Montreal 2010: Sunshine Shines

In Montreal, Sunshine broke through today to win her third tourney victory of the year.

Sveta, her semifinal opponent, could neither break Caro's serve nor keep enough balls in court to prevent herself from donating the match to her.

Bepa was ... Bepa.

Cincinnati 2010: Federer Defends His Title

Federer showed real fight today to beat a slimmer and faster Fish (67[5] 76[1] 64), yelling "C'mon" at key points in the match. He now ties Agassi with 17 Master's Series titles, putting them at second behind Rafa. He is now fifth in total titles won in a career being one behind Sampras.

From the form he showed this week, he is looking to come forward more by chipping and charging on his return games. He is trying to open up the court more with a backhand down the line along with his favored inside-out (or in) forehand. It seems to me he has worked harder on hitting his shots on the run as can be seen from the first point in this highlight.



All of this can only bode well for their chances in New York for the US Open. Federer will be looking to win his 17th major when he had the championship on his racquet last year (and with all due respect to Del Potro who deserved to win for hanging in there). Fish has had a very good summer hard court season, but it remains to be seen whether he has the mental toughness to go deeper in a major than a quarterfinal.

Sadly there is no news to report from the WTA in Montreal, as the semis haven't even been played yet, due to rain.

That said, on Saturday (which was also rained out), we got to see what good friends Sveta and Caro are as they showed off their skills:

Roland Garros 2010: Mr. Clean Dances

Mr. Clean hit the shot of the day to bring up match point, in response to an approach shot that Fish just murdered. I wish I could show a video but you know how it is during Slams. Here's what Tigs had to say:

Ljubicic hits his backhand with such a closed face and a flat swing path that you can’t believe the ball can get over the net and down into the court consistently. It does. Ljubicic walks with deliberation between points. He looks a little stiff. But he’s flexible enough to hit a deft backhand crosscourt pass [block] to set up match point. Fish is crushed. Ljubicic breaks into a swivel-hip dance. He looks like he’s rolling an invisible hula-hoop around his waist. He walks to the baseline and ends this two-day epic with an ace. It’s the highlight of the first week so far.

Kudos to Mr. Clean to win 6-2 6-7 (8) 4-6 6-2 10-8.

In other news, Nails capitulated to Franny 4 and 2. Le Sad.



Demmy clawed her way to victory over CanWoz after taking the path of most resistance (6-7 [2] 6-3 6-4).



Unsurprisingly, MaKiri took out Sveta (6-3 2-6 6-4) for the second time in a month (she beat Sveta in Madrid). Sveta will sink to a #18 in the rankings after Roland Garros. The Roland Garros curse is official.

Roland Garros 2010: Fashion Grades (Women)

Nike's golden gal, Shrieka, is going for a more plain vanilla look with mahogany and grey, and has ditched headgear. This is a definite improvement over her dress in Oz, but it doesn't seem to go all that well with her skin. B




Well, we don't get to see much of Vika's kit as she went out early in an epic collapse to Dulko. The stripes on the dress add a nice accent to the solid Aster Pink. Having the same color for the shoe laces seems overdone. All in all: nice without being boring. A-



I certainly hope we get to see more of Nails through Roland Garros. The Cool Mint color for her crew with a Marina Blue accent complements her skin well. I like the different colors for the layers of her skirt. A




Stella McCartney hasn't changed Caro's kit in 150000 years. F



NaturAna has been sporting the orange Adilibria dress for the clay season. Since the tank top in the same line comes in white and black, why can't Adidas pull off the same colors so that she can wear a different colored dress at RG than for the rest of the clay season? Still this one looks great on her. B+



Dani's Adidas tank comes from the same Adilibria line as NaturAna. The pattern they've added is subtle, and has to be seen up close. Keep it up Adidas, and you can keep up with your competitors from Oregon. A.



Allez Bitch has been wearing the same hot pink Adidas crew since Miami. While she's not exactly a fashion maven, it's really not too hard to change the color of one of her two pieces. Why not a white skirt with a pink top? Or a white crew with a pink skirt? B-



Lady Jaja appears to be donning a yellow version of the Anta dress she's been wearing all year. The skirt ruffles add a nice touch to an otherwise boring dress. B




The Marina Blue accented by Electric Green on ReeRee's dress could go well on a lot of different skins. Nike did a great job with the matching bandanna for her. A



Vee's black lace dress pushes the envelope, and prompted cat calls in the stadium. Sexy? Yes. Would any club player be caught dead wearing this on court? Probably not. Call me strait-laced, but I'd rather see this in the bedroom but not on the tennis court. D



In contrast, Sveta dressed like she was going to practice with dark shorts and a hot pink crew. This suits her earthy and tomboyish personality. Props to Fila for departing from the tried-and-true skirt/dress. A

Stuttgart: Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2010

Tourney site: here
Draw: here

Prominent absentees: Splits, Vee & ReeRee (what do you expect?), LenaD, Masha

Top Half: Sunshine might have bad hair days, might be a pusher, may be overcoming an ankle sprain, may look terrible in StellaMcCartney, but underneath that smile, she's one tough cookie. Don't underestimate the Dane. Look for a great quarterfinal match with her best friend Vika.



Sunshine is seeded to meet Sveta who tweeted that she loves cars. She is looking earn another Porsche to race on the autobahn. Nails faces a tough opener against a real grinder in Errani but don't expect her to prevail over Sam who loves to play on clay. Expect a great quarterfinal match between Sam & Sveta.



Bottom Half: Drama Queen looks like another girl who loves cars. But the diva will have a chance to find lots of excitement as she has potential opponents in Dulkbag, and then Whoopie or Allez Bitch. Unfortunately, red clay is Allez Bitch's favorite surface and is likely to prevail.



Baby Hippo is coming back from a lingering back injury, that she has had at least since least year's USO and caused her to go off the tour in Oz. Hopefully she isn't coming back too early (i.e. don't reinjure the back), and she should be just happy to be back putting her in a "nothing to lose position", which probably suits her better than being a slamless #1. Speaking of someone who doesn't need pressure, NaturAna is in the same quarter, but given her form of late she might have a tough time overcoming Agi.



Allez Bitch is due for winning a tourney. Yeah she injured her left pinky but it won't hurt her backhand or her toss. She did well here in her first career and now the tourney is on her favorite surface.

Semi: Sam d. Sunshine, Allez Bitch d. Baby Hippo

Final: Allez Bitch d. Sam

Miami Preview: Foolish Prognostications.

Professional tennis now moves to Miami for the Sony Ericsson Open.

Tourney Site: here
Draw: here



As I haven't learned my lessons, I will make some foolish prognostications, because well, it's fun. At any rate, the top seeds aren't coming back from late-winter vacation, the tournament organizers are crossing their fingers that the big names will show up to earn their keep.

Women's Singles

1st Quarter: Sveta might be on a mission to prove all her haters back home in Russia wrong. With friends like these, who needs enemies? But will she turn to the dark side and let anger drive her? Or will she decide to let go and just play freely?



In other to get to the semis, she might have to deal with Whoopie, Nails and Mono. Hopefully Whoopie has learned that she needs to deal with spin-mistresses like Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, but it looks like she's facing the baseline bashing game for a clear path to the semis.

Sleepers: Dulko
Semifinalist: Whoopie

2nd Quarter: Vee, ReeRee's big sister, will carry the banner for Williams' fans.



Vee is facing relatively dangerous players in potential opponents such as Daniela, Nads, Flavs, Lisicki and Aggie. But she's a Williams, and knows how to win. The most interesting part of this draw (sadly) is this may be the last tourney that NaturAna's gets a bye until she gets her ranking back up (hopefully). Will she crash and burn early? Or can she stop thinking about her drought and just enjoy competing again?

Sleepers: Date-Krumm

Semifinalist: Vee

3rd Quarter: Vika will be looking to defend her title. She won't have to beat ReeRee who withdrew with a knee injury. Note to media: yeah the Williams make a great story and they're popular, but look at how great champions have been able to take care of themselves over the long haul so that they can play without injury.



Vika has a tough draw with potential contenders: JJ, JZ, Sam and Champagne Kimmie. If things follow form, look for those who did well at IW to fade, and those who didn't to be well-rested enough to move forward. Probably a tossup between Champagne Kimmie and Vika.

Sleepers: MJMS, Peer

Semifinalist: Vika/Champagne Kimmie


4th Quarter: Sunshine is now #2 in the world, which shows how far consistency (pushing) can get you on the women's tour. Given her sunny disposition, why hasn't she picked up surfing? What's a sweet cutie pie like her doing by taking up boxing?



Sunshine won't be able to learn to a play Plan B of attacking tennis this week but her counterpunching ways should be enough to get her to the quarters. But this quarter has the wildcard nobody wants: Allez Bitch. Allez Bitch will have to get past Craybas, Lena in the 2nd round (again!), Domi and then Kleybs. As long as she keeps keep the ball in play (and the humid conditions should help), her versatility should enchant Sunshine.

Sleepers: Allez Bitch (if that is the right term for it).

Semifinalist: Allez Bitch

Men's Singles

1st Quarter: Look for Fed to be on a mission. He will be eager to play matches after only getting to play two out in the left coast, and show everyone who is king. Then an angry Roger might revert to racquet smashing instead of hitting inside-out forehands into the corners. I like you Feddy even when you smash a racquet. You can afford it.



Fed is seeded to meet Cilic in the quarters but faces early a mostly non-descript array of counterpunchers such as Moya and Montanes. Things get interesting if he can overcome more offensive players like Berd or Nando.

Sleepers: Bags (maybe in for a letdown)

Semifinalist: Fed

2nd Quarter: Muzz is returning to his training ground(s) and looking to defend his title. Or perhaps he will be washed out to sea by a flock of brainless ball bashers?



The Muzz doesn't have an easy path to the semis as potential opponents include Feli, Gonzo, Pico, Misha, Stan the Man and Sod. One thing many of these folks possess in common is the ability to really hit the snot out of the ball. If they can keep the ball in, Muzz's chances aren't very good.

Sleepers: Nico

Semifinalist: Sod

3rd Quarter: Rafa might have been working too hard on his golf game out last week (he putted around with Fred Couples). Will he keep his forehand in court? I still want a Fedal match, but it looks like it won't be in the finals.



(Come on, Ana, you know you want him). Rafa looked great last week out in IW until he lost his head in a TB against Ljubs. Guys have figured out how to play Rafa but none of the uber-mondo hitters such as Sod are really in his quarter.

Others: Kohly, Tree, Ferrer, Dr. Ivo

Sleepers: Nalby

Semifinalist: Rafa


4th Quarter: Death, taxes and the Djoker horsing around are certainties. Has he recovered enough to win a Masters 1000? Or does he need more vacation time?



This quarter looks like a series of upsets waiting to happen. ARod's grinding might not cut it against IgorA. Ljubs might not have recovered from winning IW. Oh, and Nole might be tired of playing tennis. And LeMonf is still a head case. Got nothing to lose, might as well call for Head Samurai to make a breakthrough.

Sleepers: IgorA

Semifinalist: Head Samurai

Something in Desert Air

Something really must be in the desert air, as there was a string of upsets.

Sveta scattered errors all over the court in a loss to Carla Suarez Navarro



Cilic lost in straights getting bageled in the last set.



As expected Playstation outsteadied Gulby



And the Hit for Haiti got ugly as AA let his tongue get too loose in trying to josh Pete. See video here. Regardless of whether you think Pete was too thin-skinned or AA was too cheesy, it seems safe to say that Rafa and TMF present such a nice contrast of how two rivals can be friends.