Mornin'. It's cool and drizzly here in the northeastern U.S, but the skunk cabbage is coming up nicely along the brooks and streams, and meadows and lawns that were mown last summer are greening up. The ones that weren't maintained or exploited for hay are a tawny mat of expired clover, orchard grass and timothy, flattened by snow. But soon the green will be pushing through there, too.
The Japanese earthquake tragedy and its aftermath have been a sobering exprience for the entire world, and the horrors of what has been wrought there (and the as-yet unknown repercussions) keep popping into my mind in this season of natural renewal, when the origin of all beauty is re-affirmed. So it was with a slightly heavy heart that I read the poignant news that Kei Nishikori is in the Houston final, and speaking out to encourage—and benefit—his countrymen. You can check out his relief effort and contribute here. I don't ordinarily pull for one player over another, especially in a final like the one in Houston today. Ryan Sweeting is the first wild-card entry to reach the final since Mardy Fish won in 2006. But it's hard not to hope Nishikori wins this thing.
In Casablanca, Pablo Andujar will meet Potito Starace in the other ATP final, while the WTA will showcase two of its most attractive stars on different continents and surfaces. You have to tip your hat to both Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka for coming off a month of sometimes punishing play on U.S. hard courts to battle through to the championship round of clay-court tournaments—meeting, along the way, many women who have had a lot more time to make the adjustment to the slower courts.
Wozniacki, No. 1 in the world and top-seeded on the green Har-Tru of Charleston, will meet unseeded, surprise finalist Elena Vesnina. Over in Marbella, Spain, Victoria Azarenka will try to back up her win last week at the Sony Ericsson Open with another if considerably less prestigious title. She's heavily favored against Irina-Camelia Begu who—and this is downright amazing—not only fought her way through qualilfying but had never before won a main-tour WTA match! We'll have to find out a little more about her in the coming days, but I've got to believe that nobody has ever gone from zero wins on the main tour to a title (maybe not even a final?).
Begu has her work cut out, but stranger things have happened. . .
Enjoy finals day, everyone. See y'all tomorrow.
-- Pete