MIAMI, Florida—Venus and Serena Williams have dominated at the Sony Ericsson Open for over a decade.
After a particularly disastrous Sunday in Miami, there is little doubt that this year will be any different.
Maybe it is the courts? Perhaps the home crowds? Or is a higher power at work?
“Home crowd, home court, I don’t know,” Serena when asked on Sunday about their stellar history. “We just really enjoy playing and we just get up for this tournament.”
Her older sister credits their achievements to God. “Every good gift comes from above,” Venus said on Monday. “That’s what I attribute it to.”
Regardless of the reason, the annual tournament on Key Biscayne brings out the best in both of their games. Venus and Serena have found success seven additional times since Venus first beat Anna Kournikova for the title in 1998.
The seeded carnage on Sunday began just after midnight when Jelena Jankovic bowed out under the lights to a resurgent Gisela Dulko. Approximately twelve hours later, Dinara Safina and Ana Ivanovic tumbled out to Samantha Stosur and Agnes Szavay, respectively. A few hours after those momentous exits, Vera Zvonareva and Nadia Petrova followed their top seeded counterparts out the door.
The string of upsets continued on Monday morning as Caroline Wozniacki ousted Elena Dementieva in straight sets.
Ordinarily, it would be considered a fluke to have so many top players defeated this early, but this is nearly an exact repeat of last week’s BNP Paribas Open. At Indian Wells, Jankovic, Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova led the charge out the back door, leaving a skeleton draw of top players once the quarterfinals began.
Venus and Serena Williams, the favorites heading into the tournament, have now been dealt a clear road to a potential semifinal meeting. The winner of that match will be the overwhelming favorite to win the title.
But before handing out the trophy prematurely, a few road bumps could derail the Williams train before it pulls into the station on Saturday afternoon.
Analyzing the second half of the draw is not easy, but four women have emerged as potential finalists.
Victoria Azarenka’s game is certainly on the upswing and she remains a favorite to reach the final. What the feisty Belarusian lacks for in experience, she makes up for with determination and confidence. Best of all, she is not afraid of playing anyone on the Tour, and when it comes to a steely complexion on court, she rivals Serena and Maria Sharapova.
“I don’t think that anybody should have any fear, because we’re young,” Azarenka said in Indian Wells about the players who are beginning to challenge the most established stars at the top of the Tour. “We play good, have good results. Don’t have anything to lose. ”
Caroline Wozniacki, one of the players Azarenka referred to in Indian Wells, is another young woman who could shake up the status quo in Miami. Wozniacki, just like Azarenka, has been knocking at the door for months, but needs one big win to establish herself as a legitimate threat for titles.
Samantha Stosur celebrated her twenty-fifth birthday today and has already gifted herself a big win over Dinara Safina on Sunday and another one against Amelie Mauresmo on Monday. The Australian thinks that her resurgent form counts as a good birthday present.
“I’ll take these wins any day, but I guess on your birthday it is a little more special and certainly a good thing to happen,” Stosur said.
The biggest maverick in the second half of the draw is 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.
It is hard to believe that it has been nearly five years since Svetlana’s one and only major, and since then her career has been on a seesaw. Kuznetsova has lost ten of her last eleven finals, a statistic that speaks volumes about her inconsistency. Apart from Venus and Serena, she is the only woman in the draw to have previously won a title in Key Biscayne.
Of course, Venus and Serena might not reach their semifinal showdown. But the sisters are unlikely to start quivering in their tennis shoes when thinking about their quarterfinal opponents Iveta Benesova and Na Li.
Welcome to Miami. This is Venus and Serena’s world, and as for the rest of the field, they merely play in it.
On the Baseline’s live coverage of the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open is brought to you by Grand Slam Tennis Tours.
“the seeded carnage”…how descriptive!