Howdy. Hope you all had a great weekend. The highlight/lowlight of mine was jumping on the tractor to do a little mowing at the farm. High, because it’s a sure sign that spring has sprung, even in our chilly corner of the Catskill Mountains; low, because staying on top of the mowing - lawn as well as meadow - will now be a consuming, constant priority until the first frost of September.
Reviewing the weekend results, it struck me that China is for real as an emerging tennis power. Granted, the women’s draw in Estoril did not read like the guest list for the Grand Slam nightclub, but still – two Chinese girls, contesting a singlesfinal?
The only word I can think of to describe it is “breakthrough.”
Remember what Anna Kournikova’s success unleashed in Russia (although in all fairness, Dementieva, Petrova, and Myskina are contemporaries, rather than successors)? This probably will have just as many repercussions.
And guess what. Chinese girls won the doubles, too. 2004 Athens Olympic gold medalists T. Li and Sun overwhelmed the Latin duo of Gisela Dulko and Maria Sanchez Lorenzo in the final; racking up each woman’s eighth career doubles title, and their second as a team this year.
This may not seem like a big deal to jaded, singles superstar-obsessed fans, but it’s huge, because the Chinese value doubles very highly, and they're fiercely nationalistic and proud of Team China Tennis. This will further fan the flames of the tennis revolution raging across the vast nation.
Anyway, I’ve asked Miguel Seabra, who’s working hard to wrap things up for TennisWorld in Estoril, to post on the women’s final, so I’m not going to steal his thunder by venturing further here.
On another front, I was amused to read this comment from just “Bill” beneath an earlier post (“Champagne Supernova”):
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Pete,
You kill me! Champagne Supernova Kim?
Are you speaking about how she proclaimed that the Fed Cup SF (semifinal) won't include her if it's played on clay?
Then surprise, surprise it's now announced to be on indoor hard court in Belgium promoted by her buddy Bob V (Verbeeck), and to be played at a venue where her American boyfriend Bryan's basketball team plays games at. Yes, the lovely Ostend, Belgium up North.
Belgian Basketball League?! Believe it or not true.
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Disclaimer! I’ve been trying to confirm the content of Bill’s comment without much luck, although it hardly seems like the kind of thing someone would make up. I’ll update you if it turns out that he’s got the facts wrong.
On the surface, there’s nothing really wrong with a top player trying to bring all her leverage to bear on the selection of a site and promoter - it’s part and parcel of the sacred “Me First” oath taken by most top players. But this is a two-superstar team, and you have to wonder what this bodes if Justine Henin-Hardenne has issues with either the promoter, the site, the surface - or just the transparent way Clijsters has left her fingerprints all over this decision?
We know is that a few months ago Justine took a pass on playing Antwerp, a Kim Clijsters lovefest masquerading as a WTA Tour event. We also know that Kim and Justine got along swimmingly during the recent Belgium "We Are Family" lovefest masquerading as a Fed Cup tie vs. Russia. Is Henin-Hardenne going to stand by and allow Clijsters to call the shots, or will this naked show of power by Clijsters stick in her craw?
Once again, Kim seems less like the earthy, happy-go-lucky milkmaid with the golden braids than the savvy operator trying to juggle and jigger things in the way that best suits her and promotes her interest and ambitions. Part of me is surprised because, frankly, Clijsters just never struck me as terribly bright (she certainly has never uttered a memorable line or phrase in a presser). But she appears to be infighting and exerting her influence as well as any corporate shark or PR fixer.
Can any of our regular Belgian readers confirm or update us on this story? And is this a big story in Belgium?