Sadly, not Stanford champ Aleksandra Wozniak, who in her words was just exhausted after playing 9 matches in 11 days. (Hey, someone had to pick up the slack.) She was positively beaming in her presse after losing to Flavia Penetta, leading one (me) to think she was just grateful to hop out of her sneakers.
It also won’t be a whole heap of Americans, some themselves attempting to come back from injury – Jamea Jackson, Ashley Harkleroad. . . If you were American, it increased your chances of making it to the second round dramatically if you faced another American in the first. (Not you Jill! You’re the rule breaker…)
Incidentally, if you think watching a host of locals exit en masse from a tournament doesn’t affect a crowd, think again. I’ve been giving out hugs like nobody’s business. Okay that’s a lie, I don’t want to touch these people. It’s so hot and sunny here that we’re all fighting over palm tree shade. We're sweaty and we stink.
So who do we have left to make a grab for the title? Some dark horses without a scratch on ‘em (yet) are making noise. Victoria Azarenka looked scary good against otherwise tough opponent Yung-Jan Chan. She’ll likely clear Sam Stosur, who, banished to a back court that would take TWO helicopters to reach, looked a little shakier against Regina Kulikova than she did in her earlier, breadsticks beatdown of Shahar Peer. That puts Azarenka on track for a quarterfinal clash with an equally sharp Dinara Safina.
Looking even scarier is (gasp - American!) Bethanie Mattek, who dispatched Nicole Vaidisova to set up a QF clash with. . .okay all the other seeds have run screaming from her quarter (but thanks for hoppin’ on the bus!). I’d put Mattek in the semis against Anna Chakvetadze (if she can keep it together) or a suddenly lethal Ai Sugiyama, who’s been playing with the eye of the tiger. Someone get this woman a deal with Red Bull. Chick’s got wings.
Okay, confession time. Davenport and the sisters William weren’t the only ones who limped off to greener pastures. Without the stars of the show, the supporting cast, talented as it may be, just isn't filling the seats. Which is a shame, because the venue itself pretty much rocks. Inspired by the new WTA campaign, I’m holding out for a hero. . .
But wait, who’s that star hobbling in the distance? Why it’s top seed and international cut-up Jelena Jankovic. Jelena has more reason than any of the other withdrawers (is that a word?) to try to work through her own bum knee. With a victory here, she becomes the #1 player in the world (Is it just me, or are they’re giving that honor out like candy lately, right?). So Olympics be darned.
And Vania King be darned. Despite serving for the first set against Jankovic, the last American not named Mattek in the draw went down in what I can only describe as a humorless match. Vania was (justifiably) humorless, the starved-thin crowd was humorless. Even Jelena was subdued when she met with the press afterwards - at least until she was informed that Federer lost to Simon in Toronto (Hours ago, JJ! Where have you been?).
Suddenly, her eyes gleamed: “Then maybe we’ll have two new #1’s this week.”
Not quite, Jelena. But it’s nice to see someone who’s committed.
