WTA Champs Draw Made, Federer Goes Head-to-Head with Pope
Posted on November 7, 2005
WTA Championships Grouped, Play Begins TuesdayTuesday begins play at the year-ending WTA Championships in Los Angeles, with Sundays draw placing two current or former No. 1s evenly in each of the round robin groups.
The Green Group is comprised of world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, former No. 1 Maria Sharapova, Swiss Patty Schnyder and Russian Nadia Petrova. The Black Group consists of former No. 1s Kim Clijsters and Amelie Mauresmo, France's Mary Pierce and Russian Elena Dementieva.
Round robin play will commence Tuesday through Friday, with the top two players from each group advancing to the Saturday semifinals.
The doubles event, featuring the top four year-end teams, begins with the semifinals on Saturday with Lisa Raymond and Sam Stosur, Conchita Martinez and Virginia Ruano Pascual, Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs, and Elena Likhovtseva and Vera Zvonareva.
Ljubicic Denied Again in ATP MS-Paris Final
A tired Ivan Ljubicic delivered a flurry of 28 aces in a valiant comeback attempt from two sets down, but it wasn't enough to stop unseeded Czech Tomas Berdych who captured his second career title with a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4 win Sunday in the final of the Masters Series-Paris.
Ljubicic was playing in his fifth consecutive ATP event, with highlights of the run including back-to-back titles at Metz and Vienna, and a five-set loss to Rafael Nadal in the championship at the Masters Series-Madrid, adding up to exhaustion entering Paris but with a payoff of qualifying for the eighth and final position at the season-ending Masters Cup.
"I had a fantastic week really, although I would have liked to win," Ljubicic said. "Now I look forward to the Masters Cup and Davis Cup."
Berdych had 18 aces but faltered up two sets to love. In the fifth set both players held serve until the final game when the Croat fought off three consecutive set points from 0-40 before succumbing later in the game.
The 20-year-old Berdych is an impressive 6-0 in five-set matches, and during the week beat three Roland Garros winners or finalists in Guillermo Coria, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Gaston Gaudio. The giant-killing Berdych beat Roger Federer last year at the Olympics and Rafael Nadal this year at the Masters Series-Cincinnati.
"We were looking at the list of former champions [at the MS-Paris] with my coach in the morning and I saw that [Boris] Becker was only 18 when he won it and Marat [Safin] was also 20 when he won," Berdych said. "I said to myself it would be nice if I could put my name on that list."
In the doubles final, No. 2 seeds Mike and Bob Bryan won their fifth title of the season, defeating No. 4 seeds Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-4 to put themselves in a strong position to finish the year No. 1.
It was the American brothers' fifth title in 11 finals this year.
"It feels good to get some momentum going into Shanghai," Mike Bryan said. "I thought we played a great tournament from the first round on and it was a tough match today and we were lucky to win. Knowles/Nestor are the hottest team on the tour right now and we had to play our best tennis to beat them."
Mauresmo Wins 3rd Straight Philly Title
France's Amelie Mauresmo won her third consecutive Philadelphia title Sunday, outlasting Russian Elena Dementieva 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 for momentum entering this week's WTA Championships in Los Angeles.
"It's a great effort to win this three times in a row," Mauresmo said.
The third set turned into a choke-fest as Mauresmo blew a 4-1 lead before Dementieva, serving at 5-4 and two points from the match, threw in two of her 14 doubles faults for the match.
"I'm trying to get better," Dementieva said of her lack of serving prowess. Dementieva become the eighth and final qualifier for this week's WTA Championships, still seeking her first title of the year.
In the doubles final top seeds Cara Black/Rennae Stubbs beat No. 2 seeds Lisa Raymond/Sam Stosur 6-4, 7-6(4) for their third title of the year.
Frazier Wins First 2005 Title at WTA Quebec City
No. 6 seed Amy Frazier won her first title of the year in the last week of regular-season play Sunday at the WTA stop in Quebec City, turning back No. 8-seeded Swede Sofia Arvidsson 6-1, 7-5.
It was the American's eighth career title and first since Hobart in 2004.
"Winning any tournament is very exciting," said the 33-year-old Frazier, who is taking courses to become a mathematics teacher after her playing days. "I have good memories here, it is such a nice event. I play for fun, and that's the only reason I play."
The unseeded Russian tandem of Rodionova/Vesnina won the doubles title, defeating No. 4 seeds Dekmeijere/Harkleroad 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Roger Federer arrived in Shanghai Sunday to test his injured ankle and prepared for his campaign in attempting to win a third consecutive Masters Cup title, a feat not accomplished since Ivan Lendl in 1985-87. Ilie Nastase also accomplished the feat from 1971-73. In doubles the Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, will attempt to become the first team to win three year-end titles in a row since Peter Fleming and John McEnroe won it seven times in a row from 1978-84...Tomas Berdych coach Jaroslav Navratil on his pupil: "He's quiet. He's not a party animal. He's entirely focused on his tennis and Lucie [Safarova, who plays on the WTA Tour] helps him do that. He's never nervous at crucial moments and that's very important. I see him entering the Top 10 very soon."...USTA President Franklin Johnson on the world vs. the ATP's effort to change the doubles scoring and entry rankings into tournaments, via Wayne Bryan: "Good luck on your doubles fight. The Grand Slam Committee will be discussing doubles in Shanghai. Hope the ATP backs down. I will be surprised if they do not."...From the Roger Federer website: "The awards for the 'Men of the Year 2005' were given in several categories at a major gala in Munich yesterday evening. Roger was amongst the nominees as an athlete. It was another successful evening for Roger -- as he received the award in the category 'international,' even competing with Pope Benedikt XVI. "That is almost absurd," Roger said. "Roger Federer and the Pope -- I'd say you cannot quite compare the two, he's a lot more important than me," he straightened out. Receiving the award from the hands of Boris Becker who called him "the most congenial person I know" certainly was special for Roger. It had been the seventh time that the readers of 'GQ' magazine chose their 'Men of the Year' together with a prominent jury."...The Times Online on the proposed final doubles fix by the ATP: "Determined to "improve doubles, make it more attractive to our fans as well as a more successful product," [Etienne] De Villiers has offered a four-pronged plan to secure its place as a vibrant element of tennis, the most visible of which is the introduction of a "match tie-break" should a third set be required to complete a match -- the first to ten points with a difference of two. [Andy] Roddick, exactly the kind of star-quality player that tournament directors want to see play more doubles, was enthused when told of the plans in Paris last week. Hence overtime. Rather than short sets that had produced such ghastly scorelines as 5-3, 5-2, the ATP insists on a return to two tie-break sets with no advantage scoring, the match tie-break and a rigidly enforced 25-second break between points. "This gives tournaments a more predictable match length, which should allow more show-court scheduling," De Villiers said. "Also, singles players may be persuaded to play this format due to it being less demanding. We are also doing something more acceptable for traditionalists." Explicitly, the ATP will drop the "2008 singles only" entry condition -- calling it a "major concession." The reason? "We want more marquee singles players to play doubles and the player field to be more democratic and egalitarian," the chairman said. "We will not be bound by quotas, but we would like a 50-50 (singles and doubles players) field by the end of 2006 and the proportion of singles players (playing doubles) to continue to grow during 2007. We reserve the right to tinker or change at the end of '07, but this will be based on feedback from tournaments, players, fan reaction, media, research and statistics." De Villiers wants to see the appointment of a "doubles tsar" at the ATP and the creation of a doubles promotion fund financed by doubles players sacrificing 5 per cent of their prize-money over the next two years. The rationale is that the three parties (the ATP, tournaments and the players) "must be committed to promotion and marketing of doubles." As a final gesture, any player who has invested in the players' pension fund for four years by the end of 2007 and is prevented playing doubles as a result of the proposed changes will be eligible for full pension benefits." -- We like the money quote here: "We reserve the right to tinker or change at the end of '07, but this will be based on feedback from tournaments, players, fan reaction, media, research and statistics." Like the original ATP "feedback" that the ATP based the initial doubles changes on? The poll feedback they won't show anyone? Tour insiders may recall what a joke it turned into when the ATP previously appointed a "doubles tsar"...Mary Pierce on making a run for No. 1: "It is a legitimate goal," Pierce told Reuters. "Is it realistic that I'm ranked No. 5 now? I would love to get to No. 1 and win another grand slam title like Wimbledon or the US Open. But at least at I've been to the final of the US Open, which I haven't done at Wimbledon. On grass, I'm playing better and better. If I could win Wimbledon and get to No. 1, then I could retire and say I've achieved everything I wanted to."