STANFORD, California—Hello all! Three singles matches are in the books today, and shadows are encroaching as the fourth match of the day nears its conclusion. It is a doubles quarter final between the third seeds Shahar Peer and Alisa Kleybanova and unseeded Maria Kirilenko and Victoria Azarenka.
Speaking of Azarenka, she was thorough in her thrashing of American spunkmeister Melanie Oudin earlier today. It wasn’t Oudin’s day today, but even if it was I’m not sure that the outcome would have been any different. Azarenka is a world class talent but she’s hasn’t backed that talent up with many signature wins since her 2009 triumph in Miami. Today, however, she rarely missed her target, and she didn’t give Oudin much of a chance to dominate with her forehand like she can.
Note: Miss Sharapova just stopped by for a presser. And when Miss Sharapova speaks I’m smart enough to know that I need to listen.
It‘s my job, after all.
Anyhow, nothing ground breaking to report – just that Maria felt she played a horrible first game against Olga Govortsova. But even so she seemed generally unconcerned. I don’t think she even considers Elena Dementieva to be threatening (but we all know she’s smarter than that).
While she was talking about her upcoming quarter final match with Dementieva, I was glancing at my computer screen and noticed a peculiarity: Dementieva has actually out-earned Sharapova when it comes to prize money ($13,729,105 to $13,388,872). Bet you wouldn’t have guessed that. But I guess when you realize the kind of soldiering Dementieva has done over the course of her illustrious career, it kind of makes sense.
Endorsements, however, are an entirely different story. If someone asks you which bank account you’d rather have, don’t hesitate to go for Maria’s.
Now let‘s move back to Azarenka-Oudin. In her post-match presser, Oudin was asked (by the Venerable Joel Drucker) what kind of strategy she employed to try to beat Azarenka. Melanie, ever Georgian and also very wide-eyed and somewhat emotionally flustered (but not downtrodden at all) stated the following: “I was trying to stay in there and make her play long points with me, which worked well,” she said. “Usually when we had long points I was the one that ended up winning them.” she added. “The goal is to get them moving before I’m the one running, and when I do that I usually win the point,”
I was happy to hear that this is a priority in the Oudin camp, because it was one of the stats I was tracking as I watched the match. Oudin, in a match where she won 44 of 111 points, actually did quite well in rallies that lasted 8 or more strokes. These are unofficial numbers, jotted on my notepad, but I assure you I was paying attention. Oudin won 15 of 27 of those longer rallies, and I think she’d be very smart to gear her game towards getting involved in more of this sort of thing.
I’ve always felt that she should be more judicious with her forehand. It is a lethal shot, but she makes far too many errors by going for it from a neutral or defensive position. And I’ve also felt that Melanie could be a quintessential grinder, a player that wears the opponents down by playing good defense and keeping the ball deep, then waiting for the right opportunity to unleash her killshot – the forehand.
Additionally, Oudin appears to hit the ball better as the rallies progress.
That aside, the real reason that Melanie’s train came off the tracks in the second set was her serve. She surrendered six breaks in eight service games, and was noticeably tight throughout the second set, a set in which she double faulted four times and was broken in all three of her service games.
More on Melanie later, but for now, let’s be clear in her defense: Azarenka is one great player, and who knows, she could be the player we’re all talking about when Sunday rolls around.
*****
Seeing Double: Azarenka and Kirilenko are on Track
Good times are rolling for Maria Kirilenko and Victoria Azarenka. They put the finishing touches on a match tiebreak against Alisa Kleybanova and Shahar Peer in the last day match on Stadium Court. Things looked pretty good for Kleybanova and Peer when Kleybanova served out the second set. They looked even better when Shahar Peer was preparing to serve with a 3-2 lead in the match tiebreak. But they rapidly spun out of control after that. Peer served two double faults, let out a guttural scream that pierced the ears of the early afternoon crowd, and then continued to struggle as her team lost the next six points to fall, 6-3, 4-6, (10-3). Things got to Peer, and she bounced her racquet off the hardcourt before the last changeover. Two losses in one day (she also lost to Kirilenko in singles today) will do that to you.
Double trouble: Azarenka and Kirilenko are the only singles quarterfinalists to be alive in the doubles draw. Major props to them for having a great week.
*****
Bartoli gets her first win in 4 career matches against Ivanovic:
If you read the headline you know that Miss Bartoli defeated Miss Ivanovic tonight, 6-3, 6-4. And Bartoli was without question the better player. The only thing that remains in question about the affair was the exact color that Miss Bartoli was wearing. It was kind of yellow, I guess.
Other than that, there are very few questions to ask about Bartoli’s game this week. Except for “How is it that you manage to dominate everyone that you play?” We all know she’s been to the BOTW finals for two consecutive years, and we all know that she is an absolute terror to play against. When you’re as intense as Bartoli is, you’re going to get some wins. Maybe more than some.
Marion is raw and uncensored as a player, and she is relentless as a competitor. That alone is good enough for more than some wins. Add to that her uncanny ability to open up the court and take away time from her opponent (two separate but lethal entities), and you’ve got a mystery that’s pretty hard to solve.
For those who are waiting with bated breath to find out how Miss Ivanovic played, let me comfort you by saying that the 2nd set was close. I’m not sure I can say a whole lot more than that because Bartoli was very much in control of the tilt.
That being said, Ana mounted enough of a resistance to draw even at 4-4, and had a break point to serve for the second set. But just when Ivanovic looked to produce some magic, Bartoli tapped on the accelerator and raced away. She broke for 5-4, then followed with the jugular break of serve to secure the win.
I’m told Bartoli was very entertaining in her presser by my intrepid colleagues who were there. I was out beneath the stars watching Lindsay Davenport and Liezel Huber (combined age 37, combined doubles titles, 79). I did sit in on Ana’s presser and I’ll have to make that a separate piece because there is a lot to discuss when it comes her.
It’s quarterfinal Friday tomorrow (probably today for those of you who are courageous enough to read this), so I’ll have to be going now.
See you tomorrow!
Chris Oddo is a freelance tennis writer and blogger who is based in San Francisco, California. He is a regular commenter at OTB under the moniker The Fan Child. You can follow his blog at http://thefanchild.blogspot.com.
