh, and this was in Korea...the Korean Open, where if you win, they like to dress you up.
I just have...no words.
In China, the Guangzhou International Women's final pitted Tzipi Obziler (the 'old' Israeli) against Virginie Razzano. Razzano took this easily, 6-0, 6-3. Too bad...I kind of wanted to see Tzipi win it. I'll never forget watching some of her matches at Legg Mason a few years ago...she was fun to watch, especially when she got mad!
Zipping over to the Fortis Championships gave us a final that featured some more well known ladies. #2 seed Ana Ivanovic took on #4 seed Daniela Hantuchova. I got to see a bit of Hantu's semi against Marion Bartoli...she was very dominant. At least, that's what I could see when I wasn't cringing away from the screen because I can NOT stand watching Bartoli serve. It would have been nice to see Dani win something other than Indian Wells, but not today. AnaIvo captured the title 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. I have this recorded, but haven't watched it yet. But here are some fun pics:
AnaIvo's magic!
Ana with the trophy...which is interesting, to say the least.
Ana also sewed up a trip to Madrid for the year end championships when she advanced to the semis here...this puts her in with Justine, Jankovic, and Kuznetsova. Four more spots are still up for grabs.
The boys played, too!
Richie (Reeeeechard!) Gasquet was able to hold off any mental breakdowns long enough to capture the Kingfisher Airlines Open (whaaaa?) over Ollie Rochus, 6-3, 6-4.
Over in Thailand (aka the tournament where nobody showed up...proving that the boys are just as capable of ruining a tournament as the women are) Dmitry Tursunov easily defeated Benjamin Becker 6-2, 6-1.
This is important...because this was a hard court. With a Russian. A Russian who took the US out of the Davis Cup last year, and a Russian that will be on the team traveling to the US this year for the final. Look for Tursunov to play a pivotal part in this final.
Dima:
By the way, I will take a moment to exhibit my profound disappointment that the final will be Portland. PORTLAND??? I could have *driven* to Winston-Salem, but I guess now I can just save my tennis monies for something else...like maybe the Open next year!
HMPH!!!
Oh, and looks like Sunday will be update here on the good old blog. Extra posts may pop in if need be, but I will always try to update on Sundays.
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Not much going on with my own game right now...it was a quiet week. I didn't have a lesson because my court time was given away to a HS. I'm a bit perturbed by that. Carol wants to move me to Wednesday nights, but that is the *only* night I'm not already playing at Skyline...I want a night off to run, especially with some races coming up. I'd honestly rather double tennis on some other night, doing a lesson and then clinic. My singles flight starts this week as well, so it will be good to get some regular singles practice going.
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