Australian Open Predictions

Okay, predictions for the Australian Open: (apologies for the layout, wordpress seems to be playing up)

1st Quarter Semi Finalist – Serena Williams (if her ‘knee injury’ comes into play again, Vika Azarenka)

2nd Quarter Semi Finalist – Caroline Wozniacki

3rd Quarter Semi Finalist – Kim Clijsters

4th Quarter Semi Finalist – Marion Bartoli

Okay, my own bias is probably coming into play there.  Bartoli is more than capable of reaching the Quarter Final here, in which she would likely play Maria Sharapova or Dinara Safina – I would see it as Bartoli vs Sharapova and I’m taking an upset special with the Frenchwoman.

Semi Finals

Serena Williams bts Caroline Wozniacki

Kim Clijsters bts Marion Bartoli

Held myself back from saying another Marion win!

Final

Serena Williams vs Kim Clijsters

WINNER – Kim Clijsters

Other possible contenders:

Justine Henin – falls to Clijsters

Elena Dementieva – falls to Henin

Svetlana Kuznetsova – falls to Clijsters

Vika Azarenka – falls to S. Williams

Flavia Pennetta – falls to Henin

Jelena Jankovic – falls to Bartoli

Dinara Safina – falls to Sharapova

Venus Williams – falls to an Upset Special

Finally, the two players I would have followed with lots of interest are the Slamless Dementieva and Italian Pennetta but unfortunately both are due to play Henin early – Dementieva in the 2nd round. If either of them were to beat Henin they’d still have to play Clijsters! Both of those players are capable of causing the upset against either of the Belgians.

Dementieva downs Serena in Sydney

WTA Medibank International: Russian star Elena Dementieva picked up her first title of the season in Sydney, thumping Serena Williams 6-3, 6-2 in the Final.

Dementieva successfully defended a title for the first time in her career to cap a fine week and take her total to 15 tournament wins.  During the week she beat Francesca Schiavone and Daniela Hantuchova before taking three Top Ten scalps; Dinara Safina (2), Victoria Azarenka (7) and Serena (1), dropping just one set along the way to Hantuchova.

The final was marred slightly by an apparent knee injury to Serena, who began wincing and limping when 6-3, 3-0 down but Dementieva had outplayed her from the start, just as she outplayed her other opponenents in Sydney, with some dominant, almost flawless tennis. Serena on the other hand made unforced error after unforced error but confirms that the injury isn’t serious enough to harm her chances in the Australian Open, which begins on Sunday night (UK time).

The tournament began with a strong field and contained nine of the top ten players, Venus Williams being the missing link.  Vera Zvonareva retired after six games of her opening match against Elena Vesnina and the ankle injury which hampered her last season looks set to continue in 2010.  Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Jankovic both crashed out in the first round, to Li Na and Agnes Szavay respectively whilst Kuznetsova was beaten by Cibulkova in the second round. Of the top players, it was Dementieva who stood head and shoulders above the rest.

Perhaps the funniest match was played in the second round between Agnes Radwanska and Dinara Safina, as the Russian rallied from 0-5 down in the first set to take the match 7-5, 6-4. Safina looked in good form on occasions in her matches against Radwanska and Dementieva but too often struggled to hit the court.

Elsewhere this week, Alona Bondarenko was victorious in Hobart, beating Shahar Pe’er 6-2, 6-4 in the Final to collect her second career title.  Both players now head to Melbourne to join the rest of the assembled cast for the Australian Open.

Justine Henin was practising in Melbourne this week after pulling out of Sydney to protect a leg injury from becoming more severe, and was joined by Kim Clijsters, Maria Sharapova and Marion Bartoli.  Sharapova and Bartoli will go into the first slam of the year without playing a competitive tournament as a warm up, although Sharapova was active in a Hong Kong exhibition the week before.  Bartoli, following a succession of injuries last year, including being forced to retire against Aravane Rezai in the season-ending Bali championships, has opted to focus more on her physical maintenance as she aims for further improvements this season. As always, Allez Marion!

Australian Open preview to follow tomorrow.

Belgians set the pace for 2010

After a ridiculously long absence of at least six weeks, the new tennis season has arrived with a bang! 2010 opened with tournaments in Brisbane and Auckland and both were won by Belgian players, Kim Clijsters and Yanina Wickmayer respectively.

The main focus this week has been the return of Justine Henin after 18 months out of the game and she didn’t disappoint, finally succumbing to Clijsters in the Brisbane final on a third set tie-break. Henin saw off Nadia Petrova in her first match and also took care of Sesil Karatantcheva and, after a tense battle, Melinda Czink before dispatching Ana Ivanovic without too much trouble. In the final against Clijsters the bar was raised in a rollercoaster match which saw Clijsters take a 6-3, 4-1 lead and appear certain for a comfortable win. Henin had different ideas and won the next eight games to take the second set and establish a 3-0 lead in the third, before herself collapsing as Clijsters fought back. Almost inevitably it went to a tie-break after Henin failed to finish off two match points in the final set, and the breaker was as giddy as the match itself; Clijsters took a 4-0 lead, then 5-1, but Henin clawed back to 6-6 before producing a double fault to give Clijsters match point on her own serve, and Clijsters screamed with joy for a second before a line judge called ‘out’ on what seemed a perfectly good ball. At that point it would have been very harsh for Clijsters to be denied but she wrapped the match up moments later, taking the tiebreak 8-6. Disappointing for Henin but just getting to the final in her first tournament back was a huge achievement.

So what next? Well, Henin has pulled out of this weeks tournament in Sydney citing a leg injury which she wants to rest, which makes sense. At times this week she has looked rusty, other times phenomenal so it’ll be great when she’s back in the groove of the Tour.

In Auckland it was Belgian youngster Yanina Wickmayer who triumphed, beating Flavia Pennetta in the final. Wickmayer, who was facing a one year ban just a month ago, couldn’t prepare properly for the new season of course as she didn’t know whether she’d be able to compete, but looked superb in her first tournament of the year. Pennetta also looked to be going with all guns blazing, playing some awesome tennis until the final, when she seemed unable to do anything right. Wickmayer will next have to qualify for the Australian Open despite being ranked No. 16 in the world, due to the issues surrounding her ban, so you have to pity the poor bollocks who draws her in qualifying.

Other notes from the tournaments this week, based mainly on my own interests… Alize Cornet is showing signs of getting over the slump of last year, beating Erakovic and Vesnina pretty comfortably before going out to feisty Italian Francesca Schiavone. She started this week in Hobart with a 6-1, 6-0 thrashing of Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru.

Shahar Peer was the subject of a small protest in Auckland. The group, which I think consisted of about seven people, stood at the entrance to the tournament during her matches and called through a megaphone for the Israeli to withdraw from the tournament due to the government of her country. Peer didn’t seem to mind though and progressed to the semi finals before bowing out to Wickmayer in straight sets. The only player that seemed to be affected by the protest was Magdalena Rybarikova who was visibly shaken and seemed to agree that her match against Peer should be abandoned – well done protestors, Magdalena thanks you for ruining her tournament.

So where the hell were the rest of the top players in the opening week of the season? Hong Kong, playing an exhibition tournament which I’m not even going to bother going into. Rumours that none of them fancied playing Clijsters or Henin remain unconfirmed, but Serena Williams, Dementieva, Sharapova, Safina, Azarenka, Wozniacki, Kuznetsova, Zvonareva and Jankovic will all be competing this week in Sydney. Venus Williams, however, decided that one exhibition tournament is more than enough preperation for the Australian Open and is putting her feet up somewhere – please, don’t suggest it’s because she’s not going to go far in the AO. Last year’s exit to the always-enigmatic Carla Suarez Navarro won’t be repeated.

So, Sydney and Hobart will lead us up to the AO, hopefully it’ll be another good week for the WTA but I suspect it’ll be littered with retirements and withdrawals as we approach the first Slam of the year one week from now – roll on!

Kim Stars in Fairytale of New York

Fate, destiny, written in the stars; some of the descriptions I’ve heard since Kim Clijsters capped a remarkable return to tennis by winning the US Open. Featuring in just her third tournament since her comeback, she took a wildcard into the final Slam of the year as an unseeded entrant, and left with all the spoils. It’s the heart and soul of dreams.

She began with an expected win over Viktoriya Kutuzova before leaping her first hurdle, in the shape of Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli, in three sets and then took out compatriot and friend Kirsten Flipkens. Next she faced the biggest test of her comeback thus far in Venus Williams and took a remarkable match 60 06 64 to progress to the Quarter Finals. Here she disposed of Li Na to set up a Semi Final match against world number 2 Serena Williams. Unless you’ve been in hiding for the last couple of weeks then you know what happened in THAT match as Clijsters progressed to the US Open Final in straight sets, 64 75. The final obstacle between the Belgian and an unbelievable victory was Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki, who had overcome her own personal millstone in Sorana Corstea before knocking out French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, American wonderkid Melanie Oudin and another Belgian in Yanina Wickmayer. Wozniacki, who capped a superb year by quailifying for the year end championships with this run, couldn’t halt the irrestible force and succumbed to Clijsters 75 63. Our champion was then joined on court by her young daughter Jada, much to the photographers delight.

So what next for Clijsters? Well she’s scheduled to play in Luxembourg next month, a tournament she’s won five times previously, and has announced her entry into Brisbane at the start of next season. Until then she’s going to relish the last couple of months and let it all sink in, I think – as well as enjoy looking after her daughter at home again. Clijsters has been a revelation since her return and has looked every inch the mature player, composed and patient, something she could perhaps teach some of her younger counterparts on the WTA Tour.

It was a grand way to complete the 2009 Slams and a better story couldn’t have been scripted; alongside the dream run of Oudin, the fall of big name players, Serena’s meltdown and a first-time Slam finalist, it was a tournament full of excitement and freshness. Well done Kim.

US Open: One Week In

The US Open is now entering the second week and there’s been plenty of entertainment from the women, some matches good, some matches exciting and a fair share of big names sent packing.

Perhaps the most enticing story so far has been that of Kim Clijsters, continuing her return from retirement as an unseeded player in New York. She passed her first round test as expected with a 61, 60 win over Kutuzova to set up a rematch with Marion Bartoli; the Frenchwoman took the first 75 but Clijster flicked the switch and took the next two sets at the expense of just three games. In the third round she comfortably saw off compatriot and friend Kirsten “Flipper” Flipkens to set up a fourth round match against No. 3 seed Venus Williams. Her opponent has spent this tournament again playing with wrapped knees and had seen off Dushevina, Mattek-Sands and Rybarikova to reach this round, and although she  is clearly having problems with her knee, it isn’t stopping her from competing in doubles with her sister. The match was turned on it’s head in the first two sets as each player bagelled the other, first Clijsters and then Venus, and a tight third set saw just one break in favour of the Belgian, enabling her to send Venus crashing with a 64 victory. Next she faces Li Na in the quarter-final before potentially facing Serena Williams in the semis.

The American crowds are all excited about 17 year old Melanie Oudin who has had great success so far, coming from a set down to beat Elena Dementieva in the second round, before doing exactly the same thing in the next round to Maria Sharapova. After beating Shvedova, who herself pulled off an upset with the beating of Jelena Jankovic, Oudin faces another Russian today in the form of Nadia Petrova for a place in the QF, and the top half of the draw has really opened up following Oudin’s dismissal of two top players, added to the exit of Dinara Safina who lost to Petra Kvitova after scraping her way through the first two rounds. Victoria Azarenka is also out at the hands of Francesca Schiavone and the two main seeds left in that half are Caroline Wozniacki and Svetlana Kuznetsova – who face each other today in a fourth round match. Kvitova faces Yanina Wickmayer and the winner will meet either Gisela Dulko or Kateryna Bondarenko in the QF. Either Wozniacki or Kuznetsova will face the winner of Oudin-Petrova.

In the bottom half it’s a much tougher affair. Tournament favourite Serena Williams will face Flavia Pennetta in the QF after the Italian saved six match points to see off Vera Zvonareva, and the winner of that will probably face Clijsters. It’s heavily expected that the winner of the US Open will be whoever makes the final from the bottom half, although I’m sure Wozniacki and Kuznetsova – and others – will have an opinion on that.

With all the relentless talk about the number one ranking this year, it would be very interesting if Svetlana Kuznetsova were to win the US Open. I think we’re all sick to death of hearing how Safina is the number one even though she hasn’t won a Slam, and Serena holds three Slams but is number two… well, ff Kuznetsova comes out on top here, she and Serena will each hold two Slams; Serena the Australian Open and Wimbledon, Svetlana the French and US Open. But then Kuznetsova holds a Tour title and Serena holds none, so will the debate open up into fierce arguments of how Kuznetsova should be the number one ranked player? I doubt it, but it would be interesting.

Anyway, for what it’s worth I chose Clijsters at the start of the tournament and I’m sticking with my choice as we go into the second week. Go Kim!

Flavia On Fire; Clijsters Returns

As the US Open series picks up speed, Italian Flavia Pennetta is keeping up pace with a 13 match winning streak that has seen her pick up back-to-back trophies in Palermo and Los Angeles. Along the way she’s picked up Top Ten wins against Vera Zvonareva and Nadia Petrova, beaten an in-form Sam Stosur and taken care of a certain Ms Sharapova, and tonight she has her sights on world number 3 Venus Williams. Pennetta will herself enter the top ten if she beats Venus in Cincinatti this evening – an accomplishment which will be a first for womens tennis in Italy. This week she has beaten Morita and Szavay with no real problems and perhaps the only question mark is over her stamina as she plays her 9th match in 11 days.

Venus on the other hand should be rested, having taken a week off following her Stanford final defeat to Marion Bartoli. This week she beat Olga Govortsova in straight sets but will face a tougher challenge in Pennetta and the real question mark over Venus is how much she is willing to put in this close to the US Open. On paper though, you’d expect Venus to be fully determined as we still have over two weeks before that Slam so really that shouldn’t be an issue.

The other big story in Cincinatti this week has been the return to the Tour of Kim Clijsters. Having been training and preparing for six months now, her first match back was against Bartoli, who was playing her first match since beating Venus in Stanford, and the hard work paid off for the Belgian as she tasted victory for the first time in 28 months, courtesy of a 64 63 win. Clijsters followed that up with a 62 75 win over Patty Schnyder and must now be in territory that is beyond what she was hoping for. Her fitness and physical shape seem to be great and she doesn’t seem as rusty on court as you may have expected following such a long absence from the game. As she enters her third match back it’s a question of how far she can go before the physical demands of being back in competition take their toll; tonight she faces French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, the Russian playing her first tournament since Wimbledon in June. Kuznetsova scraped through her first match against Lucie Safarova and Clijsters DOES have a 6-1 head-to-head record against Sveta, but the last time they met was almost three years ago.

Elsewhere, the favourites remain in the hunt this week; Serena Williams, Safina, Dementieva, Azarenka, Wozniacki, Zvonareva and Jankovic are all still in the mix as we head to the sharp end of the draw, and it should make for an exciting climax to the week. Tonight though the focus is on Pennetta and Clijsters, and whether they can continue their good runs in the build up to the final Slam of 2009.

Magnifique: Marion Earns Top Honours at Stanford

An entertaining week of tennis was capped off with Marion Bartoli defeating Venus Williams in three sets to claim the biggest win of her career to date.

As the Final approached it was Venus who was heavily tipped to win her third hardcourt title of 2009; she had steamrolled Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva in the previous two rounds, dropping just five games in both matches combined. Bartoli on the other hand had played three sets against Sam Stosur in the Semi Final and the night before had fought back from a set down to beat Jelena Jankovic. That match had it’s own little mini-drama as Marion had claimed she prefers to be playing Jankovic rather than the Serbs’ beaten opponent, Sabine Lisicki, because “I always beat her”. Jankovic responded by saying that Marion isn’t exactly Serena Williams and can’t bring it to the big names, ending her interview by smiling and declaring that “Bartoli is going to get it tomorrow”. It looked as though Jankovic would be proved right when she was 6-3 3-1 in the lead but didn’t count on the French woman fighting back to take the second set 76 and then seal success with a 63 win in the third set. Someone had to eat humble pie and it turned out to be Jankovic.

On that same night Australian Stosur produced a surprise by downing Serena Williams. The American showed just why she isn’t the world number one by once again failing to produce her best game outside of a Slam and Stosur took advantage to roll her over 62 36 62 and claim herself a big scalp.

Back to the Final and Bartoli won more games in the first set than Sharapova and Dementieva had managed between them against Venus, taking it 62 to shake Venus up as she was unable to continue her great form in the tournament, partly through her own UE rate but also through her FORCED error rate, which was shown at one point in the second set as being at 17, but I’ve been unable to find final stats for this – if anyone can point me in the right direction it would be much appreciated. Marion’s aggressive game gave Venus very little time for her shots and proved to be the right gameplan in the opening set. In the second set Venus upped her game a little and earned herself a 75 win, despite Bartoli serving for the match at 54.

At this point all advantage seemed to be with Venus and it was generally voiced by commentators and bookmakers alike that there was only one winner, that Marion had missed her chance and would now fade away. That was not to be however and Venus was stunned to find herself 03 down before she knew it, and Bartoli showed energy and fight to continue her aggressive game and dismiss Venus 64 to earn the biggest title of her career thus far. Personally, it was a glorious moment to see Marion celebrate on court, the climax of a lot of hard work by the Frenchwoman and her coach/father, Walter. During the week she had dismissed myths and proved a lot of people wrong about a number of things, chiefly that she can’t fight back against a good player – see the set down comeback against Jankovic; that her head goes down and stays down if she loses the second set, having won the first – see the victory over Sam Stosur; that she doesn’t have the fight to beat a big name player in a tough tussle – watch the final against Venus Williams. Talk of her retiring at any opportunity was also put to one side as she played most of the week with both knees wrapped and had problems with her calf from the Quarter Final match with Jankovic onwards. In the final she was clearly struggling to stay loose but fought through this and was repeatedly seen stretching her body between games as she pushed against the court walls. The spirit and determination shown proved to be too much for her famous opponent and her victory here was greatly deserved.

It was a great week for Marion Bartoli, our WTA Stanford Champion 2009.

WTA Invades America

It seems like an age has passed since Wimbledon finished but it’s only been three weeks and now we’re on the verge of the US hardcourt season. In the intervening period most of the top players rested but there has been clay court action to enjoy (if we can find matches online anyway) but really, those three weeks after Wimbledon aren’t the same, it’s as if most players are just putting their feet up and breathing deeply, preparing for the big push to the final Slam of the year. Word of note to Andrea Petkovic though, who won her first WTA Tour title yesterday in Bad Gastein, Austria. The world number one, Dinara Safina, also lifted a trophy as she won a hardcourt tournament in Portaroz, Slovenia.

Today, a large number of the top players are in Stanford, USA; the line-up includes both Williams sisters, Elena Dementieva, Maria Sharapova, Jelena Jankovic, Agnes Radwanska, Marion Bartoli and Nadia Petrova. If we go by the bookmakers then Serena Williams is the easy favourite for this tournament and if she plays well, rightly so – but we all know that Serena doesn’t seem to turn up and give everything she has outside of the slams, evidenced by the fact that she hasn’t won a Tour title in over 15 months now. She has a tricky first round match against Li Na and whilst she should win, I don’t think it would be an earth-shattering shock if she lost that one, although it should be noted that Na is carrying a knee injury. Other potential finalists from that half of the draw include Jankovic, Bartoli and Lisicki and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the winner of Sam Stosur vs Dominika Cibulkova go far.

In the bottom half of the draw, Venus Williams is the favourite to reach the final and with hardcourt titles under her belt already this year, why not? Well, again it will come down to how she approaches the tournament and Venus isn’t adverse to an early defeat to a player she should be beating. She looks safe to win her first two matches but could then find herself up against Maria Sharapova, who is getting ever fitter and would no doubt love to start winning tournaments again as she approaches something resembling her old self, and after that it’s more than likely that Dementieva would be waiting. I think both of those players have more desire than Venus to win this tournament and I would expect one of them to cut off her challenge.

Personally speaking, I’d love to see Marion Bartoli do well here. She’s in potentially the ‘easier’ half of the draw although that description goes hand-in-hand with the assumption that Serena won’t be giving it her all and that Jankovic just isn’t on her game at all right now (or this year).  The young Frenchwoman is more than capable of taking advantage of any shortcomings in her rivals games, so I’ll have my fingers crossed for her. I’d also quite like to see Stosur, Lisicki and Sharapova do well here, but my prediction to win the tournament is Elena Dementieva. She’s won hardcourt titles earlier this year in Auckland and Sydney, reached the Semi Final of the Australian Open (lost to Serena Williams), made the final in Paris (lost to Mauresmo) and of course the last time we saw her was at Wimbledon where she came so close to beating Serena and making the final. Dementieva’s first task is, unfortunately for us Brits, to get past British number one Anne Keothavong.

Elsewhere this week, Nathalie Dechy announced her retirement from tennis, and also her pregnancy, at the age of 30 – best wishes for her future life as a mother! Nicole Vaidisova lost in Stanford qualifying 6-2 6-1 to Stacey Tan, ranked 584 in the world. I’ve no idea what’s going on with Vaidisova and her still-hurtling fall from the upper reaches of the rankings, but it’s looking like she desperately needs to address something in her life and game. It’s really sad to see. And finally, Tamira Paszek told at a press conference how she’d been receiving treatment for a back problem by having her own blood injected into her body, only to have the legality of this questioned. It seems that this type of treatment, known as autologous injections, is against anti-doping rules. Paszek then immediately contacted the Austrian anti-doping agency to find out more about this. Apparently this kind of ‘blood doping’ is against the rules but there’s also an exemption certificate which can be gained to have the treatment administered, though whether this can be acquired after the treatment has occurred, I don’t know. Looking at the massive difference in the Richard Gasquet and Martina Hingis cases, Paszek can expect anything from a wry smile and a slap on the wrist to a hundred year ban from even looking at a tennis court.

For now we have an exciting week of tennis ahead as we lead up to the US Open, so bring it on!

Alizé Cornet: A Year to Forget

Last month during my time in Eastbourne I walked along the promenade trying to find a suitable place to meet my Dad the next day. We’d chosen a place on the map called Western Lawns and it was this area that I was going to check out; when I arrived I found a stretch of cut grass just off the seafront, used for football kickabouts and other informal activities. On this morning I saw Alizé Cornet exercising on the grass, with a few men nearby who I presume were her coaching staff/ friends. Alizé looked in great shape, lithe and muscular, and it saddened me to know that she had lost her first round match the previous day, against fellow French player Virginie Razzano. This young woman had a terrific breakthrough year in 2008 and in early 2009 was loitering just outside of the top ten in the rankings.  As of today, she has slipped to number 28. So what has gone wrong this year for Alizé Cornet?

Her great run started at the end of February 2008 in Acapulco, Mexico, when Cornet reached the final only to lose to Italian clay-court specialist Flavia Pennetta.  In April she reached the semi-final of another clay event in Amelia Island, USA, losing to Dominika Cibulkova. In Charleston the following week she reached another semi-final before being defeated by Serena Williams. By now Cornet was getting a reputation herself of being a particularly good clay court player, perhaps no great surprise as she had triumphed at junior level in the French Open in 2007.

Alizé reached her biggest stage yet in the WTA when she reached the final in Rome, only to again suffer heartbreak, this time against Jelena Jankovic, the Serb who would end the year ranked number one in the world. But this tournament featured her most impressive draw to date as she took out Schiavone, Kuznetsova and Chakvetadze on the way to meeting Jankovic in the final. Her French Open hopes were dashed in the third round though as she lost in straight sets to fellow young star Agnes Radwanska.

In July last year Alizé took her first and only tour title, winning the clay tournament in Budapest. The following month she took part in the Olympics in China but met Serena Williams in her third match and lost in three sets. This was followed by another semi-final appearance, this time on hard courts in New Haven, where she lost to Caroline Wozniacki, the young Dane who has made great strides herself over the past year. After a third round exit at the US Open she saw out the remaining two months of the year without going deep in any tournament, though she did lose against players such as Elena Dementieva, Ana Ivanovic, Amelie Mauresmo and Vera Zvonareva.

2009 began without any real signs of the disappointments that were to come for Alizé, as she lost in Sydney and at the Australian Open to Dinara Safina, who would reach the final of both tournaments and later take the number one ranking. The first alarm bells were perhaps during the Fed Cup in February when Alizé lost both her matches, to Italians Pennetta and Schiavone. Third round exits in Paris and Dubai were easily explained as they came against Jankovic and Venus Williams respectively, but she went out of Indian Wells in her first match, losing in straight sets to 83rd ranked Kristina Barrois. In Miami two weeks later Cornet lost in her second match to Jie Zheng – the second set was a ‘bagel’, as Zheng won 6-4 6-0. But the clay season was next up in the calendar and surely this would be the time when her fortunes took a turn for the better once more. It was not to be though as she lost her first match in Barcelona to Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, bagelled again in the first set as she lost 6-0 6-3.

The Fed Cup Play-Offs were to follow, on clay, but Cornet lost both matches to Slovakian opposition, first Daniela Hantuchova and then to Cibulkova. Hantuchova beat Alizé easily in their 1st Round match in Stuttgart and by this time her confidence must have been really beginning to suffer. A 2nd Round exit in Rome to Kateryna Bondarenko was followed up by a first round loss to Elena Vesnina in Madrid, both matches featuring 6-1 scorelines in the second set. In the 2nd Round of the French Open Alizé lost 6-3 6-2 to Romanian Sorana Cirstea, ranked 41 in the world, and then the grass season introduced itself at Eastbourne where she lost to Razzano the day before I saw her on the Lawns. Wimbledon brought no happiness for Cornet either as she lost her first round match to Vera Dushevina in three sets, taking another bagel in the process.

Last week Alizé returned to the scene of her only tour success, taking part in the clay tournament in Budapest. She won her first match against Voskoboeva before crashing out at the hands of Shahar Peer, 6-2 6-0. This week she took part in Palermo and came up against Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in her first match – she lost 6-2 6-2.  All of these poor scorelines in the second set indicate that she’s going into matches without really believing she can win, and once the first set is lost she seems to lose hope completely.

So where does this leave Alizé Cornet? Last year she made great progress and earned herself a reputation as a very dangerous clay court player. This year everything seems to have fallen apart, including her clay court game. Are we talking a lack of confidence, a bad run of results which has led to the loss of confidence in her own game, and in turn has led to further poor showings? We’ll soon be heading to the US for hardcourt tournaments and I hope that Alizé can find some wins and get her game back to the place it was not too long ago – that of a rising star, a young woman in great shape, with a healthy outlook and making herself an opponent to be feared. Whether that involves changing some aspect of her game to give her a new weapon she can take confidence in, or whether she just needs a good run in a tournament, to beat a couple of big players, I don’t know. I think it’s fair to say just by looking at her that she isn’t letting herself go. This coming week she heads to Austria as the No. 1 seed for Bad Gastein; if the form of 2009 is to ring true, her seeding is a false one and she will be out of the tournament by Tuesday evening, but I’d like to see her have a great run to give herself a boost before she heads to the US. Fingers crossed for Alizé!

The Week That Was: July 6-12

In the calm that follows Wimbledon a lot of players are taking a few weeks off to rest and prepare for the hardcourt season, but there were two tournaments to enjoy this week. Both were on clay courts and took place in Båstad, Sweden and Budapest, Hungary.

In Bastad we had an upset in the final as Caroline Wozniacki, hoping to celebrate her 19th birthday with a trophy, was beaten in straight sets by Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez as the Spaniard claimed her second title of the year. Her first was in Bogota in February but no doubt this one will mean more as she took out three top 50 players en route to the final before she met world number 9 Wozniacki. Sanchez, who stressed that she is not related at all to Lawrie (okay, she didn’t) promised to buy Caro something for her birthday instead, before holding up her trophy with a charming smile.

The tournament in Budapest was won by the native Agnes Szavay, claiming her first Tour title since 2007. She beat Patty Schnyder in a three-set final, having dropped the first set to the Swiss. Schnyder had played the best part of two matches the day before to reach the final, her Quarter Final match against Alisa Kleybanova being delayed due to rain, but her efforts would prove to be ultimately fruitless.

This week we have two more tournaments taking place, again both on clay, in Prague and Palermo.

Other WTA news… Monica Seles was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame at the weekend, and deservedly so of course. News of that and the other 2009 inductees can be read here: http://www.tennisfame.com/tennisfame.aspx?pgID=889&newsID=143&exCompID=56

Jelena Dokic, who has been pulling out of tournament after tournament recently, has been diagnosed with mono and told to rest, so hopefully that will be treated and when she returns she’ll be healthy and ready to give her comeback another try.

Indian star Sania Mirza was engaged late this week but not before two obsessed fans – both engineers apparently, and both on seperate days – had gone to her home and insisted that Sania marry them, one of them threatening to kill himself unless she did so. Both men were arrested and Mirza’s engagement went ahead as planned.

Switching sides to the mens tour briefly we had three stories of interest. The first is a positive one as Rajeev Ram won ATP Newport as a Lucky Loser, fighting from a set down to beat fellow American Sam Querry and claim his first ATP title. Ram, who had played in four matches the previous day, winning them all, also took the double title. Secondly Brydan Klein was given a six month ban and ordered to attend a ‘racial sensitivity course’ – no, really – after making racist comments towards a South African opponent at Eastbourne last month. And finally the tragic news that Mathieu Montcourt was found dead on Monday. Montcourt, who reached the 2nd round of the French Open this year, suffered a heart attack in his apartment block in Paris. Toxicology reports have come back negative and the Frenchman died of natural causes, aged just 24. As always this kind of news surpasses sport and thoughts go out to his family and friends. RIP Mathieu.