Tennis Acumen

"A Better & Smarter Venus" Wins First Title in 16 Months in Dubai, Improves to #29

PETE ZIEBRON

Venus Williams seeks to continue climbing up the WTA rankings.  Pete Ziebron Images

Venus Williams stormed through a draw featuring most of the best players on the WTA tour and wrapped up her 45th career title this weekend in Dubai defeating Alize Cornet of France  6-3 6-0.  Williams, the 2009 & 2010 Champion in Dubai needed a wild card into the main draw as even world #19 Genie Bouchard of Canada found herself outside of the main draw as the #1 seed in the qualifying draw of the tournament.

The victory for Williams was her first on the WTA circuit since the Luxembourg Open in October 2012.  "I'm looking to improve and be a better, smarter Venus.  I think obviously this week is a step.  Every week for me is a step"  Williams shared following her win in the Dubai final.

Venus Williams started the 2014 campaign in Auckland where she got to the final, losing a tight 3 set match to Ana Ivanovic.  Venus would get her revenge against Ivanovic in the 2nd round in Dubai, yielding only 3 games in the process.  In fact, Williams dropped only 24 games in 5 matches against several top players.

1st      d. #33 Elena Vesnina (RUS)                  6-3 6-2

2nd     d. #12 Ana Ivanovic (SRB)                    6-2 6-1

QF       d. #22 (Q) Flavia Pennetta (ITA)          6-3 7-5

SF        d. #11 (8) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)    6-3 6-2

F          d. #26  Alize Cornet (FRA)                   6-3 6-0

The main draw was so loaded that the 8th seed was world #11 Caroline Wozniacki.  Meanwhile, the 4 ladies that were fortunate to advance through 3 rounds of qualifying had an enormous task on their hands as they were going to draw either: 2011 US Open Champion Samantha Stosur, former world #1 Jelena Jankovic, 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist Kirsten Flipkens or world #25 Kaia Kanepi.

Ironically, Serena Williams was also in the main draw as the tournament's #1 seed.  Serena also accepted a wild card into the tournament as it was widely expected that she would oppose Venus in the final once the sisters both reached the semifinals.  However, Alize Cornet had other ideas and upset Serena 6-4 6-4.

Rarely do the Williams sisters play the same tournament outside of the majors and they took advantage of their scheduling to also enter the doubles event in Dubai.  Surprisingly, they lost in their first round match to Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 4-6 6-4 4-10.  In a strange twist, Serena defeated Makarova in the 2nd round of the singles draw and Venus dispatched Vesnina in the 1st round of the singles tournament.

Venus Williams was happy with her progress in winning all 5 matches in convincing fashion and she elaborated on what she was able to extract from this week going forward into 2014: "I think just a lot of match toughness, mental toughness.  When things got tough, I definitely got going this week.  If I was down break point, when push came to shove, I was pushing and shoving.  But I think that I just improved so much.  I'm just playing bigger points and converting.  That's what I needed to be able to do."

With the win, Williams improved her ranking from world #44 to #29.  She has not reached the quarterfinals of a major since 2010 when she got to the semis at the US Open as well as the quarters at both Wimbledon and the Australian Open.  "Winning all those Grand Slam titles and playing deep and getting to the final so many times, I mean, those are amazing accomplishments. It takes a lot of nerve, takes a lot of, you know, mental prowess, so I'd like to think I'm on that path."  Perhaps Venus will be able to continue to climb in the rankings and compete for majors this year.

 

Tomas Berdych Poised to Win Big in 2014

PETE ZIEBRON

World #7 Tomas Berdych is seeking his first title in 16 months this week in Rotterdam.  Pete Ziebron Images

Tomas Berdych has to wonder if just maybe he could have been crowned the 2014 Australian Open Champion a few weeks ago in Melbourne.  He was all even at one set all in the semifinals with eventual Champion Stan Wawrinka when he dropped the next two sets in tiebreakers.  Wawrinka would go on to play and defeat Rafael Nadal two days later in the Final.

Despite the loss to Wawrinka, Berdych stated this week in Rotterdam that the fact that Stan prevailed in the Final against Nadal actually gave the rest of the field hope and belief that they too could break through against the top players in a major Final:  “Stan showed us that it is possible to win a Grand Slam.  It was important to realize that if you work hard, then everything can click together and you can make it in the end. It isn’t only the right of two or three guys."  Prior to Wawrinka's win in Melbourne, Roger Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray combined to win 39 of the last 40 major Finals, with the exception being Juan Martin del Potro at the US Open in 2009.

This week at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and with a new belief that his game is certainly capable of eventually winning a major, Tomas Berdych is striking the ball with authority.  Today, after dropping the first set in a lengthy tiebreaker to Jerzy Janowicz, Berdych steadied his game and lost only 6 games the rest of the way en route to a 6-7(9) 6-2 6-4 win in his quarterfinal match.  The 3rd seeded Berdych will play Ernests Gulbis tomorrow in the first semifinal.

Even though Berdych lost the Australian Open semi to Wawrinka, he chose to extract positives from the way he played in Melbourne and continues to play aggressive tennis in Rotterdam.  The aftermath of the loss to Wawrinka actually reminded me of a round of 16 match that Berdych won against then #1 Roger Federer in 2010 when Berdych saved several match points and eventually prevailed in a 3rd set tiebreaker.  Although the result was different for Berdych in Australia compared to Miami, the belief that he had in himself to win following each of those matches appears to be very similar then and now.  Later in 2010, Berdych would once again defeat Federer in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and reached the Final at the All England Club in his only major Final appearance to date.

Including the win against Federer in Miami in 2010, Berdych has won 5 of the last 8 meetings against Federer.  Prior to the win in Miami, Berdych was only able to manage 1 win against Federer in their 9 previous meetings, at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Tomas Berdych, with his imposing service game and heavy forehands, will be seeking to win his first title since October 2012 when he won in Stockholm.  A deep run at the Australian Open, a potential title this week in Rotterdam and a newly found belief that his game is able to beat the best in the sport may very well combine to elevate Tomas Berdych to win a major title this year.

 

 

 

Roger Federer & Stan Wawrinka Power Switzerland Past Serbia in 1st Round Davis Cup Action

PETE ZIEBRON

Roger Federer and Switzerland advance to the 2nd round in Davis Cup competition.  Pete Ziebron Images

2014 Australian Open Champion Stan Wawrinka           Charles Gabrean Photography

Initially Roger Federer decided against playing in Switzerland's Davis Cup tie on the road against Serbia but later changed his mind a few days before the tie in Novi Sad and accompanied 2014 Australian Open Champion and countryman Stan Wawrinka on the Swiss squad.

Stan Wawrinka was all in all the time, as he expounded moments after defeating Rafael Nadal in Melbourne for his first major title last Sunday:  "Maybe you don't know, but Davis Cup, it's really important for me.  I'm really proud.  It's a big honor to play for my country.  So for sure I'm still thinking to go there.  I don't know how I'm going to get there exactly, if I'm still going to be alive after tonight, but I'm going to go there." 

Wawrinka and Federer teamed to win a Gold Medal in doubles at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, a victory that helped propel a somewhat slumping at the time Roger Federer to the US Open title a few weeks later.  Yesterday, Roger Federer opened the Switzerland @ Serbia Davis Cup tie with a convincing 6-4 7-5 6-2 win over Ilija Bozoljac and Stan Wawrinka followed with a 6-4 4-6 6-1 7-6(7) triumph over Dusan Lajovic, staking the Swiss to a 2-0 lead.

Today, the Swiss doubles team of Marco Chiudinelli and Michael Lammer upset the favored Serbian doubles team of Nenad Zimonjic and Filip Krajinovic 7-6(3) 3-6 7-6(2) 6-2 to wrap up the tie for Switzerland.  Federer was scheduled to play the 4th match tomorrow in the tie and will almost certainly step aside and allow a teammate to play the dead rubber in his place.

Despite the fact that they had to play Serbia on the road and just four days after the conclusion of the Australian Open and 9,602 miles and 10 time zones away from Melbourne, the Swiss team also avoided having to play Novak Djokovic, who opted to skip the tie to spend time away from the tennis court.

The next round in the Davis Cup draw is most favorable for the Swiss.  Following their victory in Serbia, they will await the winner of the Belgium @ Kazakhstan tie.  At the moment, Kazakhstan is leading 2-1 and missed an opportunity to clinch the tie today as Belgium stayed alive by winning the doubles match.

Concurrently today, traditional tennis powerhouse Spain has been eliminated as they failed to register a win either today or yesterday against the Germans in Frankfurt.  

The Davis Cup Championship is one of the few accomplishments that has eluded Roger Federer in his storied career.  Teaming with Stan Wawrinka, who is absolutely brimming with confidence following his Australian Open title, 2014 may very well be the year that Switzerland will win its first ever Davis Cup.