Thought Dump 4/17 : Monte Carlo, Fed Cup

• When Rafa failed to serve out the match in the second set the Tennis Channel commentators seemed to fall back on the "here we go again he is lacking confidence". It could totally be seen as that since he had a point to go up 4-love earlier in the set. Then Rafa started the game to stay in the set with a double fault before saving a set point he ended up losing the set he once lead by a double break. It would have been great for the match to have been shorter and such. How Rafa started the third set with a break and then digging out of several 0-30 service game deficits and saving a break point. Which do you think would build confidence better closing a match out simply or falling behind and then coming back to close it out how you intended to in the first place. 
• The past two matches seem like Rafa is channeling his inner Claypova with the epic struggles.
• Narrative would say that who ever wins tomorrows Rafa/Novak match would be the "early favorite" for Roland Garros but it won't. 
• Rafa is still building up his confidence. Novak seems unstoppable. This makes me seem like Rafa has "less" to lose than Novak. 
• Twitter is a important part of my tennis viewing experience. Yet this morning I found myself watching from Monte Carlo without also following along on twitter. Usually this happens during early clay season when there is not much to follow such as Charleston or Monte Carlo. It is refreshing to watch a match without the white noise that twitter sometimes becomes when there is only one or two matches happening at the given time. 
• I have been looking forward to this Fed Cup weekend since the match ups have been set. 
• Kivitova/Mladenovic has the ability to be a great match between two hard hitters. There is the question mark of if Petra will be rusty after the time she has taken off or if it will have refreshed her. Petra will also have the home Fed Cup crowd which she is known to thrive in front of and that did not phase Kiki in Italy. Hopefully this is a good kick off for Petra as she heads into her most succcesful part of the season that has just been expanded. 
• Germany/Russia
• Captian Rittner has thrown a curve ball by not calling on Petkovic or newly crowned Charleston champion Kerber in Sochi. Instead the match ups for the first day will be Goreges/Kuznetsova and Pavlyuchenkova Lisicki. These two matches could be glorious examples of hard hitting clay court tennis or beautiful disasters and a two rubbers to zero lead for either team would not suprise me. Most likely is a 1-1 tie going into Sunday with  all to play for. 
• Aga vs Hingis in SINGLES. Also Bacinszky returns for her first match since losing to Serena in Indian Wells in the Poland/Switzerland World Group Playoff. 
• Serena vs Camila Giorgi. On Clay. In Italy. 
• Laura hitting forehands!

  Happy Friday 👀 ps It's a sweatband (not tape) on my wrist.

  A video posted by Laura Robson (@laurarobson5) on Apr 17, 2015 at 8:15am PDT

Clay Time!

I love clay season it means spring time after watching hardcourts since forever and the tease of summer for us Northern hemisphere folks during the Australian swing the clay seems like a shock to the senses. The colors are deeper with the contrast of the red clay and white lines, the destination locations of Monte Carlo, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid and Paris, the ball bounces higher, the shots are more creative, the sliding.

This week the ladies are on the clay of Barcelona 2010 Roland Garros Champion Schiavone and 2011 Stuttgart Champion Goerges as the top seeds. While the men are in Casablanca Top Seed is Mayer and 2 seed is Dolgopolov and Houston Fish and Isner are the top seeds and their results this week could see them swapping spots as the top American.

(There is also the E-Books [Caro Open] that is on indoor hard courts this week with Woz, JJ, Robson, Kerber and Barthel in the field. )
It's the little things that make it more fun....
The views...

Clay being tossed around.

Sliding

Although I am not looking forward to this fiasco. 

The first winner of the clay season was Serena Williams won on the green clay of Charleston last weekend. 

Doubles Fun: Indian Wells

I think that Indian Wells is one of the best events all year for exciting doubles pairings. Everyone seems to be playing and it's fun to see the singles players out playing doubles.


We have the defending Doubles Champions: Alexandr Dolgopolov and Xavier Malisse.

The 2010 Indian Wells Doubles Champions: Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez.

The 2009 Champions: Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish.

Here is the full draw for the men.

Petra Kvitova and Victoria Azerenka are teaming up as a wild card team.

Sam Stosur and Casey Dellacqua

Julia Goerges and Sabine Lisicki

Full Ladies Doubles Draw. 

Fed Cup Fun!

It's time for the first Fed Cup action of the year and the ladies look to be enjoying it. While the bulk of the action takes place this weekend but Great Britain is already off to a winning start in Europe/Africa Group 1. 

Laura Robson, Heather Watson & Judy Murray during doubles against Portugal.

Team GB answer twitter questions. 

Venus is part of the team that will take on Belarus in World Group II action.

Sam Stosur is all smiles in Switzerland for Australia's World Group II tie. 

Germany take on the defending champion Czech Republic in Stuttgart. (On Indoor hard, why did you pick this surface. To crush my dreams.)

Petra is also really good at footie tennis indoors. 

Of course you would Liezel. Serena on the other hand looks disappointed she doesn't have an Eli jersey.  

Maria Sharapova is in Russia to play the World Group tie against Spain in Moscow.  

What I noticed: Day 5

• Vika Azerenka had a tougher time today with Mona Barthel. But still came through in straights. She needs to work on her challenging skills though she ran out in the second set, this made her kinda angry. The crowd booed her reaction to the match.
• Rafa played Lucas Lacko it was a good match after a kinda flat first set over all. In the third set Laver had a visitor as bird sat on court as Rafa was about to serve, the ball kid had to shoo it off court, it was cute.  
• Julia Goerges defeated Oprandi in a comeback three set victory to reach the second week of a Slam for the first time. 
• Christina McHale had one more break point then JJ but that didn't matter as she only converted one in the 6-2 6-0 loss. 
• Roger Federer lobbed Dr. Ivo. That's really all you need to know.
• The post match interviews on Laver after the Nadal and Federer matches
• Feli Lopez out lasted John Isner in 5-settter. It was an up and down kinda match especially the second set where Feli had a break advantage but went on to lose the set in a tiebreaker. He plays Rafa next. 
• Kim Clijsters sported a black kit, it looked fierce. She played a solid match to move through to the second week. 

What I am watching: Day 5

Day 5 has a slightly front and  back loaded OOP. Here's what I plan to watch.


Rod Laver Arena 11:00 AM (7pm est)
 Men's Singles - 3rd Round : Lukas Lacko(SVK) vs. Rafael Nadal(ESP)[2]


Hisense Arena 11 AM
 Women's Singles - 3rd Round: Victoria Azarenka(BLR)[3] vs. Mona Barthel(GER)
 Match 3: Men's Singles - 3rd Round: John Isner(USA)[16] vs.  Feliciano Lopez(ESP)[18]

Hisense Arena 7 PM (3 AM est)

 Women's Singles - 3rd Round: Kim Clijsters(BEL)[11]vs.  Daniela Hantuchova(SVK)[20]
 


Margaret Court Arena 11 AM
 POSSIBLE MOVE TO ROD LAVER ARENA
 Not Before: 3 PM
  Women's Singles - 3rd Round: Christina McHale(USA) vs.  Jelena Jankovic(SRB)[13]


Show Court 3 11 AM
March 2- Women's Singles - 3rd Round: Romina Oprandi(ITA) vs.  Julia Goerges(GER)[22]

Doubles:

Court 6- Not Before: 3:30 PM-- Women's Doubles - 2nd Round: Vania King(USA)[3] /Yaroslava Shvedova(KAZ)[3] vs. Bojana Bobusic(AUS) /Sacha Jones(AUS)



Court 18- Not Before:2:30 PM--
Men's Doubles - 2nd Round: Marc Lopez(ESP) /David Marrero(ESP) vs.  Michael Llodra(FRA)[3] /Nenad Zimonjic(SRB)[3]
 Match 2-Women's Doubles - 2nd Round: Julia Goerges(GER) /Kaia Kanepi(EST) vs.  Svetlana Kuznetsova(RUS) /Vera Zvonareva(RUS)

What I Am Watching.

With the OOP released here are the matches I am planning on watching on day 1. The first day of a Slam is always my favorite so much to watch wish I had a second set of eyes.


Rod Laver Arena 11 am:

Match 1: Women's Singles - 1st Round
Victoria Azarenka(BLR)[3] vs. Heather Watson(GBR)

Match 2: Men's Singles - 1st Round
 Bernard Tomic(AUS) vs. Fernando Verdasco(ESP)[22]

Match 3: Women's Singles - 1st Round
 Kim Clijsters(BEL)[11] vs. Maria Joao Koehler(POR)

Hisense Arena 11 am:

Match 3: Women's Singles - 1st Round
 Francesca Schiavone(ITA)[10] vs. Laura Pous-Tio(ESP)

Match 4: Men's Singles - 1st Round
 Alex Kuznetsov(USA) vs. Rafael Nadal(ESP)[2]


Margaret Court Arena 11 am

Match 4: Women's Singles - 1st Round
Laura Robson(GBR) vs. Jelena Jankovic(SRB)[13]

Show Court 2 11 am

Match 4: Women's Singles - 1st Round
Ashleigh Barty(AUS) vs. Anna Tatishvili(GEO)

Court 6 11am

Match 2: Men's Singles - 1st Round
Philipp Kohlschreiber(GER) vs. Juan Monaco(ARG)[25]


Other matches of interest that won't be watchable from 11 am.


Court 7: Match 2: Women's Singles - 1st Round
Polona Hercog(SLO) vs. Julia Goerges(GER)[22]

Court 8: Match 3: Men's Singles - 1st Round
Jeremy Chardy(FRA) vs. Grigor Dimitrov(BUL)

Court 15: Match 1 Men's Singles - 1st Round
Leonardo Mayer(ARG) vs. Feliciano Lopez(ESP)[18]


Court 19: Match 3: Women's Singles - 1st Round
Lucie Safarova(CZE)[24] vs. Christina McHale(USA)

Passing Shots

Laura Robson wants you to watch the Australian Open qualifying tournament starts Jan. 10. 

• Federer gives Tsonga a walk-over in the semifinals of Doha with a back issue. Monfils upsets Nadal for a spot in the final as well. 
• Clijsters retires from her semifinal in Brisbane with a hip injury against Hantuchova. While Kanepi continues her solid run upsetting Schiavone for a spot in the final.  
• Pennetta and Zheng are to meet in the Auckland final. Flavia will also be in the doubles final with Julia Goerges. 
• More ticket sale issues for London organizers. Ticket resale had to be suspended today. 
• The Roland Garros facebook wants you to play Guess Who. 

Switching it Up

For some player's the new season means a new look. 


Tsvetana Pironkova has gone from Lotto...

to Nike which she debuted this week at Hopman Cup.

US Open Champion Sam Stosur has gone from the classic Lacoste...

to the sporty Asics she unveiled in Brisbane. 

Jelena Jankovic moved from Anita...

to Fila

Julia Gorges and Jarmila Gajdosova go from Wilson...

to Babolat.

WTA Wish List: Part 1

The Germans: As a group I hope they win the Fed Cup.

Sabine Lisicki: Her year end ranking was 15 after a semifinal run at Wimbledon and titles in Birmingham and Dallas. She has minimal points to defend until the American hard court season this spring losing in the round of 16 of Auckland and falling in qualifying for the Australian Open last year. Would like to see her reach the top ten and the second week at the Slams. Most important is for her to stay healthy after battling injuries.

Andrea Petkovic: After a 2011 that landed her in the top ten she should hope to start the year strong to back up her Australian accomplishments of a year ago which included making the final in Brisbane losing to Kvitova. Then following it up with a quarter final appearance at the Australian Open upsetting Sharapova in the fourth round before losing to eventual finalist Li Na. I expect her to live up to her seeding in bigger events and possibly win two or more smaller events. 

Julia Goerges: To call Julia's 2011 to be a roller coaster would be putting it lightly. After a relatively slow start of the year she really hit the peak of her season on the Clay defeating Wozniack in the finals of Stuttgart for her only title and reaching the semi-finals in Madrid. But she then failed to make a semi final until her last event in Luxembourg. Ranked at 21 to end the year, breaking into the top 20 and becoming more constant. 


And a Brit:

Laura Robson: Last year started with a lot of promise as she was to play Hopman Cup with Andy Murray then attempt to qualify for the Australian Open. But after suffering a leg/hip injury that sidelined her for two months during Hopman Cup the start of her season was put on hold. Upon her return to the ITF circuit but once again suffered a injury that needed a three week recovery time. So her season really began on the grass of 's-Hertogenbosch and Wimbledon. She next took on the American hard courts where she qualified for the US Open. My wishes for Laura is that she is doesn't suffer anymore injuries so that she can gain a constancy to break the top-100 by mid year.