OK, here's a new report from Troy Venechanos, who is winding up his excellent European indoor tennis adventure this weekend in Madrid.
Hi Steve,
In a year-ending championship, every match counts. The world's best players, the last tournament of the year, an extremely large purse—all of these are ingredients for great matches with a lot on the line. Or at least that's how it's supposed to work.
Day 4 of the Sony Ericsson WTA Championships was a strange one to say the least. For each of the match-ups, not one of them really counted for much at all. Understandably this is the downside of the round-robin format, the whole 'consolation match' series often happens when one or two players dominate the field leaving the rest to fight for the remaining scraps of the year. But this year it seemed even more exaggerated.
For the first match, spectators were treated to Bartoli vs. Jankovic. The match seemed doomed from the start. The night before, Jelena had difficulty breathing against Chakvetadze and admitted that she had "pretty much played the last match of her year." Bartoli was fresh off of being double bageled by Henin and seemed determined to get on the board. The match was destined for an anti-climax. Shortly after it started it was a obvious who was the fresher of the two. Bartoli was zipping around the court, making her trademark two-handed swinging volleys while Jankovic made frantic efforts to reach them. She called for the trainer and could be heard yelling at her coach during the changeover that she couldn't do any more, it was hard for her to catch her breath. The match was soon over and Jankovic could breath easier. She was well on her way to a much-needed month off.
The night's main event was a face off between the Championship's two 'supermodels.' It was hilarious to see the frenzy for the two players during their pre-match practice session. On Court 1 was Maria Sharapova practicing as crowds gathered, fighting for a better view. There was a similar spectacle on Court 3 as Ivanovic was practicing in front of her fans. The space in front of Court 2 seemed to be just a track in between the two courts for the Spanish men who couldn't decide between the two beauties.
This match had the potential to be great. The Serb had won their last two meetings, and although nothing was technically on the line, both players seemed determined to make a statement. But yet again, the curse of the 'consolation match' reared its ugly head and it ended up being a one-sided 6-1, 6-2 victory for the Russian. Although the match succeeded in being a sponsor's dream, it left the fans wanting a lot more.
At least Maria got what she had came for, revenge. "I've lost to her in the last two times. I don't like losing to the same person twice, once or twice. I wanted to get my revenge, not what the situation was, no matter whether both of us were already in the semis or not, I just wanted to go out there and play another solid match," she said afterward.
The last anti-climax of the day was compliments of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Daniela Hantuchova. Both players went into the match without a single victory under their belts, and for the first set they both seemed evenly matched shot for shot. Momentum shifted regularly, great points were played, and Daniela ended up recovering a couple of sets point and took the first set in a tiebreak. It seems the fans would finally get what they came here for, a competitive match. But Daniela went on to take the next 6 six games. Although it was a great ending for the Slovakian's year, the fans (and most likely Kuznetsova) walked away from the Madrid Arena wondering what had just happened. Three matches that all involved Top 10 players all ended up being duds. Now fans have two great semi-finals to look forward to and hopefully a great final. Right?
Although after a year of disappointing finals and hyped up rivalries I, like Jankovic, will not hold my breath.
Troy