No. 5 Serena Williams
Strengths: An iconic champion who is one of the best big-match players of the Open era, Serena has posted a 17-0 record on clay this season -- the second-best women's clay-court streak since the turn of the century. (Justine Henin won 27 straight clay-court matches in 2005-06.) She possesses one of the most imposing serves in women's tennis history, can dictate off both serve and return and has played both deep drives and short angles effectively. She won clay-court championships in Charleston and Madrid, scoring straight-set wins over three of the other four favorites on this list in the process.
Question marks: Though she has looked fit and fresh during this clay-court season, Serena conceded a walkover in the Rome semifinals because of a lower-back injury. The slow surface can mute some of her power, which can make her prone to longer rallies and matches. Serena is 9-7 in three-setters at the French Open.
Outlook: Ten years removed from her lone French Open title in 2002, the part-time Paris resident looks pumped, primed and powerful in pursuit of a return trip to the Roland Garros final.
No. 2 Maria Sharapova
Strengths: There was a time when the mere act of moving on clay felt so unstable for Sharapova she famously compared her movement on dirt to "a cow on ice." Times have changed, and Sharapova has grown into a commanding clay-court presence. She saved a championship point to edge Li Na, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5), defending her Rome title and raising her 2012 clay record to 11-1 -- her lone loss coming to Serena Williams. The three-time Grand Slam champion is one of the fiercest fighters and hardest hitters in the game and arrives in Paris on a roll: She's 22-3 in her past 25 matches, including eight wins over top 15 opponents in that span.
Question marks: Though she has worked hard to improve her movement, Sharapova is still vulnerable in running rallies against quicker players on dirt. Her flat serve can go askew under pressure, and she does not match up well with Serena, who has not lost to Sharapova in nearly eight years, winning their past seven meetings.
Outlook: Sharapova is 5-0 in career clay finals. Four of her past five titles have come on dirt. She figures to be highly motivated to win the only major title that has eluded her and complete the career Grand Slam.
No. 1 Victoria Azarenka
Strengths: The Australian Open champion carries the confidence that comes from her 35-3 start in which she won four of the eight tournaments she entered. The Belarussian baseliner can break down even elite players with the depth, pace and accuracy of her strokes. Azarenka beat three former French Open champions -- Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic and reigning champion Li Na -- before sweeping Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-2, 6-4, to reach her sixth final in seven tournaments on Madrid's blue clay. Her two-handed backhand has become one of the best weapons in women's tennis.
Question marks: Clay is not a comfort zone. Her lone dirt title in 11 career championships came on the red clay of Marbella last April. Azarenka conceded a walkover in Rome, complaining of a right shoulder injury, which may have contributed to the 6-1, 6-3 thrashing she took from Serena in the Madrid final. In Paris, where Azarenka has yet to surpass the quarterfinals in six appearances, she will play her first major as world No. 1.
Outlook: Though the status of her shoulder is a concern, Azarenka has answered the bell in reaching six finals in eight events in 2012 and cannot be discounted on her least favorite surface.
No. 7 Li Na
Strengths: Athleticism, agility, quick feet and her ability to take the offensive against virtually any opponent with her flat groundstrokes. When she's at her best, Li can straddle the baseline and take time away from opponents by taking the ball on the rise, punctuating points with her backhand down the line. The reigning Roland Garros champion has reached at least the quarterfinals in six of eight tournaments in 2012, and she held a championship point against No. 2 Maria Sharapova before bowing in a dramatic Rome final.
Question marks: The 30-year-old can be erratic, subject to mood swings and has a habit of directing cranky outbursts at her husband and coach, Jiang Shan, who can resemble a verbal punching bag at times. When she's tight, Li can lose the shape of her forehand and flatline that shot. Roland Garros remains the lone clay-court title of her career. She is 1-5 versus top 10 opponents this season (excluding her walkover win versus Serena in Rome). Her last top-10 win came in January, and she faces the pressure of defending a major for the first time.
Outlook: During her inspired run to the 2011 title, Li defeated four top-10 players in succession -- Petra Kvitova, Azarenka, Sharapova and defending champion Francesca Schiavone -- so she can draw on that experience for confidence. That is if she can withstand the pressure and manage the mental game she can contend.
No. 6 Samantha Stosur
Strengths: The reigning U.S. Open champion was the Charleston runner-up to Serena and has posted a 13-4 record on clay this season, reaching quarterfinals in Stuttgart and Madrid. Stosur's hellacious helium-high kick serve, whiplash forehand and slice backhand play well on clay, in which she can displace opponents with the height and pace of her shots and force them on the defensive. The 2006 French Open doubles champion defeated three current or former No. 1 players -- Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic -- to reach the 2010 final, before she fell to the 17th-seeded Schiavone. Stosur is one of the fittest players in the game and owns a 7-2 record in French Open three-setters.
Question marks: Stosur's lone career clay-court title came on Har-Tru in Charleston two years ago. Nerves can get the best of her under pressure and titles have been elusive. She's won only three championships in her career. Because she regularly gives up wide sections of the court to run around her backhand and fire her favored forehand, she is vulnerable to opponents who can hit deep and hard to her forehand then force her to hit her weaker backhand on the run. Stosur is a combined 4-22 versus Roland Garros contenders Serena, Azarenka and Sharapova.
Outlook: The Aussie has reached the final four in two of the past three years, and if she's hitting her spots on serve, a semifinal return is possible.
Since hearing those surprising words, I've tried to understand what it is about Berdych that could inspire such maniacal devotion. The Army spends a fair amount each year on blocks of tickets for the tournament, including front-row seats when Berdych makes it to Rod Laver Arena. I've tried, and mostly failed. The first thing you notice about Berdych is his chilliness. He has cold, pale eyes, rarely flashes an unsarcastic smile and walks with a robotic uprightness between points. Even his one moment of contact with his opponent, the handshake, has an icy, martial feel to it. It's as if Berdych wants to eliminate everything human and vulnerable from his persona and game. He's just like his hero and countryman Ivan Lendl -- except that Berdych never wins. The vulnerability remains.
So I was surprised this past weekend, as I watched Berdych fight so well before finally crumbling to Roger Federer in the Madrid final, to feel a good deal of sympathy for the Big Berd. I wasn't chanting his name or hugging my mate, but Berdych seemed almost like a tragic figure out there. He played so well, moved better than ever, hung with Federer, even beat him off the ground and smacked his backhand down the line bravely on big points. More impressive was how well he fought. Berdych refused to do what we all thought he would do -- i.e., cave -- when he fell behind in each of the last two sets.
Until, that is, he finally went and caved, double-faulting twice to lose the second set and dropping his serve again to end the third. Berdych looked more stunned by the defeat than he might have in the past. He sat down afterward with a look of pained disbelief on his face as he ran his towel through his hair, and he spoke later of his commitment to breaking through against the top players at the big events. Berdych always has had the game -- few have ever hit with such effortless power -- but always has lacked the will and the nerve.
That could be changing as we speak. Although we rarely mention Berdych in the same breath as Murray or del Potro or Tsonga or even Isner as a guy who could end the top three's current stranglehold on the Grand Slams, he is closing in on the No. 6 ranking. He also gave Nadal everything he could handle in Melbourne. Plus, Berdych has four career wins over Federer and has been crushing guys ranked below him lately. There was a time when I used to think of Berdych as being so close, yet so far -- now he just seems so close.
After his valiant but doomed effort Sunday, I'll look forward to Berdych's quest to finally win that one point or game that always seems to elude him. I'll look forward to seeing tennis' Tin Man try to find his heart.
Venus' fans have also missed some shortcomings, like her 6-4, 6-1 loss to Angelique Kerber on Monday. That was a tough result to take, but perhaps of similar disappointment was the fact that a men's match between Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Marcos Baghdatis was being shown on television at the same time. I could feel the frustration as I read the many scathing tweets on my feed.
This was not the only instance where the men's game has had greater exposure than the women's, and it should be said that both tours' matches were unavailable during the opening days of Miami. But that's cold comfort to passionate WTA fans, particularly during a year in which women's tennis has made a quantum leap in quality. If the product improves and no one is there to see it, does it make a sound (aside from criticisms like this one)?
This problem is magnified with the rise of the combined event -- Miami and Madrid are two such examples -- where men's and women's tournaments are held at the same venue on the same week. Pitted side-by-side against the ATP, the WTA sometimes comes off as a minor league. There's the broadcast issue, but there are other differences, like on-court coaching, which might be tolerable if it was permitted across tennis. The men don't have that option, however, which makes the women look like they are incapable of figuring out the opponent or situation on their own. It's too bad the WTA makes sure we see these exchanges, which range from cringe-worthy (coach imploring, player silent) to boring (two minutes' worth of clichés). Rarely are they insightful.
Another strike against the WTA, through no fault of its own, is the traditional combined-event schedule, in which the men's final comes after the women's. There's no reason it has to -- consider the changes made to night matches at the U.S. Open -- but it's almost always been that way. Because of that, the ultimate takeaway is the men's tournament is the last thing fans saw. The WTA should try and bargain for the concluding match when it has leverage, like the new combined event to be held in Rio de Janeiro. I think it would make a difference and could signal something bigger.
These criticisms are meant to be constructive -- women's tennis is in the best shape it's been in some time, but there's lots of room for growth. And it's not as if men's tennis is slowing down. To keep up with the Djokovics, the WTA must make the most of its recent upturn. That should have started by ensuring fans could watch a match between the current Wimbledon champion and a five-time Wimbledon winner.
Favorites don't always triumph on the terre battue. In the past 15 years, only one top-seeded woman -- Justine Henin in 2007 -- prevailed in Paris. The French Open begins on May 27, and with Madrid and Rome scheduled in the coming weeks, here's our list of five women, currently ranked No. 20 or lower, capable of going deep into draws of the upcoming clay tournaments.
No. 20 Julia Goerges: Clay is not her favorite surface, but it might be her best. The 2011 Stuttgart champion and Madrid semifinalist registered an 18-7 record on dirt last season, including four wins over top-five players. Goerges can be alternately imposing and inconsistent. She can serve big and dictate play with her versatile topspin forehand, but that stroke features a lengthy, lasso-style backswing that can sometimes create timing issues. Since her run to the Dubai final in February, Goerges has gone 5-5 (through Monday), but is an explosive player who can heat up in a hurry.
No. 26 Svetlana Kuznetsova: Three months into another predictably unpredictable season, the former No. 2 split with coach Olga Morozova and hired former pro Amos Mansdorf as her new coach. Last month, the two-time Grand Slam champion beat former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic on red clay in the Fed Cup semifinals, and then managed to win just five games versus Jelena Jankovic the next day. Kuznetsova must lift her level against higher-ranked foes to gain traction on dirt. She's 2-4 versus top-20 opponents this season after going 5-10 against top-20 players last season. It's been nearly two years since she won a title. Consistency has eluded her, and she's prone to flakiness and frustration under pressure. But the 2009 French Open champion has reached at least the quarterfinals in five of her past six appearances in Paris; she can alter the spin, speed and height of her shots and owns the variety that plays well on clay.
No. 27 Sara Errani: Standing 5-foot-5, Errani casts a shadow as imposing as a ball kid, but she's been a commanding clay-court presence, producing the best year of her career. Errani has posted an 11-0 mark on dirt (through Monday), sweeping both singles and doubles titles at Acapulco and Barcelona to become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2009 to complete two singles-doubles title sweeps in the same season. Errani plays with grunt-aided guile, is skilled at exploring all areas of the court, and competes with an energetic attitude normally found in aerobic instructors and drill sergeants. The baseliner from Bologna owns an abysmal 1-5 career record at Roland Garros and is vulnerable against bigger hitters; however, she's extremely fit, is coming off her first career major quarterfinal appearance in Melbourne, and led the WTA in first-serve percentage (74 percent) and return points won on first serve (47 percent) through mid-April.
No. 31 Mona Barthel: When she's landing her bold serve and timing her groundstrokes, the 21-year-old seems capable of hitting winners at will on any surface. She hit 62 winners versus world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in a 6-4, 6-7, 7-5 loss last week. A year ago, Barthel was an explosive, erratic world No. 196 who qualified for her first major at the French Open. Last week, she swept former French Open champion Ivanovic and 2011 Roland Garros semifinalist Marion Bartoli in succession to reach her fourth quarterfinal of the season, in Stuttgart. The 6-foot German's fearless shot-making and ability to hit all the angles off her authoritative strokes have her on the fast track for the top 10 (her 26 wins are third-most among WTA players this season) if she can tame her tendency to play too close to the lines.
No. 32 Anabel Medina Garrigues: The 29-year-old Spaniard is the WTA's active leader in career clay-court titles with 10. A two-time French Open doubles champion, Medina Garrigues loves to grind long rallies on dirt, and though she's yet to surpass the French Open fourth round in singles, she moves well on dirt and is adept at defending and playing sharp angles to draw opponents out of position. Sustaining her strength in long matches can be a challenge. Medina Garrigues is 7-10 in three-setters over the past two years.
That was the good news. But along with it came some bad news, at least for U.S. tennis fans. On Monday we were given confirmation that the ATP event in San Jose would fold up its net after the 2013 edition. The tournament, under different names and at different locations, has been held in greater San Francisco since 1889, making it the second-oldest in the country. Now the Bay Area, home to Helen Wills, Don Budge, Brad Gilbert and others, will be without pro tennis. Instead, the ATP and IMG will create a new 500-level event in Rio de Janeiro.
Both of these stories are the latest examples of long-standing trends within the sport, which might be summed up in two sentences: (1) the U.S.'s loss is the world's gain; and (2) it's good to be the Grand Slams these days.
It rare to hear of a company that can listen to its employees' request for a broad-based raise and turn around and do it right away, but that's the position of success that Wimbledon and the French Open, which also increased prize money across the board, find themselves in. And though the San Jose event couldn't draw big-name players or fans, another smaller U.S. tournament, in Washington D.C., just announced that it has secured a new title sponsor, Citigroup. It doesn't hurt that D.C. -- formerly the Legg Mason, now to be called the Citi Open -- is part of the U.S. Open Series and its umbrella sponsorship deal. San Jose was on its own.
Journalist Matt Cronin noted on Tennis.com that in 1980 there were 20 ATP tournaments played in the U.S. between mid-January and early May; now there will be just five. This is tough to swallow for a country that has been a tennis power for the sport's entire history. At the moment, it seems that power and prestige have shifted to the top male players. None of them, of course, happen to be American.
But tennis is a global game, and it's well-positioned to follow the money and the buzz. Although it's hard to believe that San Francisco, along with Chicago and Seattle and Dallas and a half-dozen other big U.S. cities, won't have professional tennis, it's not hard to believe that the tour and IMG would want to be in Rio. Brazil is booming, the city will host the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016, and South America is conspicuous for its lack of a Slam or a Masters event. It's a move that, in hindsight, seems logical and even inevitable. We'll see which players come to Rio in February, but the thought of a new tournament down doesn't sound, even to this American, like the end of the world. It just feels like that world keeps spinning.
It could be worse: Tennis could be like golf, which recently created and has heavily promoted its playoff, the FedEx Cup, despite having four iconic major tournaments of its own. The competition has been a tough sell to serious golf fans for a multitude of reasons, and I've yet to meet a casual golf fan who's taken a serious interest in it.
It could be like auto racing, whose Chase for the Cup has been well-received by drivers, except that NASCAR's most prominent race, the Daytona 500, isn't a part of it. Of course, the famous season-opener plays a large role in determining who qualifies for the Chase, but it's sort of like saying Wimbledon is a feeder tournament into the ATP season-ender in London. Something just isn't right about it.
It could be like hockey or men's college basketball, two sports whose playoffs are widely praised. I'll be the first to admit that the theater of their postseasons is tough to beat. But I also think their regular seasons are significantly compromised because of it. The NHL admits more than half of its league into the Stanley Cup playoffs; the NCAA selects 68 men's basketball teams -- a large number by any measure -- to be part of the tournament. The NHL and NCAA men's hoops regular seasons aren't meaningless, but success in them is all but forgotten when knockout time begins.
Tennis, by contrast, spreads the wealth with its quartet of Slams, each managing to inspire a playofflike atmosphere. And with the sport's harebrained 10-plus-month-long schedule, that's a good thing. I'm not sure anything in a single season is worth that long a wait. It's worked out well, with these four powerful attractions generating widespread interest in the game during the winter and summer months. Yes, some finality would be nice, but the exquisitely crafted fabric of tennis is too beautiful to tear.
Here's another benefit of tennis' playoff-less structure: There's no true regular season. Now, you can view the Umags, the San Joses, the Acapulcos and Shanghais as part of a regular season, if you like, but these tournaments aren't created equal in terms of ranking points, prize money, surface and draw size, to name a few factors. Although they exist as part of one calendar, each tournament in a sense lives in a vacuum, standing on its own, which adds to its overall value.
When Juan Monaco won last week's U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston -- a decidedly minor event among all ATP tournaments -- his exuberant celebration was both joyful and telling. I doubt you'll see many similar reactions when a Major League Baseball team wins one of its staggering 162 regular-season games this summer. To me, a long, drawn-out calendar like that of MLB (and the NHL and NBA) is more of a slog than what tennis offers. There's one champion crowned in the major team sports in the U.S.; there are multiple champions crowned every week in tennis.
To me, tennis manages to strike a fine balance with its calendar, which contains elements of a "regular season" and "playoff" without some of their negatives. There is always room for improvement, and tennis' schedule is oft-maligned for good reason -- primarily because there's no time to breathe. But having just watched March Madness, and currently enjoying the NHL playoffs while avoiding the MLB regular season, I realized that tennis might not have it so bad after all.
John Isner never has surpassed the quarterfinals in four prior Houston appearances, including three consecutive third-set tiebreaker losses. But he arrives in Space City empowered by victories over world No. 13 Gilles Simon and No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on the red clay of Monte Carlo last weekend that clinched the United States' Davis Cup quarterfinal conquest of France.
Two of Isner's friends and part-time practice partners -- Mardy Fish, the top seed in Houston this week who faces ageless American Michael Russell on Thursday for a quarterfinal spot, and James Blake, whose comeback hit another bump in the road with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 loss to sixth-seeded Carlos Berlocq in the first round -- have held the tag of top-ranked American with varying degrees of success and longevity. But the 10th-ranked Isner, who trails Fish by 15 points and could pass him for the ninth spot in the rankings with a strong performance this week, does not seem to subscribe to Shakespeare's adage "uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." Ducking through doors is second nature when you stand 6-foot-9, but Isner has set a high ceiling for his goals and isn't shrinking from carrying American hopes on his shoulders.
"I still think my best tennis is two years ahead of me," Isner told the media in Houston on Tuesday. "I want to be that guy for American tennis. I want to keep climbing higher in the rankings and get to No. 9 and No. 8 and No. 7 and eventually to the top 5."
Although red clay may not appear to be Isner's ideal launching pad to attain his aspirational aims, consider in the past two months: Isner has toppled three of the world's top six-ranked players, also defeating No. 3 Roger Federer on the red clay of Fribourg in Davis Cup, and edging No. 1 Novak Djokovic in last month's Indian Wells semifinals. He surrendered serve just four times in those three wins. High-bounding topspin shots that can handcuff even the best players on clay -- see Rafael Nadal's heavy topspin to Federer's one-handed backhand -- actually sit up comfortably in Isner's sizable strike zone. The slow surface affords him the time to set up for his favored forehand, and Isner's serve is so formidable he could deliver his share of aces serving into a swamp.
"I don't feel like [my success on clay is] that surprising," Isner said. "I feel I can hold serve effectively on any surface. A lot of times, clay can play fast and the ball bounces high, and for me, obviously, that's really good if I'm hitting balls at shoulder level. That's better than hitting them at my knees. My clay-court results for my career haven't been indicative of how I can play on clay. If I can just break serve a little more over the course of the year, that's gonna bode very well for me because I hold serve quite a lot."
In addition to breaking serve, Isner, who is 12-3 in tiebreakers this season, knows he must get physically stronger and produce consistent results -- he followed his run to the Indian Wells singles and doubles finals with a third-round exit in Miami -- if he's to continue his climb to the upper echelon of the top 10.
"I will go back home [to Florida after Houston] and work with my coach, Craig Boynton," Isner said. "I need to get in better shape if I want to do good in these next two majors coming up and Masters' events. I need to be in better shape, put my head down, go back to work and get my body right."
In the aftermath of his Davis Cup triumph, the 2011 U.S. Open quarterfinalist was touted on Twitter as a Roland Garros threat by ESPN analyst and former U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe. Given six-time French Open champion Nadal's past dominance of the terre battue and Djokovic's current command of the rankings, you might think anyone backing Isner challenging for the French Open may have been spiking their red, white and blue Kool Aid with something stronger. But virtually no one in the tennis world could have foreseen Robin Soderling upsetting Nadal in 2009 to snap the Spaniard's 31-match Roland Garros winning streak, just as few envisioned 17-year-old Michael Chang's underdog run to the 1989 Roland Garros championship or unseeded Gaston Gaudio saving match points to beat third-seeded Guillermo Coria in the 2004 French Open final.
Consider that since 1999, there has been one unseeded French Open champion (Gaudio), three unseeded runners-up (Andrei Medvedev in 1999, Mariano Puerta in 2005 and Martin Verkerk in 2003), a 20th-seeded champion (Albert Costa in 2002) and a No. 23-seeded runner-up, Soderling, in 2009. Remember, Isner pushed Nadal to five sets in the 2011 French Open first round.
That's not a call to pencil the former all American at Georgia into the final four of your 2012 French Open draw, but don't be surprised when the second week dust settles to see Long John still standing.
How about 2012? As good as he's been, Djokovic doesn't have a streak this time, and few are expecting perfection from Rafa again. But on paper, this clay season, which gets under way in earnest two weeks from now in Monte Carlo, could be the most dramatic of them all.
The primary reason for that is what's going to come at the end: A history-making, potentially era-defining French Open. Last year, Nadal came to Paris with a chance to tie Bjorn Borg's record six titles at Roland Garros, while Djokovic arrived toting his gaudy win streak. If anything, the stakes are even higher for both men this time around. Djokovic will have a chance to become the first player since Rod Laver in 1969 to win four straight majors -- the Djoker Slam. Rafa, meanwhile, could become the first man to win seven titles at Roland Garros. Djokovic has invaded Nadal's territory in London and New York, but thus far Rafa has held his ground in Paris.
Their duel in 2012 should begin much earlier. Both men are set to play in Monte Carlo in mid-April, as well as the Masters events in Madrid and Rome the following month. They might put on a two-man high-wire act all over Europe for the next eight weeks. If, at the end of that act, Djokovic does get the better of Rafa and win his fourth straight Slam, he'll have achieved something that neither Federer nor Nadal could pull off.
What about that third man of men's tennis, Roger Federer? Doesn't he have a say in this? He does, of course, but so far he's not scheduled to play anywhere until Madrid and Rome. That would leave him with five weeks off after his early loss in Key Biscayne, which is perhaps a good thing in a year in which he's targeting an Olympic gold medal. But the tournament director in Monte Carlo is holding a wild card aside for Federer and hoping for a late entry. If Federer takes it, he could potentially challenge Nadal for the No. 2 ranking, and No. 2 seeding at Roland Garros. Rafa is 900 points ahead at the moment, but has much more to defend.
On the one hand, Federer has performed well recently after long breaks. On the other, the last time he took a wild card into Monte Carlo, he went on to win the French Open and Wimbledon. Whether Federer shows up in Monaco alongside Rafa and Nole or not, men's tennis is ready for liftoff.
But this loss, the most recent of a troubling number of second-round defeats (Ivanovic also lost in the round of 64 at the 2009 U.S. Open and 2010 Australian Open) was perhaps the most damaging. It pushed the former No. 1 outside of the top 50 for the first time in years. The young Serbian who attracted fans with her game and looks looked nothing like the marquee talent she seemingly just was.
Dinara Safina, another former No. 1, would endure something similar shortly after Ivanovic's plight and has yet to recover. But Ivanovic is a different story, even if she's yet to climb all the way back to the tour's loftiest perch. The tumble appeared to spark Ivanovic almost immediately; ranked No. 58, she reached the semifinals of the 2010 Italian Open in Rome.
In the summertime, at this point ranked No. 62, Ivanovic made the final four in Cincinnati and advanced to the second week of the U.S. Open, her bugaboo. It all came together for her that fall, when Ivanovic won a small tournament in Linz, Austria -- her first title in two years -- and closed the season as champion of Bali, the WTA's second-tier year-end championships. Things were looking up for Ivanovic, who ended the 2010 season ranked No. 17.
But instead of rounding the next hairpin turn toward the top 10, Ivanovic was stuck in neutral for the majority of the 2011 season. It started woefully, with a first-round loss at the Australian Open, and her quarterfinal showing at Indian Wells was good, if not up to her usual output. Her serving woes -- exacerbated by all-too-frequent wayward ball tosses -- crept into her game and put her at a disadvantage before a shot was struck. Though she came close, Ivanovic didn't reach a final in 2011 -- until Bali, her haven, where she again won a title at year's end. Ivanovic finished the 2011 season with a 32-20 record and ranked No. 22.
So, essentially, Ivanovic hit the reset button in advance of this season. Will it turn out differently, and more to the point, will she become the consistent, elite player we once watched? At the moment, I'm encouraged. At the Australian Open, Ivanovic reached the fourth round and gave second-seeded Petra Kvitova a serious challenge, losing 6-2, 7-6 (2).
But her performance at Indian Wells is what really made me take notice. Facing Caroline Wozniacki, a player whose consistency could trouble Ivanovic's sometimes erratic play, the Serb was superb. Her forehands were her devastating, pushing Wozniacki from the baseline and finishing points inside the court. Her serve was rarely an issue. Ivanovic still caught the ball occasionally, but her service motion was no worse for it, and her second serves -- when nerves have gotten the best of her before -- were confidently hit and well-placed.
Most importantly, Ivanovic enjoyed the moment. Each winner was followed by a look of encouragement, both inwardly and to her supporting team, and the crowd responded in kind. Ivanovic obliterated Wozniacki 6-3, 6-2, but the score doesn't reflect how imposing she was.
After defeating Marion Bartoli in a straight-sets quarterfinal encounter, Ivanovic arguably hit the ball even better against Maria Sharapova in the semis. It felt like 2007 and 2008 again, with the two starlets embracing the spotlight and playing, what I consider, some of the best tennis of the entire tournament. That meant Sharapova also was at her peak, of course, and she took the first set, 6-4. It turned out to be the only set completed -- in a cruel twist of fate, Ivanovic retired just a game into the second set with a glute injury.
It appears to be just a temporary setback; on her website, Ivanovic said the injury isn't serious. And on the whole, Ivanovic should take positives from her play at Indian Wells. Her strokes looked lethal, capable of competing with -- and beating -- any opponent she could face. A similar run in Miami, another event featuring slow, hard courts, doesn't seem improbable. But the next two months are when Ivanovic could, and maybe should, take greater strides. April and May consist of clay, a surface Ivanovic has mastered in the past, and a court on which many of the WTA's leading ladies -- including Victoria Azarenka and Kvitova -- are at their weakest. Like Rafael Nadal in the ATP, Ivanovic could give her entire year a boost with some strong results on red dirt.
And if that happens, Ivanovic could be heading to another year-end championships -- this time the more prestigious one in Istanbul instead of Bali.
One of Brazil's most beloved athletes was back in the spotlight last week as the International Tennis Hall of Fame announced the 35-year-old Kuerten its latest inductee on July 14. The induction of the man known by tennis fans around the world as "Guga" is the culmination of a career in which he won three French Open championships and became the first South American to ever hold the year-end No. 1 rank.
"It's a great honor -- perhaps the highest honor in tennis," Kuerten said in a phone interview a few hours after the announcement. "Probably one of my greatest accomplishments was being able to get Brazilians excited about tennis and to elevate the attention for Brazil as a tennis nation."
Kuerten combined the charisma of a rock star with the affable accessibility of your favorite camp counselor. He was ranked No. 66 when he burst onto the scene with a flourish, beating three former French Open champions to capture his first career title at the 1997 Roland Garros. He gave his Roland Garros trophy -- and every other trophy he ever won -- to his biggest fan, younger brother Guilherme, who suffered from cerebral palsy and severe physical disability and who served as an inspiration to his big brother. Guilherme Kuerten died in 2007. The Kuerten family founded the Gustavo Kuerten Institute in 2000 to benefit the disabled.
Guga's gangly grace made him look like someone about to break into a spontaneous samba. The high-bouncing topspin drives he delivered off his brilliant groundstrokes, the way he bounced around the court as if playing to the beat of music and his trademark headband that kept his unruly halo of hair somewhat in place made him one of the most distinctive stylists of his era. It also won him a legion of devoted fans, many of whom, clad in Brazilian colors, would bang on drums, blow horns and dance in the aisles during his matches.
Given the fact 14 of his 20 career titles came on clay and all three of his major final appearances came in Paris, there's a tendency to cast Kuerten as a slow-surface specialist. Anyone who tells you Kuerten was a clay-court specialist should YouTube his performance at the 2000 Tennis Masters Cup in Lisbon, Portugal, where he beat three former World No. 1 Grand Slam champions -- Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi -- in succession in a stirring effort on an indoor hard court to surpass friendly rival Marat Safin and conclude the year ranked No. 1.
"I had maybe a 5 percent chance of becoming No. 1 when it started, and after losing the first match, I had problems with my back and did not know if I could finish," Kuerten said. "I was able to turn it all around and win on a surface that was not my best to become No. 1, and for the first time to be able to speak to people in Portuguese after the final was really the best thing I could ever do in my career."
Equally balanced off both forehand and backhand wings, Kuerten could play the court straight up, and his serve was a weapon. In 2001, he was second in the ATP in aces (683) and third in service games won (87 percent) as he won a career-best six titles in eight finals that season.
Guga wasn't the best player of his generation, but you can make a case he was the coolest. And Guga was a game-changer. He was one of the first champions to use Luxilon strings, ushering the era of heavy topspin into the sport.
"If you watch his Tennis Masters Cup match against Sampras on replay, notice how Guga is hitting forehands that dip tremendously at Pete's feet," says Nate Ferguson, Sampras' stringer, who now customizes rackets for Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. "What we're looking at when we watch that match is the earliest evolution of the game changing right before our eyes, because of the strings. Though at the time, no one realized what was happening."
A series of arthroscopic hip surgeries curtailed Kuerten's career, but even after his first hip surgery, on Feb. 26, 2002, he still showed flashes of the familiar magic in Paris, when he swept world No. 1 Roger Federer en route to the 2004 French Open quarterfinals.
These days, Kuerten spends much of his time playing with his 1-month-old daughter, Maria, but still retains his passion for tennis.
"I love to watch tennis and I am very enthusiastic to see the level of tennis played now," Kuerten said. "I think tennis is really in a fantastic place right now, and I enjoy watching it very much."
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Stephen Tignor (left) is the executive editor of TENNIS Magazine and SMASH Magazine. He writes "Concrete Elbow" on TENNIS.com and is the author of High Strung: Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe and the Untold Story of Tennis's Fiercest Rivalry.
Richard Pagliaro (middle) is a senior editor for TENNIS.com.
Ed McGrogan (right) is the online editor for TENNIS.com.