Freelance writer *Wendy M. Grossman* is blogging from the Eastbourne International this week. Here's her third dispatch:
Today an extra and violent player arrived, more or less on schedule: Eastbourne's famous wind. The other side of the Atlantic is a couple of blocks from the site, and today the tournament flags look like they might fly away. On Centre Court, the wind swirls. On Court 1, it blows straight across; the veteran attendees were wearing fur-lined winter coats.
The wind is at least a partial explanation of some of the weirder results you get here, and today it took out Svetlana Kuznetsova. Yesterday, she struggled with her serve and just about everything else in her doubles match with Amelie Mauresmo, and she didn't look more comfortable today.
"I had no idea how to adjust because the wind was blowing different ways," she said. It was: You could watch the flags change angles by 90 degrees in a minute. Plus, her 6-2, 6-2 conqueror, Caroline Wozniacki, the first player to come out of Denmark since Tina Scheuer-Larsen in the 1980s, has a hidden good record on grass. Wozniacki, who hits fast and flat, won the Wimbledon junior singles in 2006 and, more to the point, the junior event at Eastbourne in 2005. Last year she retired with an injury in the final against Madison Brengle. Pictures here. Wozniacki has good tactical sense, she constructs points well, and she's quick to take opportunities when she can. She was excited about the win: She's had chances to win sets against top players before but has never actually done it. This win can only give her more confidence.
About two minutes later, Mauresmo abruptly pulled out of the singles while leading 2-1 against Stosur. The problem was a left thigh strain that she felt in the last point of her first service game. Her statement doesn't sound good: "Basically, it is a tiny tear and time is running against us. It is only four to five days before my first match, but let's try to stay optimistic here." She did say, though, that despite not having matches she felt she's had "enough" practice on grass. Let's hope. Women's tennis needs her varied game.
This means that the top-ranked player left is Marion Bartoli, who had no trouble this morning with Sybille Bammer and says both her wrist and her confidence are vastly improved after practicing with…Kuznetsova.
Then Zvonareva lost 6-3, 6-3 to Marakova. One of the other journalists has this explanation: "Full moon."
Aravane Rezai is also gone, having given way to the big Kleybanova serve (it later threatened Black and Huber in the doubles). An interesting note: Rezai has no clothing sponsor and so her unusual outfits are actually—oh, the horror—things she really likes. She has a couple of designers she goes to, and she enjoys her clothes being unique. But she draws the line somewhere before shock effects. That might be cool if you're Top 10, but otherwise it's just "sad." Look for her to bleach her hair white for Wimbledon if she ever gets a top ranking.
Passing the practice courts, Petrova's coach is a hoot; some fans were watching Petrova practice shot sequences (ground stroke, approach, volley, winner) and he began playing to the crowd, particularly when Petrova argued one of his line calls. Petrova seems to smash racquets almost as often in practice as on court.
Another event worth mentioning: the Eastbourne Cup, a 16-draw £3,500 knock-out competition for first-round losers and any losing qualifiers. Players usually like to leave town when they lose, but here's a chance for some more grass court practice. It began today with Cornet and Peer (who was spraying the ball quite badly against Mattek in the first round) as the top seeds. Also in the draw: Dushevina, Kanepi, Dellacqua, Dechy, and Mattek. Not too shabby.
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In answer to some of the comments over the last two days:
—Stanford's 38 years is a good run. Eastbourne only started in 1974, but tennis at Devonshire Park goes back much further: it was (and is) used for Davis Cup and Fed Cup, and old-timers remember "County Week", which drew county-level players from all over Britain.
—Radwanska wasn't sure if she was the first Polish player to reach the Top 30. Grzybowska's name did come up, but at the time the (I think he was) Polish journalist here thought she'd topped out at 32. Sorry for not checking.
—Can't provide more detail on Razzano, I'm afraid.
—As for the top women skipping tournaments, I think it was the Williams sisters initiated that particular MO. It must be hard for the pioneers who launched the women's tour to watch their successors take such a cavalier attitude to what they worked so hard to build. The far bigger problem for women's tennis, though, is the spiraling injury roster and the number of players who are too burned out, either from injury or just the general grind, to stay in the game. Even the juniors here are wearing arm and ankle braces. Few players seem really happy; it says a lot that interviewing a top star yesterday (Lindsay Davenport) who seems genuinely joyous about her life as a tennis player seemed startling.